Score belies strong performance until injuries disrupt the Bulls

St Ives started well from the opening kick-off attacked Bourne, the forwards making ground at will with good carries and inter play. Only their own errors stopped Ives scoring, allowing Bourne to relieve the pressure with good kicks. Ives would then work their way up the field, only for the pattern to be repeated for the first 15 mins.
At this point, from a lineout Bourne’s winger scored off a well worked move to take the lead.
The game ebbed and flowed. Bourne kicked a penalty to lead 10-0, but Ives always seemed in control despite the score board.
Then as a clearing kick missed touch, good hands against a scrambling defence saw Bourne go over the whitewash again and convert 17-0.
Ives forwards and backs combined to get to the 22 with good carries and interplay. Bourne infringed and Mitch Newman slotted the penalty, getting Ives get on the scoreboard for all their efforts.
17-3 at half time.
For the first 25 minutes of the 2nd half the Bulls were camped in the opposition’s half but were unable to the score. Bourne defended well in this period. Ives were unlucky for Josh Dear not to score from a tap penalty, only to be called back to re-take the kick.
Despite the efforts, unforced errors meant that throughout this period Ives pressure mounted to nothing. Then out of the blue Bourne created something to score again and the pressure was back on Ives. Injuries in the last 15 meant a rearrangement in personal, Bourne capitalised on this and took the game away from Ives.
Coach Paul Humphreys said, "For 65 minutes we were the better team. I felt this is one where the score board does not reflect the game. We had their scrum on toast, our backline was going well and our forwards broke the gain line frequently. The backs supported them well. We played with a desire and continuity we know we are capable of again, showing that 22 to 22 there are not many better teams than us.
“Had we scored during our dominance in the second half we would have gone on to win comfortably. We had silenced their partisan crowd and had Bourne scrambling in defence. Credit to them as they kept in the fight.
“There are lots of positives with Ollie Bartlett making his first appearance this season returning from injury, he along with Rob Olivier and Chris Williams being very effective in the back row. And Josh Taylor made his debut from the bench. Lots of good progress was made in the game. With a few things to work on in training and some errors corrected, the score could easily have been reversed.”