Quickly establishing a strong hold in the scrum Tows gained an eight point lead through a Matt Yuill penalty kick and a Dave Stocks try.
A further penalty from Matt Yuill was a rather disappointing reward for a long spell of Tows’ hard work. Countless opportunities from the five metre scrum were scuppered as Newbury forced the reset and the Tows failed to satisfy the referee.
A penalty from Newbury’s Richard West saw Tows go into the break with an 11 – 3 lead.
Newbury’s pack had a re-shuffle of personnel which gave them the foundation to come back in to the match. Replacement Jack Crawford selling an outrageous dummy to score under the posts for a simple conversion.
Tows’ makeshift back row were struggling without the charismatic Eugen Baxter, as he was taken to hospital earlier on. However number eight Craig Holton came to the rescue running in off the back of a scrum. Yuill converted.
The visitors came back with a further two West penalties to tighten the gap to just two agonizing points. Memories of the last game against Newbury began to haunt the Tows supporters as they remembered the extra time try but this time Tows weathered the pressure by going on the offensive, Dave Stocks away from scoring his second of the day and Tows spent the last quarter camped in the Newbury 22.