Smiths United Edge Gutsy Nail-Biter as 1st XV Down Dursley

Scrumhalf Tom Gordon Beating Minchinhampton Defence Earlier in the Season.

Smiths United side travelled away to Minchinhampton 1st XV for their first fixture of 2026. Another 1st XV that Smiths 1s were locking horns with not so long ago, the United side completed the league double over Minch with a hard-fought 17-12 win.

Smiths started brightly on a rare dry, still day on the common with a high tempo, varied attack putting Minch under pressure. Periods in the home side's 22 ended the no reward though, a combination of loose passes, not resourcing breakdowns and good scrambled defence from Minch left Smiths frustrated but encouraged with their approach.

Minch had their own periods on top with strong forward runners looking to dent holes in the Smiths defence. Big tackles from Smiths, typified by player of the match Luke Korba, kept Minch under control in the first half.

When Smiths backs had front foot ball the looked sharp and eventually they took advantage of a weakness in the Minch line with wing Ben Tupper finishing the move.

Smiths desire to play was their undoing for the home side's first try though as and offload in their half went down and Minch transitioned quickly to score out wide.

5-5 at half time left Smiths feeling they were on top but needed to be more accurate in attack and more aggressive in defence.

The topsy-turvy nature of the tight contest with both sides having periods of possession and territory. Smiths scored first again as scrum pressure put Minch on the back foot 5m out. A fumbled pass saw replacement hooker Cam Wilkinson quickest to react and get to the ball to touch down.  

A 5-10 lead gave Smiths some added confidence but Minch picked themselves up and hit back with their strong pack carries close to the line. Taking a 12-10 lead, Minch had some new energy for the final 20 minutes.

Smiths have been involved in some tight fixtures and had come from behind a couple of times to seal wins. More territory gained from a smart 50-22 from scrum half Tom Gordon gave Smiths the opportunity to reclaim the lead. Settling into some more patient phases, Smiths backs again capitalised on gaps in the home defence and gave Tupper the chance to score the winner try. Fly half Ben Williams added the important extras for a 12-17 lead.

As at home against Minch and away at Ledbury previously, Smiths were faced with a tough time defending to see out the win. Minch again went to their forward runners and Smiths held out against 3-4 tap penalty plays, driving maul and set scrums. Bodies on the line as the clock ticked down, Smiths fully deserved to come out on top.

Completing a league double vs well-drilled, experienced 1st team like Minchinhampton is great achievement and sets up the 2nd half of the season as the United side aim to finish in the top 3.

Smiths 1st XV beat Dursley in high scoring fixture

Smiths 1s bounced back from disappointing defeat last week with an 8 try demolition of Dursley.

Five first half tries from Luke Cador, Tony Moore, Duncan Spurrier and two from Pete Reed had Smiths leading 27-7 at half time and in full control of the game.

Dursley fought back though and scored three second half tries themselves as Smiths didn’t keep the pressure on and let the visitors make progress by conceding penalties.

Two Smiths tries in the second half from Marcus Raymond and Mitch Renton meant Smiths always had a 2 score cushion. Finally player of the match Pete Reed completed his hat-trick with the last score of the game to finish 46-28.

Next up both Smiths sides have exciting derby days. The 1st team are away at Old Pats and United welcome Civil Service to Prince of Wales Stadium.