BOURNVILLE BOW OUT OF CUP IN STYLE

This weekend saw a break from the league and Bournville were able to welcome defending champions Newport in the Quarter Final of the North Midlands Cup. This would be Bournville’s biggest challenge so far this season with Newport in the league above. Bournville had to deal with a number of injuries and players being unavailable which saw Rod Petty take the number 7 shirt (to be replaced at scrum-half by former club captain Steve Rice) and Rhydian Smith recalled to the side.  With an injury to Carl Colvin, Chris Humphrey had the job of partnering the returning Paul Cox in the centre.

The match started at a frantic pace with both teams looking evenly matched and trying to get the upper hand. Unfortunately Ian Coles took a nasty blow to the neck after only 1 minute of play and under the physio’s recommendation was told not to move until the ambulance arrived. I can happily report that he did not suffer any serious damage and was able to attend the Winter Ball. After a lengthy delay the match restarted with Newport taking the game to Bournville. Newport showed why they are in the league above with some great offloads out of the tackle area whilst playing the game at a high tempo. Their strong play was rewarded with 2 tries in the space of 5 minutes scored by their centre and No 8.

Bournville were gradually getting into the game with Paul Cox carrying hard and the forwards driving into the heart of the Newport defence. After a number of phases Newport gave away a kickable penalty which Alex Warner expertly kicked to put Bournville onto the score sheet. Excellent lineout work gave Bournville the platform they needed to launch an attack. Rob Petty broke through some fragile tackling in the Newport defence and instinctively passed the ball to Dan Barratt who skipped in to score a well deserved try, converted by Alex Warner.  Newport managed to get a bit more possession and advanced into the Bournville half. They again showed some clinical handling and after a number of phases their prop crossed the line for a try. With an entertaining half coming to a close there was enough time for Alex Warner to slot another penalty to leave the half time score at 17-13 to Newport.

In the third quarter of the match Bournville seemed to up their playing level with some clever attacking play and aggressive defence, epitomised by Chris Humphrey’s tackle on the Newport full back to be met by cheers from the large and enthusiastic home crowd. As Bournville started to wear down their opponents the penalties started to come with Alex Warner taking Bournville into the lead with 2 successful attempts out of 3. Bournville continued to press the Newport team for a score that would extend their lead but the Newport defence held firm.

As the half progressed Bournville were unable to maintain their high work rate and Newport came back into the game. Bournville’s defence remained strong on a number of occasions but a kickable penalty finally came for Newport to retake the lead. With time running out Newport were trying to pin Bournville in their own half. Newport’s fly half kicked well and having put one over the top of the Bournville defence the bounce favoured the visitors and good hands resulted in a try to stretch the lead to 9 points with only a few minutes of play remaining.

Bournville knew they had to act fast and went straight up the other end looking for a try. This was delivered by Bournville No 6 Rob Griffin but unfortunately the referee was out of position and did not see him ground the ball for what was a very clear try. After a number of further phases on the Newport line and with time almost having run out Hesy Fakatou powered over the line for a try converted by Alex Warner. With the referee signalling the final play at the restart Bournville had one last chance at victory. After numerous phases Bournville had bashed and bullied their way up past the Newport 10 metre line and Paul Cox was left in the pocket for a drop goal attempt which unfortunately dropped 5 metres short. This left the final score at 28-26 to Newport.

After the match influential player Dai Hallmen had mixed emotions, “It is always frustrating to lose a game we could have won but I felt that today was one of our better performances this year. Also taking everything into consideration we played well and can take a lot from our performance. Newport are a good side and gave us a big test before our crunch match with Sutton next week.” 

Next week Bournville return to the league with the eagerly anticipated match against Sutton Coldfield at the University. Both sides are at the top of the table with 11 wins from 11 matches, Sutton taking top spot with 2 extra bonus points. Last season Sutton finished one place above Bournville and they were unlucky not to get promoted. Bournville will be looking to continue there league form and lay down a marker for the rest of the season.

Bournville line-up: 1. Paul Coles, 2. Ian Coles, 3. Rhydian Smith, 4. Dai Hallmen, 5. Hesy Fakatou, 6. Rob Griffin, 7. Rod Petty, 8. Nick Southern, 9. Steven Rice, 10. Alex Warner, 11. Adam Coniff, 12. Paul Cox, 13. Chris Humphrey, 14. Dan Barratt, 15. Alex Ward, 16. Phil Brown, 17. Rob Sigley, 18. Tom McIntosh 19. Charlie Maunder 20. Ceri Myers 21. Jonny Richards.

Match report by Dicko. Match pics by Sully - click here.