Bridge come up second best on road to Old Millhillians

Bridge returned to league action for the first time in 2020 on the road to the equally high-flying old Millhillians looking to continue their pre-xmas form at a ground that has not yielded much success in previous years.

The game began following a thorough warm-up and it was clear OM’s had a similar style of play to Uxbridge, using the forwards and working the ball wide. OM’s seized the upper hand early on with a lineout on the Bridge ten metre line which was secured and worked across the pitch and back to score in the left hand corner.

Bridge returned fire putting the kick deep into the host’s territory and pressuring them from the kick. Possession was soon spilt up and a series of successive penalties for high tackles/offside allowed Ieaun Jones to kick for the corner. The lineout was secured by Mark Coles and Kyle Buckingham and was worked to the right flank through the hands for Graeme Bartlett to score and Jones ass the extras.

OM’s responded in kind with a penalty plum in front of the sticks of their own and their second try of the afternoon. Again Bridge stirred and after an almost carbon-copy lineout the driving maul was set up and was gaining momentum before being cynically collapsed to give Bridge the penalty. Jones took the quick tap and go and barraged his way over for Bridge’s second.

On the strike of half time, OM’s pacey back line seized on some sloppy defending and found a dog-leg to race through and take the half-time score to 24-12.

The half-time rallying call came to contest more rucks and play with more ball in hand and the second half started this way. Bridge laid siege to the line and with carries through the forwards of Adriano Martins, Will Child and Matt Coker. With the ball held up just short and a mix of slow ball and wrong decisions taken, OM’s got the penalty and managed to get the breakaway try and score their fourth of the afternoon.

The fifth came 20 minutes later after a good break down the left hand side, and with the Bridge defence scrambling, the backline worked the ball to the same spot Bartlett scored in the first half for Bridge.

As the game reached its conclusions, Bridge kept plugging away for a four try point and on the 80th minute, OM’s managed another breakaway to complete their scoring and take the game to 41-12.

Overall a disappointing day at the office for Bridge. This concludes H1 of the season with the draw for H2 announced this week.