BOGNOR 25 TROJANS 21

BOGNOR 25 TROJANS 21

Bognor were behind for the majority of this match but, having squandered several opportunities to take the lead, the winning try was scored just two minutes from the end of a pulsating contest. With the memory of a drubbing at the hands of the same opponents four weeks earlier still fresh in their minds, the home players and supporters understandably celebrated wildly at the final whistle. The win moves Bognor above New Milton, a position they should be able to hold, both teams having just one league fixture remaining.

Trojans began the game full of confidence, their big forwards defending and carrying strongly and their talented fly-half controlling the game, just as he did in the first encounter. They showed their intentions when they ignored an easy shot at goal, opting for an attacking scrum instead, but the home front row held firm and Bradley Caparo cleared his line.

A strong wind accompanied by torrential rain early on made handling difficult and neither side was able to gain control but Caparo, after thirty minutes, put over a sweetly-struck penalty from 40 metres to give Bognor the lead.

Trojans’ tight-head prop then lost his head and received a red card for punching, leaving his team with the daunting prospect of playing the rest of the match a man short. Far from being fazed, however, the Hampshire side took the game to Bognor and were soon rewarded with an equalising penalty.

Trojans, with the help of some weak Bognor tackling, proceeded to make inroads into the home defence and it was no surprise when, after 33 minutes, they were rewarded with an equalising penalty, quickly followed by their first try.

Bognor replied immediately from the re-start, Jamie Foote making the initial break before handing on to his skipper, Shane Stevens. The big second row evoked memories of his days on the wing when he released Tyrone Makasi with a perfectly-timed pass. The flier needed no second invitation and he screamed over for Bognor’s first try of the afternoon.

The home side then proceeded to mess up the first of several scoring opportunities before and after halftime due to a poor execution of passing, leaving a frustrated Head Coach Karl Flinn wondering if this was going to be a one of those days. Things got even worse immediately after the break when a sleepy defence was caught out and Trojans strolled over for their second try.

Bognor’s man-of-the-match Alfie Spurle single-handedly pressurised the visitors into a mistake and Josh Burgess counter-attacked with a great line before feeding Foote. The big flanker showed an impressive turn of pace, leaving the visitors’ backs in his wake, and sprinting fifty metres for Bognor’s second try. The missed conversion meant that, with twenty minutes left, Bognor were still two points behind, but the gap was soon increased to five following a successful Trojans penalty.

Bognor hit back again, Makasi tearing down the right wing before chipping ahead for his centre Jeremy Newton-Young to chase. The Frenchman, celebrating his country’s success over England the previous weekend, controlled the bouncing ball superbly to score Bognor’s third try.

At eighteen points each the match looked set to end with honours even but there were two more stings in the tail. First of all Trojans looked to have snatched victory as they kicked their third penalty of the match and then, with time running out, Newton-Young combined again with Makasi on the right hand side. The centre’s pass left Makasi with a 1v1 which invariably means no contest. Sure enough the pacy crowd-pleaser raced over for his second and Bognor’s fourth, bonus-point try to secure a much-needed win, Caparo putting over the conversion for good measure.

This Saturday Bognor travel to Eastleigh who beat New Milton last Saturday. All support is welcome. KO 3pm.

Leighton Thomas