MINETY 1ST 17, CRICKLADE 0: Three well-worked first-half tries from Minety were enough to seal Cricklade's fate.

Both teams became bogged down in the second half, but while Minety continued to press till the final whistle, Cricklade had no real answer to their host's forward superiority.

Squelching through the standing water and liquid mud on the Nigel Bishop Memorial Ground, Minety ran in their first try after only five minutes.

They opted for a tap and drive when awarded their first penalty inside the Cricklade 22. Having tied in the opposing forwards, the home pack recycled the ball which was then sent down the three-quarter line to winger Matt Burgess, who scored.

The next half hour saw Minety produce a mixture of the brilliant and the inadequate, alternating passages of sustained skill and industry with moments of pure farce. Over-elaboration and overambitious passing were principally to blame for promising moves breaking down, on a day when both sides found it difficult to hang onto the ball.

For their part, Cricklade threw themselves into the game with great gusto and showed themselves skilful and spirited defenders. They mounted several promising breakouts, their stand-off proving especially difficult to stop as he weaved past would-be tacklers.

The Minety pack eventually put an end to the stalemate by driving over from a five metre scrum, heaving their opponents back by main force. Cricklade did their best to stop them, but Minety kept control of the ball and flanker James Smith claimed the try as he and his team mates piled over the line. James Tweedale added the conversion.

Maintaining their advantage, Minety came straight back from the restart and pinned the visitors back in their 22 metre area. Minety won yet another scrum, and scrum half Duncan Drewett side-footed the ball back to fly half Tweedale, who crashed over for the score.

Playing up the slope, Minety found it harder to score in the second half.

They enjoyed the bulk of the possession and the territorial advantage and should have added further points. Cricklade never gave up but never came close, and ended the game with only 14 players, having seen one of their number sent to the sin bin for throwing a punch.

Minety face a stern challenge next as they play hosts to second-in-the-league Frome.