GAMES are won and lost by fine margins and Saturday’s topsy-turvy encounter at Coln House saw Dursley strike late on to secure a narrow away victory.
Fairford had come from behind to restore parity, before turning second half pressure into a valuable lead, but it was Dursley who ended the day with the points.
Dursley – who started the day in fourth one place behind Fairford – made a fast start with a turnover on the home ‘22 launching a counter-attack with a kick and chase gathered by the number eight to cross for the opening score of the game just six minutes in.
Scrum dominance on the quarter of an hour mark saw a powerful break from Luke Sawyer release scrum-half Ben Taylor who needed no second invitation to level the scores from close range. Fairford kept up the pressure at the scrum and Dursley soon lost a man to the sin bin for persistent infringements.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, it was Dursley who crossed next; with a rare foray into the Badgers’ half resulting in several phases being put together to build their second try of the game.
H/T: Fairford 5 Dursley 10
The second half saw Fairford, backed by another superb following from the sidelines, reduce the arrears with Taylor breaking clear and surging home from distance to level the game at 10-10.
Fairford continued to build momentum and captain Ben Goodey then crossed out wide with Ben Cohoon hitting the post with the subsequent touchline conversion to leave the score poised at 15-10.
However, a series of team infringements soon after the hour saw the hosts reduced in number, with Goodey taking the hit for a ten minute sojourn. Dursley capitalised with a pushover try from close range and with the extras added, the visitors held on to a 17-15 lead despite a determined final push from the home side.
F/T: Fairford 15 Dursley 17