Bournville 18 Cinderford 20
Bournville suffered the agony of a last-gasp defeat in dreadful conditions as Storm Darragh battered Avery Fields.
Bourns were just seconds away from victory but they were caught offside in their eagerness to try to repel one final Cinderford attack and centre Harry Johnson applied the punishment with a penalty with the final play of an absorbing contest.
Defeat was heart-breaking for Bournville who had played with tremendous grit, determination and commonsense for the overwhelming majority of the match only for the late lapse to cost them what would have been a deserved victory.
Both sides deserve credit for producing such a tight and entertaining contest in conditions that made handling and kicking almost impossible with a gale force wind making accurate lineout throwing and touch kicking a lottery.
They were helped by some light touch and empathetic refereeing from Sam Yates, a young, up-and-coming official who looks destined for higher recognition.
The wind was so strong that a giant fir tree next to the bottom pitch was blown down with an almighty cracking sound early in the second-half and without the excellent artificial grass pitch the match would certainly not have gone ahead.
Bournville had the wind, which blew diagonally across the pitch from the north-west, behind them in the first-half but they spent the first ten minutes in defence as Cinderford tried to use their hefty pack to batter their way over.
Bourns held them out and when Cinderford tried to attack down the short-side the alert Nathan Decalmer was there to snaffle the ball a yard from his own line then accelerate away for a poacher’s interception try that Freddie Morgan converted.
Cinderford responded with a try from centre Harry Johnson, who cut through while they were playing a penalty advantage, but the conversion was missed and Bournville scored next when Morgan landed a penalty.
Centre Will Baldwin sliced through for Cinderford’s second try which fly-half Luke McMahon converted to give them the lead for the first time but Bournville were back in front at half-time as Morgan levered over another penalty.
Although Bournville had to play into the wind and driving rain in the second-half the need to keep the ball in hand actually saw them produce some excellent controlled rugby.
The pressure on Cinderford told when lock Harry Dawson went over for a pick-and-go try but Morgan was unable to add the extras with the wind carrying his conversion wide.
Cinderford trimmed the deficit to a point again when lock Tyler Jerrum ploughed over from close range but Johnson missed the chance to give them the lead when he made a schoolboy error with his conversion attempt.
The centre paused after he had taken a step and Bournville charged him down with the ball still sitting on the tee. Johnson appealed to referee Sam Yates that Bourns had charged too soon but he was waved away by the official.
That looked like being a costly lapse as Bournville enjoyed a long period of pressure that ran down the clock.
But the pressure did not produce a score and Cinderford were able to lift the siege and then make the most of their final attacking opportunity at the other end.
Through the viewfinder
Well Storm Darragh certainly made its presence felt. I made an early inspection of my route to the motorway and soon discovered the problems a few fallen trees could cause. I had to write this one off. Luckily my apprentice 🙂 , Andrew, only lives a few miles away and decided to risk life and limb and turn up.
Here, hopefully, is the link to the photos: [https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjBUeev]
Hopefully normal service will be resumed for the Clifton game. Let’s see if Storm Eowyn makes an appearance.
Sully Bournville’s always friendly (and free) photographer (most times)
