NEW Minety captain Tom Claxton saw his team open their Dorset & Wilts One North with a fine 29-14 victory at Pewsey Vale on Saturday.

Minety dominated the early exchanges but against the run of play, Pewsey took the lead in the ninth minute, as a speculative kick into the 22 took a wicked bounce and the loose ball was seized upon by wing Will Bowerman for a try, converted by Tom Regan.

Centre Tom Windle was denied a try in the 13th minute by a last second clearance after a clever kick from fly half Adam Watts.

Minety opened their account with a fine opening try in the 20th minute. A solid scrum on the halfway line allowed scrum-half Garin Garland to feed Watts, who passed to right winger Ben Langridge.

From the ruck, full-back Duncan Simpson broke the line and fed left winger Dave Cooke, who side-stepped the full back and ran under the posts, Garland converting.

A second try came 12 minutes later as Garland kicked ahead and when the ball was won at the ruck Windle scored out wide.

The hosts held out despite Garland being yellow-carded and controlled the start of the second half, Garland extending the lead with a penalty.

Pewsey’s second try from flanker Chris Spence, converted by Regan, set up a breathless final quarter but the match was settled in the 79th minute as Simpson ran in to score from 30 metres, Garland converting.

The four-try bonus point was secured deep into injury time as Minety won a Pewsey scrum in their own half, Garland drove forward before slipping the ball to flanker Josh Bull who capped a fine performance by running in the converted try from 35 metres.

New Minety coach Andy Grayson said: “We all fronted up and I was delighted with the commitment the lads showed. It was a great squad performance with a number of second team players stepping up and showing their qualities.’’