Western Counties (W)
Burnham-on-Sea 19, Wiveliscombe 22

BURNHAM-ON-SEA were edged out in an absorbing clash with Wiveliscombe on Saturday.

In a match played in driving rain throughout, Birkan Gunduz crashed over to give Burnham the lead with a try which Tim Piper converted.

Wivey hit back in similar fashion as second row Rory Stone powered over the line, but the conversion was missed and Burnham stretched their advantage to 12-5 by the interval as Jude Donnelly touched down.

The visitors edged ahead with two tries in the second half, but Will Hopkins raced round five players for a superb individual score - Piper converted to hand the hosts a 19-17 lead.

Smyth-Moore got his second late on, however, as Wivey's powerful pack proved too much to handle and the visitors claimed the victory.

Burnham skipper Ross McKechan said: "We controlled large parts of the game and there are certainly lots of positives to take from it against a good side.

"The conditions played into their hands - they had some big forwards and they kept it narrow, so they just wore us down in the end. It was a frustrating one to lose.

"We fronted up well and it has shown us that we have nothing to fear in this league - they [Wiveliscombe] finished second last year and I think we were the better side on Saturday.

"We are expecting similar at Avon on Saturday. They will have a big pack so it will be up to us to front up and see if we can come away with a result."