Bournville supporters did not get their Christmas wish of a first away win of the season as a lacklustre performance handed the points to DK in an attritional local derby at Heathbrook.
The result was disappointing as it followed such a dominant display against Hornets, doubly so because DK played the last 41 minutes with 14 men after their tighthead prop Chad Thorne was sent off for head butting Chris Idehen.
Bournville failed to make the numerical advantage count and instead of imposing themselves on National Two West’s bottom club, they were ponderous in attack, inaccurate at the lineout and were sunk by tries from wing Mark Harrison and full-back Theodore Mannion.
It was hard to believe that this was the same Bournville side that had played so well against Hornets but every inch of territory had to be fought for against a DK side who were quick to the breakdown and sharper in attack.
For the first time this season Bournville failed to score a try with the only points coming from a Jacob Fewtrell penalty after eight minutes which opened the scoring.
There were several try-scoring opportunities in the first-half but two powerful driving mauls from lineouts went unrewarded and right wing Alex Evans found himself without support when he sliced open the home defence with a brilliant individual run.
Instead, it was DK who levelled with a Mannion penalty on the half-hour with the major talking point of the first-half coming just before the break when there was a scuffle on the far touchline and, after lengthy conversations between the match officials, Thorne was shown a red card and Idehen a yellow for baiting the DK prop.
That should have been the turning point in Bournville’s favour but the sending-off appeared to galvanise DK while Bournville became more edgy.
Fewtrell was off target with a penalty kick after 55 minutes which might have settled a few nerves. The next score came from DK with Harrison crossing on the overlap after DK had worked their way into attacking positions through a series of penalties.
Mannion banged over the conversion from the touchline which meant Bournville required a converted try of their own to come away with a draw.
They went in search of it and appeared to be working themselves into a promising position when Mannion intercepted a stray pass on his own 22 and galloped away for the try which he also converted for a score that meant a 14-point swing.
Bournville’s coaching team will have plenty of time to reflect on this performance as there is now a month-long break before the league resumes with a home game against Old Redcliffians on January 13.
“What was lacking today was our accuracy and playing a little bit smarter. We had a lot of opportunities in the first-half to build a score and we didn’t take them,” said Head Coach Matt Price.
“When they went down to 14 there was going to be gaps. We have talked all week about moving the ball, getting to an edge and running them around and we didn’t do that. We got drawn into typical 14-man rugby with the sending-off galvanising them. We got drawn into a local derby fist fight and ended up losing. It’s as simple as that.
“We stopped playing. Last week we played, we tested them, we go onto an edge and we stretched them.
“We are a really good side when we move the ball and play it a little bit away from the gain-line. Today we got drawn into a gain-line battle and ended up losing it.
“When it gets nervy in a local derby you tend to tighten up. The more experienced players and the more quality players that you have will open that up and still stick to their game plan as much as we wanted.
“We just got nervy and tightened it up and didn’t execute and play as we wanted. But, full credit to DK, they did what they had to do when they went down to 14. They galvanised each other and came out with a four points to zero win.”
Through the Viewfinder
Lee Sullivan
