Bournville Manging Director Phil Maynard was delighted with the way the players adopted and stuck to a different game plan to overcome Drybrook 29-0 in a mudbath on their first-ever visit to The Mannings.
Maynard was in charge on matchday as Head Coach Alex Grove and Forwards Coach CJ Osazuwa were both unavailable for the three-times postponed match but, having coached Worcester, Birmingham & Solihull and Coventry before joining Bournville in a managerial role, there was still plenty of experience in the away team’s dugout.
Bourns expected – and got – a boggy pitch after all the recent rain in the Forest of Dean which they knew would make playing their usual fast, expansive game difficult. Instead they opted for a powerful forward-based driving game to wear down Drybrook and then to use tactical kicking to keep their hosts on the retreat.
The tactics worked a treat as Bourns banked a bonus point win to go five points clear at the top of the table and a huge defensive shift denied Drybrook a score of any kind despite intense pressure at the start and end of the second-half.
“Drybrook played very well in the second-half but we denied them any chance of scoring because the defence was outstanding today. They did feed the defence by coming up the middle all the time but you still have to stand firm,” Maynard said.
“They didn’t beat us at the numbers game when they tried to go wide so it was a great performance after all the ifs and buts with the three postponements.
“My question all year has been: can we adjust our game plan to suit conditions? We asked them today to tighten things up a little bit, put the ball behind them, be patient and play most of the game in their half of the pitch and put them under pressure so that we get the ball back in a number of strategically advantageous areas.
“They did that so they crossed the Rubicon in a number of ways today.”
There were strong performances across the team but lock Kieran Henderson deservedly took the Man of the Match award.
“He was outstanding. I don’t know where he gets his energy from to be honest,” Maynard said.
“To play a. in the second row and b. on a pitch like that and still be able to dance round people and score a try from the breakdown is outstanding.
“He’s had a great season, he’s one of the first names on the team sheet these days and I’m very pleased for him.
“He can play second row or back-row and he’s also had to play in the centre on occasions so he’s a highly adaptable player and a very good one.”
