It wasn’t pretty, but Ross-on-Wye got back to winning ways last Saturday, registering an unconvincing win which cemented them in fourth place before the three week Christmas break.

Two unanswered Ross tries from Gavin Oates and Jordan Marshall was enough to seal the win. Against a blustery wind in the first half, Ross dominated proceedings keeping ball in hand.

They punched holes repeatedly in the Bristol defence but it took twenty minutes before Gavin Oates crashed over in the left hand corner after Ross had parked themselves for what seemed an age in the visitors twenty two. Marcus Balinger added a brilliant touch line conversion and Ross were 7-0 to the good.

Bristol added a late penalty, but Ross went into the break 7-3 ahead.

The second half started as the first had ended, with Ross on the front foot, again some great ball carrying put them into the Bristol half.

Some quick hands out on the right put fullback Jordan into the clear, his dummied pass was enough to create the gap and his pace did the rest. This put Ross 12-3 ahead with thirty minutes to go and a real chance of a try bonus point.

The advantage however, was not hammered home, a few injuries slowed the game down and Ross began to lose their way; they fell the wrong side of the referee’s whistle and they let the visitors back in the game.

To their credit, the Ross defence held firm and for all the territory they gifted the visitors in the last quarter, they were only able to add one more penalty to close the gap on the scoreboard to 12-6, and Ross hung onto a hard fought victory.

The Wye Light Commercials man of the match was Marcus Ballinger, making yards every time he had the ball and for a sublime touchline conversion into the wind.

Ross are not back in league action until January 9th, away in Bristol. Don’t miss the Boxing day match down at Greytree. Kick off 12pm, so come down and join in the fun. All those at Ross RFC would like to wish, players, supporters, volunteers and sponsors a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year