Western Counties North
Berry Hill 23
Yatton 7
BERRY Hill were made to work hard for this victory against a more than useful Yatton side.
When the two sides met earlier this year Berry Hill secured a comfortable away victory without really getting out of first gear. It was a different story this time. Hill had plenty of ball early on but a combination of good defending and handling errors cost them a try.
Aaron Ryder kicked a penalty, then Josh Cook joined the line from a midfield ruck and made a telling break with one of his trademark sidesteps.
He beat the covering defender to go in under the posts, leaving Ryder the simplest of conversions.
Hill got their second try against the run of play.
A Yatton back line move on the Hill 22 was intercepted by Ryder, but he didn't have the pace to go the full length of the field. Dan Field took the ball on but was tackled close to the touchline in the Yatton 22. Centre Lee Osborne, standing in the scrum-half position, spotted a gap on the touchline side and sneaked clear of the ruck to score in the corner.
Ryder missed the conversion but Hill led 15-0 and were seemingly on track for another bonus point win.
Yatton hit back with a converted try from an interception. Their full-back gambled on collecting a Ryder pass and raced the entire length of the pitch.
Ryder kicked a second half penalty, but Yatton had enough of the ball to limit Hill's scoring opportunities.
Kurt Brown, however, finished off a good passage of play with Hill's third try.
With Barton Hill going down to a second successive defeat, it is now a straight fight between Berry Hill and Thornbury for the Western Counties North League title. The two sides meet at Lakers Road on April 16.
This Saturday Hill return to National Cup action with a quarter-final trip to Wootton Bassett.