The Colts were in an uncharacteristically nervous mood on Sunday facing second in the league North Dorset.  This nervousness coupled with poor communication and a hostile and aggressive North Dorset side did not allow the Colts to get into their normal pattern of play. 

Andy Hill had a try disallowed after 5 minutes, which affected the confidence of the team, however Captain Craig Fellows got Ivel on the scoreboard to take the lead.  Two mistakes in the midfield late in the first half cost Ivel dear and at the turn around North Dorset were leading 12-5. 

After the half time team talk Ivel began to play with more control but another midfield mistake let North Dorset in again to extend their lead to 17-5.  Scrum half Joe Donnelly once again bossed the forwards well and the resultant try from lock Callum McKenzie brought Ivel back into the game. 

The midfield partnership of Rhys Biggin and Tom Jones began to exert real pressure on the North Dorset backs, and when Tom Lane moved the ball well from stand off some good handling put pacy winger Josh Galloway in for the  try, converted by Lane to bring the scores to 17 all. 

Some inspired substitutions by Ivel upped the pace of the game and clearly rattled North Dorset.  With Ivel in the ascendancy, Leland Sparks went over for another forwards try to take the score to 22-17, fitting as this was his last game for Ivel before he leaves to join the Army later in February.

The Colts extended their lead at the top of the D&W2(North) Merit table with a win over Corsham B at the weekend.

Atrocious weather conditions suited neither side and especially were not conducive to the free running rugby that the Colts have been playing this season. Consequently the 0-0 turn around at half time was an unknown position for the Ivel youngsters.

In the second half scrum half Joe Donnelly bossed his forwards well and with Captain Craig Fellows and Lloyd Morgan leading the Ivel assault, the tide began to turn in favour of the Colts. The only try scoring opportunity that Corsham B had was snuffed out by the tackle of the match by Andy Hill, highlighting the high quality of the Colts defence throughout the season.

Final score was 17-0 to Ivel Colts. Try scorers were Joe Johnson 2, Jason Dunn with Max Harvey weighing in with one conversion.

The under 17s played in the South West section of the National Cup against Cornish side St. Austell and came away with an impressive 29 – 10 win.

Ivel were always on the front foot in this contest even against a much larger opposition pack and were eventually rewarded with their first try through inside centre Biggin after good build up play by the forwards, Marr adding the conversion. In truth Ivel could have scored a lot more points during this period but quite often the last pass went astray or the wrong decision was taken at the vital time.

The 2nd half did not start well for Ivel and St. Austell capitalised on a lack of concentration in the Ivel defence, pushing deep into their territory scoring a pushover try from a goal line ruck. The Yeovil boys however bounced straight back and a period of decisive attacking allowed Marr to fall back into the pocket and slot the drop goal to make the score 10 – 5. This score was followed by a superb individual effort by winger Andy Hill who latched onto a poorly fielded kick ahead to beat 2 defenders and run in from the half way line, again Marr added the conversion.

The following 15 minutes saw sustained pressure from the Ivel side particularly up front where props Sam Bennett and Jake Woolmore dominated their larger opponents. No further points were forthcoming though mainly through poor decision making and handling errors and the mounting frustration started to take its toll as the Barbarians began to give away a string of silly penalties. From one of these penalties St Austell pushed the ball to the Ivel 5 metre line and from the following catch and drive from the lineout, worked the spaces well and scored a good try in the corner.

Thankfully for Ivel the conversion went wide but at 17 – 10 with 10 minutes to play the scores were far too close for comfort particularly with Ivel having dominated most of the game. The pressure was eased almost immediately though as the Ivel pack stepped up a gear. From a lineout on the half way, they pushed St. Austell back into their own half. The ball was then moved to the right, quickly recycled and moved back into midfield where Biggin cut inside and stepped round a couple of defenders before crashing through the last man for the touchdown. Marr added the extras.

The tie was now beyond doubt however Ivel skipper Lloyd Morgan put the icing on the cake with a last minute try after he broke away from another impressive drive from the Ivel pack and raced down an undefended blind side.

So Ivel progress to the next round of the National Cup with a good win although they still need to sharpen up and convert the scoring chances they create when the face their next opponents.

Tries: Rhys Biggin (2), Lloyd Morgan, Andy Hill - Conversions: Charlie Marr (3) - Drop goal: Charlie Marr