Wanderers Lose to Bourneville

The Wanderers lost by 36 points to 18 against promotion chasing Bourneville RFC in a compelling game of high quality.

Playing into the breeze on the first half the Wanderers took the game to their much bigger opponents who consistently infringed to stop the tide but, survived the referees wrath to take the lead when a missed Wanderers touch kick was capitalised upon by quick hands from the composed Bournville backs and Rob Eathough, the leagues top try scorer, scored a duly converted try.

The teams swapped penalties before Lee Watson, took advantage of a sustained period of Wanderers pressure to score from close range, Greg Fincher converting.

It was helter skelter stuff & highly entertaining as the referee took a liberal view on playing advantage. The half time whistle came much to the players relief.

The second half began with Bournville protecting the ball & starving the Wanderers of possession; their big pack rumbling forward at every opportunity, their experience showing through.

The Wanderers finally got some possession, Jake Saddington, who was constantly to the fore, burst through but, a turnover caught the Wanderers off balance and Bournville controlled the ball for several phases before scoring an unconverted try through Eathough.

The Wanderers were clearly rattled and leaked a third converted try shortly afterwards as Bournville extended their lead to 22 points to 10.

A Ned Anderson penalty reduced the deficit when Bournville transgressed yet again.

The Wanderers finally started to get some possession and territory but, came up against a well organised and resolute Bournville defence which was proving very difficult to breakdown.

It was Bournville, however, who scored again following a great solo effort from Nick Southern who took advantage of some Wanderers hesitancy to score under the Wanderers posts! 29 points to 13 with Bournville in the ascendancy.

The Wanderers, however, came back again and several piercing runs from Sam Carter & Ally McLaughlin forced Bournville to defend; finally the break came when the ball found Carter wide on the right, he showed great pace, strength and determination to beat the covering Bournville defence to score out wide. Anderson narrowly missed the conversion.

The Wanderers tried in vain to manufacturer a losing bonus point score; the Bournville defence was comfortable and with the last move of the game their patience paid dividends when quick ball on half way gave Eathough space; he placed a delicate kick into space behind the Wanderers and, showing great pace collected his own kick and beat the cover defence to score the final and, his hat trick converted try to secure a well deserved win for his side.

The Wanderers can justifiably be disappointed at the final score but, continued their education against a highly experienced and streetwise Bournville side who were deserved winners.

Stuart James
DoR