Lowis' late show rescues draw for lacklustre Clevedon

THE full-back collected his own kick ahead before running in from 40 metres to secure a valuable two points in Clevedon’s battle to avoid the drop - with Taylor adding the extras from under the sticks for a 19-19 score line.

Earlier, scrum-half Josh Mortimore had crossed twice for the hosts with Taylor slotting a conversion from the right-hand touchline.

This contest was far from a spectacle, with errors and ill-discipline halting both teams’ efforts to force any kind of momentum.

The visitor’s dominant driving maul was very much a mainstay of this fixture and caused Clevedon problems throughout the 80 minutes.
It was from one such maul that North Petherton took a deserved lead, as scrum-half Dominik Griffin sniped his way over from close range – Roberts added the extras.

Taylor was wide of the mark from two penalties, but it was from one of his line breaks that Clevedon almost found a route back into the game – having beaten two defenders, the winger’s pass found Matt Honour in support, who in turn offloaded to prop Brian Largenton.

Largenton powered his way towards the line, only to be halted two metres short – before a cynical infringement at the breakdown denied the home side an obvious try-scoring opportunity.

Clevedon trailed 7-0 at the break, but were soon on the scoreboard courtesy of Mortimore.

Following a powerful charge from Alex Giltrow, the scrum-half sniped his way over for his second try of the season.

The conversion was missed and Pethy soon restored their seven-point lead with a try from another driving maul.

The game was beginning to come to life and after a long kick down field was fumbled under the Pethy posts, Mortimore notched his second of the afternoon from the resulting scrum – linking up with the returning Harvey Russell before palming off a would-be tackler to slide over out wide.

Taylor’s conversion against a stiff breeze was perfectly judged to level the scores at 12-12.

With 13 minutes left to play, Sam Williams restored the visitor’s lead with a try in the left-hand corner – and Roberts’ superb conversion left Clevedon fighting a seven-point deficit.

But with the game seemingly gone, Lowis collected a long clearance kick and chipped ahead – the bounce was kind and the veteran full-back collected cleanly before racing in under the posts.

Taylor’s conversion was a straight-forward one to level the scores for the third time – and there was still time for Pethy to snatch all four points, but Beleski’s drop-goal attempt was charged down.

Clevedon will view this result as two points gained rather than lost, but they know they will need to improve when Wells visit the Vale next weekend.