Bournville needed most things to go right if they were to cause an upset at Mortimer Park. Instead most things went wrong and a heavy defeat was the predictable outcome.
The absence of 12 frontline players through injury or unavailability meant that Bourns were forced to travel to Herefordshire with a severely depleted squad and Luctonians were still licking their wounds after a surprise defeat at Loughborough Students seven days earlier.
Bourns could not be faulted for their commitment or willingness to try to salvage another try bonus point but most of their mistakes were punished by a extremely well-drilled Luctonians side who ran in 11 tries and had the bonus point in the bag after 20 minutes.
Bourns returned empty handed with just a first-half try from Jonjo Fanning to show for another tough afternoon on the road and a week off could not come at a better time for a squad that has taken plenty of knocks in the first two months of the campaign.
Hopefully the margin of this defeat will not damage the confidence of the squad. The manner in which they kept tackling and attacking to the very last was, at least, a positive sign.
In recent matches Bourns have started well but here they were chasing the game after Luctonians crossed for the opening try after seven minutes and added another when scrum-half Owen Randell celebrated his 100th appearance by rounding off a flowing attack.
Wing Charlie Grimes profited from a ball that bounced unkindly for Bourns’ full-back Rhys Williams Goldman to score the third try and missed tackles proved costly as openside flanker James Mear went over for the bonus point try.
Bourns then enjoyed their best period of the match as they denied Luctonians a further score for 19 minutes and got one back when Fanning muscled his way over from a lineout drive.
But an attempt to attack from deep led to Bob Bray scoring for Luctonians on the stroke of half-time and, after a brief period of Bourns pressure early in the second-half, the tries came at regular intervals for Luctonians.
Dropped passes and awkward bounces contributed to Bourns’ problems but Luctonians were clinical in capitalising on them.
Randall ended the match with a personal haul of 28 points – two tries and nine conversions – while Bourns gave game time to an inexperienced bench including Jamie Maynard, son of Managing Director Phil, who made his senior debut.
*Bournville Blues enjoyed home comforts for the first time this season and banked a bonus point win with a 41-29 success against Claverdon at Avery Fields in Counties Two Midlands West (East).
