Battling Bourns stung by Hornets

Hornets 27 Bournville 21

Bournville’s spirited second-half fightback narrowly failed to make up for a disappointing first 40 minutes and they missed out on a second win in six months at Hutton Moor Road.

Bournville were 27 points down at half-time and seemingly dead and buried but they dug deep in the second period and came away with the consolation of a losing bonus point after Clarkson McLeod, Jake Bailey and Rhys Williams went over for tries, all converted by Freddie Morgan.

It was almost the full  five points as Rob Knox thought that he had got over five minutes from time only for referee Ben Simpson to chalk off the try for crawling.

Bournville’s fighting spirit was again commendable but they again took too long to find their way into the game and left themselves with too much to do.

The less said about the first-half the better. Bourns were penalised for a myriad of offences by the young referee and once again the man in the middle’s interpretation of the scrum laws was the subject of much debate.

Inevitably, there are elements of guesswork and subjectivity when it comes to the dark arts of front-row play. But Mr Simpson appeared to believe that size=strength when it came to Hornets  burly prop Jake Caulfield who seemed to be the cause rather than the victim of the problems at scrum-time.

With a key part of their armoury effectively de-powered, Bournville were frustrated which spread into other areas of their game in the first 40 minutes when handling errors and poor decision-making added to their list of problems.

By the time Bourns had the chance to regroup in the changing room at half-time Hornets had the try bonus point in the bag and their choice of half-time music – Kool and the Gang’s ‘Celebration’ – suggested they thought that the win was also wrapped up.

But Bournville were a transformed side after the break and played with more precision and discipline to cause plenty of anxiety for the home supporters.

McLeod began the fightback when he drove over from close-range five minutes into the second period with Morgan adding the extras.

Another sustained attack was rounded off by Bailey who burrowed over and Williams, a late call-up to the bench after Sam Grimshaw suffered whiplash injuries in car accident in midweek, then sliced through.

Williams’s try came while Bournville were down to 14 men after James Burgoyne was sin-binned when the referee deemed him to have taken down a scrum.

A barnstorming ball carrying display from Jasper Smith spearheaded the fightback and Knox also added a cutting edge after Dan Rundle hobbled off late in the first-half.

Bournville threw everything at Hornets in the final 15 minutes but could not quite find another way through and had to settle for a fourth bonus point from three away games and with plenty of questions to ask of the match officials.

*Bournville Blues maintained their excellent start to life in the RFU Leagues with a fifth straight bonus point victory – 50-5 – over Dudley Kingswinford Seconds at Heathbrook in Counties Three Midlands West (South).

Through the viewfinder

Here is a link to a few photos from the game.

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Sully, Bournville’s always friendly (and free) photographer