Bournville 30 Clifton 50
Bournville gave National Two West leaders Clifton an almighty fright before they went down to defeat on an emotional afternoon at Avery Fields.
When Jacob Fewtrell slotted a 46th minute penalty Clifton’s lead was just 24-23 but a burst of three tries in ten minutes – two of them while Adam Shaw was in the sin bin – settled the issue.
But Bourns were good value for their try bonus point and they emerged with plenty of credit in the final home match for the front-row partnership of James Burgoyne, James Weaver and Stef Thorp and Director of Rugby Paul Sumner.
The front-row trio had the honour of leading out the side before kick-off and Thorp was given a standing ovation when he came off late in the second-half to bring the curtain down on his long and distinguished playing career.
Weaver will be available for the season finale at Devonport Services but Burgoyne’s participation in that game, before he moves to Devon, is in doubt after he was sent off in the dying minutes for comments made to an assistant referee after Burgoyne appeared to have been head-butted – an offence that went unpunished.
It was Burgoyne’s second red card in three home matches and it would be shame if his Bourns career – he made his 100th appearance last season – ended on a low note.
Once again Bournville showed tremendous character and commitment against a side that had beaten Camborne seven days earlier to go top of the table.
Thorp and Weaver caused obvious discomfort to Clifton’s props in the scrums and Weaver played like a man possessed in the loose.
Bournville also successfully disrupted Clifton’s attack with some aggressive front-foot defence and it made for an compelling contest that was in the balance until Shaw was sent to the naughty step for kicking the ball away as Clifton tried to take a quick tapped penalty.
There were tries from Reiss Price, from a superb arcing run, after Clifton had retreated at a scrum, from wing Will Loftus after a period of sustained pressure and a penalty try just before half-time when Clifton collapsed another scrum and prop Jay Evans was sin-binned.
Fewtrell’s second penalty of the match had Clifton rattled but the visitors’ fly-half Ollie Milner dotted down in the attack that led to Shaw’s departure and that score was quickly followed by others from scrum-half Spencer Mitchell and hooker Tom Anderson, his second of the match.
Henry Harper grabbed the try bonus point for Bournville when he dotted down after Clifton were unable to control the bouncing ball and Fewtrell’s conversion raised hopes of a losing bonus point.
But Zak Hamid’s second try of the match dashed those hopes although Bournville’s total commitment was evident when Mikey Ho successfully charged down what appeared to be an easy conversion for Milner.
* Today’s game was sponsored by Innes England, who are an award-winning property consultancy, covering Birmingham, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.
Bournville thank Innes England for their ongoing support for the club which is greatly appreciated.
