Bournville Head Coach Matt Price has paid tribute to departing full-back Owen Williams who made his 100th and final appearance in the National Two West defeat by Macclesfield two weeks ago.
Work commitments have taken Williams to London leaving Bournville with a significant gap to plug as he is rated by Price as a player capable of playing two leagues higher.
“Owen is a class player and he is a player that could quite easily play one or two levels above where we are,” Price said.
“He has been our stand-out player for a number of years. We are disappointed to see him go but we wish him all the best for whatever he does in the future and thank him for everything he has done for club.
“He’s a proper safety net at the back and a threat coming forward and we are certainly going to miss him.
“There are a couple of boys who now have got to put their hand up and say: Look, I want to take that opportunity and run with that.”
Apart from Williams, Bournville are also likely to be without back-row forward Chris Idehen and wing Will Aylen for the second-half of the season.
Idehen suffered an Achilles tendon injury early in the victory over Loughborough Students in October on only his second appearance of the season following his return from concussion.
Aylen has undergone reconstruction surgery on an anterior cruciate knee ligament which he sustained playing on the sevens circuit last summer and now looks certain to miss the entire season.
Scrum-half Tom Lucas, a summer recruit from Sutton Coldfield, also looks set for a season-long lay-off as he has been booked in a for scans to identify the cause of a persistent hamstring problem.
But Lucas’s absence has been partly-compensated by the arrival of Reiss Price from league rivals Luctonians who has impressed since he turned up for training just before Christmas and scored a hat-trick of tries for Bournville Blues against Worcester Seconds two weeks ago.
Tighthead prop Chad Thorne is Bournville’s other long-term injury concern having sustained a hairline fracture of his chest bone against Cinderford four weeks ago.
Fly-half Jacob Fewtrell will be back in the mix for selection when Bourns resume their league campaign at Redruth next week as he has returned from exam commitments.
