Bournville 31 Drybrook 7
Bournville made it three home wins in a row and another with a bonus point thanks to an exhilarating first-half display at Avery Fields.
Bourns combined superb handling, aggressive ball-carrying and ferocious defence with a powerful set-piece which rocked Drybrook on their first visit to Avery Fields.
Bourns had the try bonus point safely wrapped up by half-time and were 31-0 up when hooker Ben Rhodes crossed for the fifth try four minutes into the second-half.
The disappointment was that Bournville could not score again in the last 36 minutes of the match but it was not for a lack of effort.
They got on the wrong side of Warwickshire referee Jamie Hanson for long periods of the second-half and lost Jake Thompson and skipper Ben Meakin to the sin bin in quick succession.
But it was only when Bourns were a man light that Drybrook finally breached their defences with the very last play of the match, an anti-climactic end to an otherwise impressive display.
Bourns could have conceded a try in the first minute when Mauro Miller gathered the kick-off but had his kick charged down by the Forest of Dean side.
Mikey Ho gathered the loose ball and gave an early demonstration of Bournville’s commitment to attack with one of his trademark Billy Whizz runs from close to his own line.
Superb interplay between forwards and backs saw Miller round off a length of the pitch attack to open the scoring.
Another sustained attack was rounded off by Meakin, who went over from close-range before Nathan Decalmer produced one of his specials after Drybrook coughed up possession just inside Bournville’s half.
The left wing snaffled the ball and accelerated away for a brilliant individual try which Jacob Fewtrell expertly converted despite a difficult gusting wind. The try was the perfect way for Decalmer to celebrate his 50th appearance for Bourns since he arrived from Teklford Hornets in the summer of 2023.
The bonus point was secured with the final play of the first-half and it came with another bold counter-attack with Miller making ground down the left, loosehead prop Danny Griffin hitting the line at pace and bashing a huge hole in Drybrook’s defence before he slipped the ball to Meakin who powered over with Fewtrell adding his third conversion.
When Rhodes went over from a lineout drive early in the second-half it looked like the floodgates might open, but Bournville were less accurate playing into the wind and they lost some of their shape and discipline which prevented them turning more possession and pressure into points.
There was particular frustration for Bourns in the scrums where Thompson was shown a yellow card after two successive scrums went down which gave Drybrook the opportunity to apply late pressure and send left wing Liam Harris over for a consolation try.
*Bournville Blues had to settle for two bonus points from a 26-24 defeat at Harborne in a Counties Two Midlands West (East) match at Westhill Playing Fields.
Number eight Ben Harper crossed for two second-half tries with lock Harry Belcher and skipper Bhairaj Rai touching down before the break.
Scrum-half George Ayliffe landed two conversions for Blues who sit seventh in the 12-team league.
