When your supporters tell each other between drinks “A wins a win” you know that the result was not quite as good as expected.
The general opinion was that the team played OK but perhaps were not as inventive as they could have been to changing on field circumstances.
Bude started strongly attacking our line, we defended well and all they came away with was three points after seven minutes of attacking. That sort of took the steam out of them and we started to get it together and pressurise their line. On the fifteen minute mark we got in close to their line, Ben McGowan doing well making lots of ground with dazzling sidesteps as if he was in Strictly Come dancing. The spectators felt we should have taken the chance of an easy penalty rather than go for the lineout, that was rather less than its normal solid self.
Bude held out and got the ball down to our line, they messed up and we won a defensive scrum, kicking out to safety.
Only on twenty seven minutes did we take the lead, in a slender fashion. Once again we were in their twenty two and looking likely to score, from a five meter scrum the ball went along the line, Mark Symes opened a barn door, confusing the defence then slipped the ball out to Josh Perkins who made the yards to touch down on the top eastern corner.
The conversion went wide.
Ten minutes later, same again, attacking with determination, the ball going this way and that eventually getting to Josh Perkins on the wing who dived in for his second try touching down on the same blade of grass, Rhys Williams put over a good conversion from the north side line and we were 12 ~ 3 ahead on half time.
The second half started well with lots of attacking their line, Ben McGowan again made good ground and deserved a try for his efforts.
It seemed as if it was only time before we broke through to score. Bude looked as if their fitness, or lack of it, was going to tell, the scrums were sort of even, each side pushing or turning the other, we did take at least one ball against the head.
We got over their line once only for the referee to pull us back for a forward pass. The crowd, who were fifty yard back noisily disagreed with the referee who was right there.
This lasted for fifteen minutes then we gave the ball to Bude who attacked and attacked our line, we defended everything. They were not very inventive and kept on trying to batter through like a fly going at a closed window, never seeming to learn that they were never going to score that way.
In a way we were fortunate, a couple of times in each half they did try to get the ball out to their wings, fortunately either the outside centre failed to pass as he had been trained to or the winger failed to catch the ball as he had been shown. Try possible overlaps were squandered and we lived on.
This went on for the best part of half an hour, they retained the ball well and we defended their fly like attacks well. Now and again we kicked out and started an attack only for Bude to get the ball back and, like Christmas TV, repeat what they were doing before. They missed a penalty and with five minutes to go did get one to close the gap to a 12~6 lead that with a converted try by them could have lost us the game. Luckily for us they never looked like doing it.
With the last move of the game we won a penalty just outside their twenty two and a quarter of the way in.
We kicked the ball in to the stand allowing the referee to blow.
Afterwards the Badger’s of the club, over beer, thought that the wrong option, we should have gone for the posts, with the possibility of three points to prevent them getting a bonus point.
Dave O felt there was the risk of the ball hitting the post, bouncing back in to their hands and being run back for a seven pointer.
We, for the fifth week, stayed in eighth place while Bude dropped a place.
Next week we take on top of the table St Austell away. Now that is going to be a real challenge and while I would like to think we have the skill to giant kill I am sure that at the least we can steal a bonus point.