Warminster Rugby Club have finished third in the league despite a season of change as they look to build for the future, reports club chairman Rob Rowbotham.
The club has been on a rebuilding phase throughout this season after the loss of over 25 players through injury or moving on at the end of the 23/24 season.
The start of this season saw the team drop a league as we start to rebuild with a single team. A lack of consistency amongst the squad during pre-season training was frustrating but to the credit of those that committed to us, we have managed to fulfil all of the fixtures with a strong third place finish in the league.
Last league game
The last league game of the season saw Warminster travel the short distance to Trowbridge to play Trowbridge 3rds.
Trowbridge won the toss and elected to receive from the kick off.
Winger Kieron Plumber was first to the ball making some good yardage before being brought down on the Trowbridge 22. Warminster infringements at the breakdown gave Trowbridge the ability to clear their lines and put the pressure back on to Warminster.
Warminster’s lack of discipline gave Trowbridge several penalties early on and it was from one of these penalties that Trowbridge managed to take the first points. A strong run from the Trowbridge number 8 saw him crash through the Warminster defence for the first try. Warminster continued to give silly penalties away which allowed Trowbridge to take further advantage scoring again shortly after leaving the score at 12-0 with five minutes to play in the half.
Warminster started to get a grip of their defence with front row prop Steve Rowbotham managing a good steel at the breakdown winning Warminster a well-deserved penalty on their own 22. Some quick thinking and well-placed passes through the hands saw debutant Petero Racumu break through the Trowbridge defence, running a full 70 metres to score under the posts. The score at half time was 12-7
The second-half started much like the first with Trowbridge punishing the Warminster mistakes and ill-discipline. Trowbridge scored again from another infringement by the visiting team.
Some sole searching and encouragement from the senior players, including the captain Gavin Kaminsky Pratt seemed to bring some life back into the team. Some much-needed ball in hand rugby was being played by Warminster with the forwards providing a great platform for the backs to work from. It wasn’t long before the forward dominance gave Warminster the opportunity to work from a solid scrum on the Trowbridge 22. Some quick ball through the hands from the fly half, Haydn Tryhorn saw the ball reach Racuma, some deft footwork and an offload to Toroco saw him break a couple of tackles before dotting down over the line. The conversion was scored giving Warminster some well-needed encouragement.
It was Trowbridge that scored next with some quick pick and goes from the relentless attack. To Warminster’s credit it took several phases of play before Trowbridge eventually broke the line. The Warminster pack were pushing Trowbrige hard with some great work from props Chris Lewis, Steve Rowbotham and back row Dan Bagshaw (man of the match). Some relentless attack on the Trowbridge try line eventually saw prop Steve Rowbotham hammer his way over the line for another Warminster score.
Unfortunately this was to prove a little late in the game with the final score being 26-21.
A valiant effort from a much-depleted Warminster team who will continue to rebuild as they enter upcoming cup games on the fixture list.
