BOURNVILLE COMPLETE DOUBLE OVER LEAGUE-LEADER’S BURTON

Bournville completed the league double over Burton in a ferocious encounter between the top two teams in the league. Director of Rugby Rob Sigley was faced with a series of injuries before the game. Rob Griffin, Mike Holmes and Matt Dickerson were all unavailable from the forward pack forcing Sigley to select himself at second-row. In the backs, Chris Humphrey moved to fullback to accommodate Robbie Harlow’s return from scrum-half and Patrick Faamu made his debut for the first XV at inside centre.

Bournville started brightly and some excellent phase play saw them camped deep within the opposition half for much of the first 20 minutes. However, stern Burton defence prevented the deadlock from being broken. In fact, it was Burton who opened the scoring when a quick counter-attack from deep inside its own half was only halted by a Bournville infringement 30m out. The penalty was safely dispatched giving the home side a 3-0 lead. Despite some excellent attacking play from both sides, the score remained the same until half-time.

Almost immediately from the restart, Alex Warner levelled the scores with a penalty from 40m out following some excellent running from the Bournville pack. Some ferocious tackling, led by inspirational captain Tom McIntosh and veteran Dai Hallmen saw Bournville keep the home side pinned in their own half for long periods of play. Despite Bournville’s dominance, the home side took the lead again with 20 minutes left with another penalty.

Things looked to be going Burton’s way when Bournville number eight Nick Southern was forced from the field with a dislocated shoulder. However, Bournville weren’t going to go down without a fight and took the lead for the first time when a driving maul close to the Burton line was cynically pulled down, the referee awarding a penalty try. Alex Warner added the conversion making the score 6-10.

Things got even better for Bournville when Paul Coles and Iestyn Pratt combined to force a Burton turn-over close to their own line. With the referee playing advantage for a Burton infringement, Robbie Harlow showed quick thinking to dart over from 5m out. Warner was unsuccessful with the conversion but Bournville now had a 9 point lead.

Despite a late try from the home side and some pressure in the dying minutes, Bournville never looked like letting the result slip through their fingers and the final result was everything that they deserved.

After the game, Director or Rugby Rob Sigley commented, “I’m immensely proud of the performance shown by the players today. To come to a place like Burton and leave with the win is a fantastic achievement and one for which the club should be proud.”

Next week, Bournville welcome Camp Hill to Rowheath in the final fixture before the Christmas break. Kick off is at 2:15pm.

Bournville line-up:

1. Paul Coles, 2. Dean Bick, 3. Ian Coles, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Rob Sigley, 6. Adam Cristol, 7. Tom McIntosh (c), 8. Nick Southern, 9. Robbie Harlow, 10. Alex Warner, 11. Iestyn Pratt, 12. Patrick Faamu 13. Carl Colvin, 14. Adam Connif, 15. Chris Humphrey, 16. Rhidian Smith, 17. Dai Hallmen, 18. Steven Rice. Stand-out player: Dean Bick