Newent’s unbeaten Midlands Two West record survived the sternest of examinations from a big and bold Shipston side, thanks to an immense defensive effort from the men in green, writes Simon Barker.

A game which was fiercely contested throughout and could have gone either way ended in dramatic fashion, with Newent’s tacklers forcing a knock-on inches from their line.

The first scoring opportunity fell to the hosts, after Newent were penalised for collapsing a scrum, but the visitors held up the maul from the line-out and then won a penalty to put them into Shipston territory.

A multi-phased attack, with Dylan Leney probing the fringes from scrum half and Doug Long into the line from full back, ended with Tom Webb making the key line break before feeding openside Leo Oakey for a clear charge to the line. Doug Long converted for 0-7.

Newent’s prop Mason Emery had to leave the field with a hand injury picked up after a carry in open play, being replaced by Tom Woodman, before Shipston reduced the arrears as the game entered its second quarter. When Newent were penalised 25m out and in front of the posts the hosts opted to go for goal and full back Rob James kicked the three-pointer.

A good chase of a Tom Webb kick, Jack Devries leading the charge, put the home defence under pressure and forced a knock-on in midfield just outside the 22.

Newent’s scrum was steady on this occasion and provided the platform for the backs to go right, quick hands and a telling incision and offload from Doug Long releasing Will Hartland for a fine finish to the slickest of moves. Long added a good conversion to extend the lead to 3-14.

Shipston responded strongly and pressed hard for the remainder of the half.

A penalty against Newent for a high tackle – something which was strictly but consistently refereed and later in the game was to result in yellow cards for Jordan Devries and Will Hartland – gave the Rams a line-out 10m from the line.

They secured their ball and blindside Tobi Faulkner peeled off the back of the maul to crash over for the try.

The conversion attempt was narrowly off target, credit to Adrian Connelly for putting pressure on the kicker by sprinting off the line to attempt a charge down.

The half ended with Shipston pressing hard for another score. In a key passage of play, Newent’s defence twice denied the hosts a second try – firstly by a tackle into touch inches from the line and then by holding up the ball carrier over the line from a close-range tap penalty- to leave the half-time score Shipston-on-Stour 8-14 Newent.

Newent started the second half brightly, a break by Doug Long taking play into Shipston’s 22, but a succession of penalties soon put the pressure back on their line.

The hosts turned down a couple of easy three pointers in favour of tap and goes, but the Newent defence held firm.

Eventually Shipston’s enterprise was rewarded, when they opted for a scrum after Newent were penalised for a no-arms tackle 20m out.

Outside centre Ben Harris picked a good line but when he was brought to ground scrum half Connor Hutchison found a rare gap around the fringes of the ruck and darted through to touch down under the posts. Rob James added the extras to put Shipston ahead 15-14.

Their lead was short lived, just as it was when they nudged ahead in the reverse fixture at the Rec last October.

A break from Tom Webb was halted by a high tackle 25m out and George Clair kicked the penalty to the right-hand corner.

Newent secured their line-out and ran the ball across the backs to the left-hand corner before moving it back inside, creating a clear overlap for Adrian Connelly.

When Tom Webb’s pass to him was knocked on by Hutchison the referee showed a yellow card to Shipston’s scrum half, before running between the posts to signal the penalty try which restored Newent’s lead.

With more than a quarter of the game left to play at this stage, there seemed long odds on that being the end of the scoring but whilst there were no more points there was no shortage of tension and drama.

Apart from one brief foray which ended with a knock on inside Shipston’s 22, the remainder of the game was played in Newent territory.

The visitors spent most of this time with one man short, and briefly were reduced to 13 players, following the yellow cards to Jordan Devries then Will Hartland, but their defence refused to yield despite the penalty count against them racking up to in excess of 20.

Shipston opted to tap most of their penalties and from one of these Ben Harris touched down by the left hand upright, but the referee had spotted crossing in the build-up and ruled out the score.

With the game into stoppage time, Tom Webb thought he had won a priceless turnover from a crunching tackle 20m out but the referee saw another breakdown offence and Shipston scented a final opportunity to claim the winning score.

Encouraged by a large and vocal home crowd, the Rams advanced towards the posts through a series of pick and goes before a final lunge for the line saw the ball dislodged by the weight of Newent’s tacklers.

The referee signalled that it had gone forward and blew for full-time, to the huge relief of the visiting support.

Final score: Shipston-on-Stour 15 Newent 21

Newent: D Long; W Hartland, N Brooks, T Webb, A Connelly; G Clair, D Leney; M Emery, W Tanner, E White; J K Devries, J Marshall; J Hartland, L Oakey, B Vincent (capt.). Replacements: T Woodman, K Towers, J D Devries.