AT long last, relief and joy! Westbury, albeit at times tortuously, negotiated the formidable defence of Herefordshire-based Greyhounds to record their first win of the season on Saturday (October 30).

It was beers all-round after this long-awaited success for the Westbury boys.

Chairman Ken Boulton was as pleased and relieved as every other club member as his team produced a useful and improved team display which was sufficiently encouraging for him to forecast better times ahead.

"We have played some of the top teams in our league and none of them can understand why we have not won a game. I can sum it up by describing the season so far as full of promise but with no points," said Ken.

All that changed on Saturday, even though Ken described the last hectic five minutes as a last ditch attempt by Westbury to give the game away!

"It's a young side and they like to try and play rugby. They have no idea how to close a game down. If we had played pick and drive rugby for the last five minutes we would have survived without a scare. But overall it was a much better performance and a deserved win," he said.

Man of the match, said Boulton, was scrum-half Alistair Griffin while Lee Prince, a replacement, was in good form. The multi-talented Steve Wood moved from his usual position behind the scrum to play at lock and, as usual, did well.

There's certainly plenty to play for at Westbury. The club has new changing quarters and will soon boast their very own ground. It is hoped the deal will be completed early next month.

Westbury's domination in the scrums led to their opening score, a penalty try awarded after number eight Paul Cocker was tackled by defenders in an offside position. Griffin made the conversion.

Westbury's second try followed a diagonal kick by Pat Cuthbert. The move exposed the Greyhound defence and ended in flanker Dale Garside scoring an unconverted try.