With the first team aiming to gain a victory over recent rivals, Old Hales, the second team travelled the hour and a half to Ludlow in an attempt to maintain their unbeaten run this season.

In the shadow of Ludlow Castle, Bournville started brightly, putting together some excellent passages of play. With Paul Jacobs pulling the strings at fly half and the imperious Matt Dickerson making himself felt at the breakdown, the lion’s share of possession went to the men in maroon and the first breakthrough came when Rhydian Smith dived over following some sharp play from the backs, although his celebration left a lot to be desired.

Bournville continued to keep their foot on the gas and a flowing move starting from great lineout work by Andy Tams led to winger Lee Chaney touching down in the corner. With the forwards providing a good platform, Jacobs was able to show more than just his distribution skills and cut a great line to end the half with another score.

Half Time: Bournville 20 – Ludlow 3

The second half came in stark contrast to the first. Having played most of the rugby, Bournville succumbed to the scrappy style of the Ludlow team and, cheered on by their supporters, began to claw their way back into the game. In credit to Ludlow, they worked hard and made the most of Bournville’s mistakes as they scored following a period of pressure.

Bournville managed to turn on the style again briefly, again playing Chaney into space and watching the stocky winger power through to put them further ahead. However, this couldn’t lift a game that had descended into cheap shots and off the ball incidents. Ludlow continued to live off Bournville’s mistakes and, late on in the second half were awarded another try from a dubious tap and go penalty that the referee later admitted should not have been allowed.

Closing the game out as winners, the second team were left to reflect on the excellent rugby they are clearly capable of and must maintain if they are to remain unbeaten and win the merit league.

Final Score: Bournville 25 – Ludlow 13

Man of the Match: Matt Dickerson