Taunton 19 - Hartpury College 53 (Match Report)

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Taunton returned from the festive break only to suffer a heavy 19-53 defeat at the hands of Hartpury College at Hyde Park on Saturday.

From the first whistle the visitors immediately set up camp deep in the Taunton half, and it was not long before they opened the scoring. A series of punishing drives for the line was repelled with equal ferocity but eventually the Taunton defence was stretched too far, providing the narrowest of doors for Richard Barrington to squeeze his way through for his tenth of the season, not a bad scoring return for a prop forward. Fly half Daniel Robson added the conversion for a 0-7 lead after 3 minutes.

Taunton gained some possession after the restart, and looked to reply as the Hartpury backline crept offside amidst the shouts from the assistant referee, but the penalty never came despite strong protest from the sidelines. The first penalty awarded in the match came on thirteen minutes, and went to the visitors, who opted to kick for the corner. They increased their lead when, from resulting lineout, the drive split the home defence to allow flanker Michael Craven to touch down. Robson converted to give his side a 0-14 lead after 13 minutes.

Hartpury boasted the experience at number eight of former Wales international Nathan Thomas, and he controlled proceedings for the Gloucester side. Making ground every time he had possession it took some big tackles from Greg Charlton and Liam Wilkinson to halt his progress. However, it was another Thomas break that set up the next score for winger Glen Lewis to slide over wide out on the right. Robson failed with the conversion attempt but Hartpury now had a 0-19 point lead after 22 minutes.

The bonus point was wrapped up for the visitors when they added their fourth try of the afternoon through flanker Rob Langley. As with the first two scores Hartpury opted to keep things tight as they put the pressure on the Taunton line, and again the defence around the fringes was stretched enough to allow the youngster to drive his way over. Robson could only watch as his conversion bounced back off the upright, although they now lead 0-24 after 27 minutes.

It was to take until the half hour mark for Taunton to gain any sustained possession, and when it came they started to make inroads into the Hartpury half. Alec Chase and Sonny Haines carried well all afternoon, and set up the platform for a telling break by Christian Gervais that splintered the Hartpury defence. His debutant centre partner Ryan Edwards provided the support to go over the line. Initially the referee adjudged the ball was held up but after discussions with the touch judge he awarded the score. Tony Yapp added the extras, making the score 7-24 after 31 minutes.

Taunton could have fallen further behind had it not been for a couple of Hartpury errors. All the home side could do was to defend with everything they could give, and they were marshalled as always by the vocal Gary Kingdom commanding his troops from the back.

Hartpury added another score before the break when the defence was once again stretched to breaking point. Alex Hemsley and Wilkinson halted the initial threat, which resulted in Craven leaving the field with a nasty blood injury before Hartpury hooker Harry Collins found the space to run in and touch down. Robson was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt but his side were firmly in control with a 7-29 lead going into half time.

Taunton restarted the stronger of the two teams and they deservedly opened the second half scoring when Gervais again opened up the Hartpury defence. This time the centre needed no support as his strong running beat the defence allowing him to run in and touch down under the posts. The conversion was a formality for Yapp to make the score 14-29 after 45 minutes.

The response from Hartpury was immediate, and they added their sixth try of the afternoon when they caught Taunton napping out wide. Reuben Haile rushed up in defence but was left stranded and flat-footed as his opposite number Lewis sprinted in to claim his second. Robson added the conversion giving his side a 14-36 lead after 48 minutes.

Three minutes later Hartpury added another when their other winger Ian Clark bagged his first of the afternoon. Clark, a good friend of Haile, crossed to level with his Taunton counterpart at the top of the league try scoring table. Robson failed with the conversion attempt although Hartpury now held a 14-41 lead after 51 minutes.

Following a quiet first half, this seemed to be the wake up call that Haile needed to kick start his game. The abrasive winger started to become more involved and popped up to score a trademark try to regain his position at the top of the try scoring table with his eighteenth try of the season. Yapp was unable to add the conversion and the score was 19-41 after 60 minutes.

Taunton introduced Jon Gatford, Oli Marriott and Joe Bartlett as they looked to inject some fresh impetus to the game and it was noticeable with all three immediately getting involved. The slick and consistent service of Bartlett gave Yapp the extra split second needed to allow him to settle and distribute to his backline with ease following an indifferent first fifty minutes. Marriott continued where Dave Bufton left off adding an extra ball carrying option alongside the hard working Charlton in the second row. Wilkinson continues to impress whilst Hemsley is proving to be an able replacement for the absent Dean Taylor-Menzies and Sean Fox.

However, the closing fifteen minutes would belong to Hartpury and they nearly added another only for former Taunton scrum half Bradley Field to knock the ball on with the line at his mercy. It was not to matter, as winger Clark again levelled affairs with Haile at the top of the try scoring table by adding his second, batting away the covering defender Dave Bates en route to the line. Robson converted giving the visitors a 19-48 lead going into the final ten minutes.

The penultimate scoring act of the afternoon saw Hartpury seal their performance with their ninth try to cross the fifty-point mark. A break in the midfield from Thomas again provided the platform and a deft little chip over the top by Robson fell into the arms of an unmarked Clark who made no mistake in crossing for his hat trick to top the charts once more. Robson was unable to convert but the result was theirs. Hartpury taking a well-deserved victory with the final score 19-53.

For the large crowd it was a very enjoyable game despite Taunton being on the end of a heavy defeat. It was not the return that Taunton had hoped for and the score line was certainly not one that anyone had expected. The build up was sharp and there was a great buzz within the camp but on the park they were beaten by a very well organised Hartpury College outfit. There are things to go away and work on but also positives to take from the performance as they look toward their next match, a tough away trip to face league leaders Richmond next Saturday.

The County Stores sponsored man of the match for Taunton was awarded to Christian Gervais.