After a physical encounter the previous week against Huccelcote, Tewkesbury travelled away to Matson for another gruelling and physical encounter.

As expected the game was extremely physical from the start with a number of big hits going in from both teams however the underdogs Tewkesbury seemed to be making some good progress going forward.

The Visitors took an early lead thanks to some fantastic backs play with Simon Dawe, Ben Bowers and Matt Stone combining, which let Stone in to score a superb try from inside Tewkesbury’s half. Richards converted 0 - 7

As the game began to open up Tewkesbury looked to dominate the breakdown area allowing quick ball for the backs, which lead to the second, try of the game for visitors.

Some fantastic support play from Winger Robbie Davies which allowed Mike Harper to use his new found pace and power to race for the line and set up a fantastic try for Centre Ben Bowers who touched down in the corner. Richards was unable to convert. 0 - 12

As the pace of the game continued, Tewkesbury continued to dominate in the forwards with great play from Shaun Everis and Simon Bytheway who managed to find several openings, however, it was Matson who hit back with some great backs play to create and opening for the forwards to score in the corner, they were able to convert the extra points and added a penalty soon afterwards to take it to 10 - 12

As the first half was coming to an end it was the Tewkesbury side looking more dangerous with numerous half chances from the back being snuffed out by the covering Matson defence.

Half Time : Matson 12 Tewkesbury 10

Tewkesbury looked to build up the momentum after the restart but some slick play from Matson enable the home full back to drop a goal from just outside the 22. 12 – 13

With Tewkesbury feeling slightly disappointed they were ready to make up for earlier mistakes however, another score for Matson from some sloppy defence left them on the back foot again. Matson couldn’t convert and were leading 18-12 for the first time in the game.

Tewkesbury’s defence started to look stretched and when they found themselves stuck deep within their own half they looked to clear but the Matson back three worked well and managed to gain more yards. After a hard and long defensive battle from Tewkesbury it was only a matter of time before Matson scored despite their best efforts. Matson managed to convert 25 - 12

Tewkesbury now looked to make some mark on the game and stepped it up a notch with the forwards beginning to pick up where they left off in the first half. With some fantastic play from Harper streaking down the wing, it started to see the game open up for Tewkesbury with quick ball being shipped out to the backs allowing Stone to score his second try of the game. Richards was unable to convert 25 -17

Tewkesbury began to fight back with some hard running from the backs and some great forward support but they were not clinical enough to finish off a number of crucial chances.

With the game coming to an end Matson hit back with a late penalty to run away with the game 28-17 which was a bitter pill for Tewkesbury to swallow and was not a fair reflection on the visitors performance. It was an unlucky result for the Tewkesbury side, but something for the team to build on for the rest of the season safe in the knowledge that they can compete against the stronger teams in the league.

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