Somerset Premier

Taunton Warriors 10 Wiveliscombe 5

TAUNTON Warriors continued their resurgent run of form with a narrow derby victory over Wiveliscombe on Saturday.

Taunton started the stronger of the two sides, with their three-quarters looking menacing in the first 20 minutes.

Up front, the scrums were a hotly contested battle.

Wivey, a much larger unit, were causing all kinds of trouble as the sides fought tooth and nail in the opening period.

In the loose, the Warriors forwards carried well, with Sam Adcock and Ben Turner making good ground.

After kicking an early penalty, fly-half Stu Heal slid over for a try after another set of great forward drives.

The space opened up in front of Heal and a burst of pace from 20 metres out saw him go over, before kicking his own conversion.

Line breaks from Tim Thompson should have added to the score line, but Wivey were good at holding the player up and stopping the attacks.

In the second half, the Warriors gave away an early try with a gamble to move the ball on their own line - a spillage saw Wivey's Alistair Vivian dive on the loose ball to take the score to 10-5.

In the closing stages, Wivey hammered away at the Warriors line, but to no avail, as the hosts defended for their lives.

Andy England was chief enforcer with a number of bone-crunching tackles to keep Wivey at bay.

This inspired the Warriors team to grit their teeth and hold on for a hard-fought win, while Wivey were forced to settle for a losing bonus point.

Wiveliscombe host Chew Valley on Saturday, while Warriors face a tough trip to league leaders, Yatton.