Henry Toomer was the star of the show as Royal Wootton Bassett overwhelmed Keynsham with an emphatic 52-14 victory on the road.
Bassett travelled into Bristol to take on mid-table Keynsham in a rescheduled match due to a waterlogged pitch. With no improvement, the venue was shifted to Bristol Combination’s Lockleaze Sports Centre facility and the artificial pitch that ensured the game could be played.
Bassett got off to a superb start when the first attack of the match saw Toomer outpace the defence for the opening score inside three minutes.
Fifteen minutes of relentless Bassett pressure was only being contained by some excellent defence from the hosts. A rare Keynsham attack then broke down in the Bassett 22. The ball was fed quickly to Toomer who ran the length of the pitch for the score his second.
Bassett continued to press and in the 24th minute, the ball was passed along the line to John Fruci-Jewell. He made no mistake touching down with Floyd converting for Bassett to lead 21-0.
Shortly after a winning Bassett lineout was passed along the line. A mismove saw Toomer join the line and outrace the defence once more to score the bonus point try.
Keynsham looked shell-shocked at this point and just before the interval, another Toomer break was initially halted. The ball was fed to Joe Pettit who had arrived in the corner to score. The conversion was missed and Bassett led 33-0 at the break.
The Bassett first-half performance was arguably the best of the season against a decent Keynsham side who had been totally outgunned without doing too much wrong.
Bassett started the second half well although Keynsham were supplying some resistance and putting moves together, but their possession didn’t look likely to pierce the Bassett defence.
In the 59th minute, Bassett fed the ball to Dylan Higginson and he drove at the line and then unselfishly fed back inside to Toomer who scored his fourth of the afternoon. He notched his fifth two minutes later after another fast break.
Keynsham had been blown away but stuck to their task like a captain going down with their ship and went in search of some consolation. This came in the form of two well-taken tries to reduce the deficit to 47-14.
Late on Bassett’s Scott Parry hoovered up at the back of a lineout to dive over for the try and finish off the rout.
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