Bournville 15 Bridgend Ravens 55
Bridgend’s burst of five tries in the final quarter decided this contest and gave Bournville plenty to think about ahead of their final pre-season match at Sheffield Tigers.
Had the fixture taken place, as initially scheduled, on August 31 a new-look Bournville side would have had more time to bed in and the result – as at the Brewery Field last season – might have been closer.
But the fixture was switched at Bridgend’s request and it was probably a tough assignment too soon for a Bourns side that included ten newcomers in the starting XV.
The final scoreline may have flattered Bridgend a little but the Welsh Premiership side proved well-organised and disciplined – as you would expect from a side coached by former Wales hooker Scott Baldwin – and were clinical in attack.
Until the 60th minute Bournville made a game of it and were only nine points adrift with wing Dan Rundle, a prolific try-scorer during his time with Stourbridge, impressing with a quick brace, the first after loosehead prop James Burgoyne had proved the highlight of the afternoon by making a 40-yard break including the hint of a sidestep.
Bournville’s opening try came from hooker Ben Rhodes, who went over from close range on the stroke of half-time, which began a fightback after Bridgend had scored 17 unanswered points – including three well-taken tries – in the first quarter.
It took Bournville a little time to settle and they were initially penalised at a sequence of scrums when it appeared that Bridgend’s loosehead was the cause of the issue.
But tighthead Chad Thorne gradually got the better of his opposite number and allowed Bournville to emerge from a long period of defence to test Bridgend.
Rundle’s tries, either side of an interception from Bridgend as Bournville attempted to attack from deep, appeared to have set up an intriguing finale.
Instead Bridgend pulled clear with a burst of three tries in eight minutes and added two more with another interception effort and one from close range bringing up the half-century.
Bournville | 15 Josh Tutt; 14 Alex Evans, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 Rob Knox, 11 Dan Rundle; 10 Jacob Fewtrell, 9 Jay West; 1 James Burgoyne, 2 Ben Rhodes, 3 Chad Thorne, 4 Kieran Henderson, 5 Ben Meakin (c), 6 Louis Mifsud, 7 Adam Shaw, 8 Jasper Smith.
Replacements | Connor Thorneycroft, Stef Thorp, Clarkson McLeod, Ben O’Sullivan, Lewis Hall, James Mann, Freddie Morgan, Dallas Ororo.
THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER:
Bridgend – a semi pro team several weeks ahead of Bournville in readiness for the start of the season, but, ignore our jittery start, there was plenty of promise on show.
Photos. Not too many from the 1st half as I had decided to position myself at the attacking end. Not too much to photograph, so I reverted to the walkaround method.
Let’s ignore the photographers jittery start, there is plenty of promise on show. Here they are: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sullybournville/albums/72177720319637698/with/53933155970
Sully – Bournville’s always friendly (and free) photographer
