Bournville’s new Forwards Coach Tom Manise praised the character of the players in bouncing back from the opening day defeat at Redruth to take maximum points from a thrilling 43-38 home win over Lymm at Avery Fields.
Bourns were heavily beaten at Redruth but were a transformed side against Lymm although they had to dig deep before Sam Grimshaw went over for the winning try three minutes from time as a 24 points lead midway through the first-half was twice eroded to a point in the second period.
“We always knew it was going to be a big battle and a return from last week. The lads showed a lot of character coming back from last week, they trained really hard in the week,” Manise said.
“We said in the week that last week’s performance wasn’t us and we couldn’t recognise how we looked on the Saturday. This week we wanted to put it to bed and come back fighting.
“One of our aims this year was to have a good home record so getting the first one in the bag is nice to have.
“There was a lot of toing and froing in the game but I think we showed a lot of control and composure and our bench made a massive impact when they came on.”
Jonjo Fanning, in particular, was one of those who impressed when he came on in the second-half. The number eight, who was used as replacement hooker, carried hard and also put in a series of juddering tackles which helped to stifle Lymm’s hopes of returning home with five points.
“I think Jonjo had a point to prove, and I think he proved it,” Manise said.
“Callum Nicholls, Jake Thompson and Adam Shaw also had a big impact, Jacob Fewtrell controlled the backline really well and Will Tanner came in at the last minute because Cam Smith was late and did a great job and got his first try for the club.”
