BOURNVILLE TACKLE SUTTON TO A STAND-STILL

Bournville came away from a rain-sodden Rowheath with a convincing win over Sutton Coldfield. Director of Rugby, Rob Sigley, was able to recall Adam Coniff and Carl Colvin to the starting line-up whilst Matt Dickerson’s broken hand allowed veteran second-row, Dai Hallmen, to make his first appearance of the season from the bench.

Bournville started brightly and an early period of pressure gave them a 3-0 advantage when Alex Warner calmly slotted a penalty from 35m out. However, Sutton soon showed why they are highly placed in the table and took the lead with a catch and drive by former Tongan captain, Hesy Fakatou, close to the Bournville line. The conversion was missed but Bournville knew now that they were in a game.

Bournville’s advantage was restored when inside centre Jon Ball showed great strength to dive over the line, with Warner’s conversion giving Bournville a 10-5 lead. Shortly afterwards, Warner added another penalty to extend the lead to 13-5. The wet and blustery conditions meant that the score-board was untroubled for the rest of the half as a series of errors prevented either side from creating any real openings.

In the second half, it was a different story as Bournville upped the tempo and produced some of their best rugby of the season. Carl Colvin capped a fine running performance with a superb try from distance which Warner again converted to make it 20-5.

Rob Sigley, on for the injured Ian Coles, then powered over out wide following great hands by his fellow front row partners Dean Bick and Paul Coles. Sutton showed some fighting spirit when they crossed for a converted try of their own shortly afterwards to bring the scores back to 25-12 but Bournville didn’t take their foot off the gas.

The result was put beyond any doubt when number 8, Nick Southern fed scrum-half Robbie Harlow for the New Zealander to cross the whitewash for the first time this season. Warner capped a fine afternoon with the boot with another conversion, making the final score 32-12.

After the game, Director of Rugby Rob Sigley commented, “It would have been very easy after last week’s cup success to fall below par today but the boys showed that we are now able to consistently perform at the top level. We’ve got three tough games in the run up to Christmas so will need to keep our focus.”

Next week, Bournville travel to Walsall for what should be a challenging fixture, kick off 2.15pm.

Bournville line-up:
1. Paul Coles, 2. Dean Bick, 3. Ian Coles, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Rob Griffin, 6. Adam Cristol, 7. Tom McIntosh (c), 8. Nick Southern, 9. Robbie Harlow, 10. Alex Warner, 11. Iestyn Pratt, 12. Jon Ball, 13. Carl Colvin, 14. Adam Connif, 15. Alex Ward, 16. Rob Sigley, 17. Dai Hallmen, 18. Fou.  Stand-out player: Paul Coles