Bournville 29 Luctonians 38
Bournville’s resilience earned a try bonus point but it could have been so much more in the proverbial game of two halves at Avery Fields.
Luctonians were 26-0 up after 30 minutes and 31-5 ahead at half-time but they were relieved to hear the final whistle after Bournville’s attacking enterprise had them rattled.
Second-half tries from Sam Grimshaw, brothers Owen and Rhys Williams and debutant replacement centre Jack Fitzgerald put Bournville in touching distance of a losing bonus point and possibly securing a draw.
But Luctonians held on for their fourth straight bonus points win of the season and Bournville were left to reflect on a tentative first-half performance in which they got on the wrong side of referee Ben Simpson.
“Ultimately we have conceded 38 points at home, lost the game and come away with one point so it’s a disappointing day,” said Head Coach Matt Price.
“We set out with a game plan to box them in and be solid in our defence and we were in the first 15 minutes.
“Then a couple of little mistakes, individual errors and a couple of off-sides gave them field position. They take their chances extremely well and before we know it we are 14-0 down, we are chasing a bit, it goes to 21-0 and it’s a tough day the office.
“We challenged them to come out in the second-half and chip away at the scoreboard and we felt that if we got within a score that they would crack.
“I honestly think that they were close to doing that. You have to pat the boys on the back for coming back into the game but, as a group, we cannot be happy with losing a game and conceding 38 points.
“The penalty count is something that the officials have to look at. But when where there is an early penalty reversed because there’s a slap and we have then been off-side, got hands in and we arguing with the referee then we are not painting a perfect picture to the officials.
“We need to be able to do that. If we don’t then some of the 50-50s will go in their favour and that’s what happened.”
Luctonians had a try bonus point wrapped up before Bournville had mounted a meaningful attack but there was a hint of what was to come in the second-half when Owen Williams powered over for his first try five minutes before half-time.
Sam Grimshaw rounded off a superb sustained attack two minutes into the second period before Williams crossed again after 60 minutes and his brother Rhys clinched what could prove to be an important bonus point five minutes later.
Fitzgerald’s try three minutes from time continued the fightback but Jacob Fewtrell was unable to add a difficult touchline conversion that would have secured another bonus point and Luctonians were able to hold on to their nine points lead in an increasingly tense finale.
“When we change the point of attack and don’t just go crashing up and we move it, we tip the ball and attack on an edge we look dangerous,” Price said.
“Sometimes we can get drawn into being a little bit direct which we were. We have to got to look on the outside of the opposition and not always go through the guts of them.”
Owen Williams may have been named Bournville’s man of the match but it was rookie scrum-half Billy McDonough – who is barely old enough to drink legally – who could easily have taken home the bottle of wine.
McDonough, 18, recently left Bromsgrove School and arrived at Avery Fields via Worcester Warriors Under-18s team.
His only adult rugby before this match was 18 minutes in the pre-season friendly at Bromsgrove but he ran himself to a standstill in an impressive competitive debut before he suffered cramp 15 minutes from time.
“The coaches had a big discussion on Tuesday to decide whether we should give a lad who had played only 20 minutes of adult rugby a start in National League rugby,” Price said.
“We all came to the decision that Billy deserved a chance to do that. He was superb today. To triple the minutes of adult rugby you have played and against a team that are going to be at the top of the table and to play as he did was outstanding.
“He was up against Louis Silver who has been around the block and knows the game inside out. He’s very efficient with his box-kicking and everything else and I’m sure that Billy will look at that and get a lot from that.
“Jack Fitzgerald also added a spark at 13 when he came off the bench for his debut, as did all the bench which is very pleasing.”
Through the Viewfinder
Andrew McCumiskey
