1st XV
Matches
Sat 09 Mar 2019  ·  Midlands 3 East (South)
Bourne RUFC
1st XV
22
26
Leicester Forest
Disappointing loss for 1st XV against Leicester Forest

Disappointing loss for 1st XV against Leicester Forest

Hannah Clark14 Mar 2019 - 22:36
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The 1st XV lost to Leicester Forest on Saturday despite a dominant start

Bourne were left feeling they'd missed an opportunity at the weekend and hoping that they won't be made to pay for not taking more from their game against Leicester Forest. Having seen off the fourth, fifth and sixth placed sides in recent weeks Bourne were confident they could compete with third placed Forest when they visited Milking Nook Drove and it was the home side that started brightly.

Despite playing into a strong wind Bourne dominated from the kick off and quickly found themselves threatening the Forest try-line. The hosts showed good patience as they built pressure through the forwards and this soon paid off. Having worked the Forest defence from one side of the pitch to the other Bourne then looked to go back the other way; as they did so centre Sam Thornburn (sponsored by Trevs Tyres) ran a simple line through the middle of the pitch and, ignoring a couple of potential tacklers, crossed under the sticks with ease. Scrumhalf Sam Evison (sponsored by Moon & Evison Ltd) added the conversion.

From the restart the Bourne forwards continued to build a platform. Prop Chris Greenwood (sponsored by Mulberry Homes) and second row Sam Harby (sponsored by Ian Knight Stonework Brickwork) carried well and they were well supported by their backrow counterparts Dan Smith (sponsored by Martin Bradley Body Repairs) and Adam Binns (sponsored by The Roma Group, Drain Doctor & Lisa Batty) who were invaluable in the loose.

With his side having progressed into the Forest twenty-two player coach Dave Maudsley (sponsored by DT Accountancy), at flyhalf, spotted a mis-match in their defensive line and managed to work his way through. Having then beaten the scrambling defence to the try-line Maudsley selflessly offloaded the ball to wing Josh Lynch (sponsored by Dave Maudsley) who had supported his run. Kicking into the wind Evison could do nothing but watch his kick drift wide.

Just a quarter of the way into the game Bourne were 12 - 0 up and by some margin the better side. But Forest began to enjoy some possession of their own and with every opportunity they looked to pin Bourne back in their own half. Eventually the hosts were undone as Forest, similar to Bourne's first effort, shipped the ball to both sides of the pitch. Stretching the Bourne defence Forest found a numerical advantage and eventually crossed for their first try.

Having regained possession from the restart Forest made some powerful runs back into the Bourne half and the home side were guilty of giving away a number of penalties. With Forest opting to kick to the corner Bourne found themselves defending a lineout on their own try-line and a number of breakdowns that soon followed. Bourne somehow kept Forest from scoring for an extended passage of play and were unlucky to concede in the dying minutes of the half.

Bourne's frustration at a number of the refereeing decisions was compounded as the referee appeared to get in the way of the Bourne defensive line impeding two tacklers who could then only half-tackle the Forest prop as he crashed over from five yards out. Bourne's appeals fell on deaf ears and with the conversion added they were unfortunate to be trailing 14 - 12 at half-time.

With the conditions now in their favour Bourne quickly took advantage in the second half and within minutes Evison had given his side the lead back with a long-range penalty effort.

But momentum quickly swung away from Bourne who seemed at odds with the referee for the bulk of the second half. A string of decisions went against the hosts and Forest capitalised on their growing frustration. Bourne, becoming less and less cohesive, didn't appear to have answers for either the ref or their opponents and seemed helpless for a large part of the game.

Not surprisingly Forest soon converted their pressure into points and their third try was almost a carbon copy of their second. This time though Bourne had no-one to blame but themselves as they seemed to be switching off from the game.

At 21 - 15 down Bourne looked to be throwing the win away but were still clinging to a losing bonus point. Forest though had become wise to Bourne's weakness and looked to disrupt the game at every opportunity. A number of meaningless fracases broke out and both sides appeared guilty of putting the rugby to one side in a sloppy twenty minute period. With the game in danger of spiralling out of control the referee started brandishing his cards, although this appeared to have little effect as frustrations continued to boil over. Forest appeared marginally better at keeping their cool and amongst all that was going on they added another try to their tally. Bourne's bonus point looked to have disappeared at this point with time running out.

But Bourne knuckled down and started to put their stamp back on the game. Some smart kicking from hand by Evison and fullback Jack Berry (sponsored by Ian Knight Stonework Brickwork) allowed Bourne to camp in the Forest twenty-two for much of the final minutes and this was backed up by strong carries from second row Andrew Brown (sponsored by The Roma Group) and captain Tom Dixon (sponsored by the Moorings). Eventually Bourne's pressure was too much and they managed to ship the ball to replacement wing Jack Fitch (sponsored by The Jubilee Garage) who then found Thornburn supporting on his inside. With Fitch's pass not quite making it to hand Man of the Match Thornburn had to check his run to collect the ball but still managed to crash through the Forest defence. Evison added a difficult kick and with just minutes left Bourne were 26 - 22 down.

Knowing that a try would still win the game Bourne gathered the restart with the intention of working their way back into the Forest half but they quickly coughed up possession and ironically spent the final minute defending frantically. Credit to the side, they worked tirelessly to ensure they came away with something and it was testament to the nature of the game that at the final play inside the Bourne twenty-two Forest, having won their own scrum, chose to end the game kicking the ball dead rather than playing any longer.

Maudsley was clearly disappointed after the game, "I genuinely think we lost that rather than they won it. We had a good lead with the conditions against us and failed to build on that, allowing them back into the game. Whatever we think of the ref we have to cope with his decisions - it's poor on our part that we become so frustrated and worse still that we couldn't then function as a side. We've talked recently about not being bullied by sides but when Forest saw us playing all the rugby in the first half hour they dragged the game down and us with it."

Skipper Dixon added: "It was good to run them close but it means very little when we could in fact have beaten them. A few things didn't go our way today and we allowed them to dominate our thoughts rather than put all our energy into our rugby. Forest are a well organised side with some decent players but more than anything they outsmarted us today."

Of the four sides below Bourne in the table only St Neots picked up a win but with it a winning bonus point, meaning that with four games remaining just eight points separate Bourne in eighth and St Neots in eleventh. With two teams to go down Bourne are hoping to have secured safety before they and St Neots meet in the last game of the season.

Match details

Match date

Sat 09 Mar 2019

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Midlands 3 East (South)

League position

2
Leicester Forest
6
Bourne
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Shirt Sponsor - JJ Mac Ltd
Club sponsor - Bakkavor
Club sponsor - The Roma Group
Seniors' sponsor - Jubilee Garage
Club sponsor - Warners PLC
Player sponsor - Mulberry Homes