Bournville Head Coach Matt Price praised his players for their efforts in atrocious weather conditions and an agonising 20-18 defeat against Cinderford at Avery Fields.
Storm Darragh battered the ground all afternoon with a combination of strong wind, driving rain and numbing cold making conditions thoroughly miserable for players and spectators alike.
Bournville mastered the conditions for 90 per cent of the match and were only a couple of minutes away from beating a side that had spent the previous six seasons in National One until three penalties in quick succession gave Cinderford an attacking opportunity which ended with centre Harry Johnson landing the deciding kick from the final play.
“It’s a tough one to take. The conditions were brutal for both sides but I thought we managed them really well and we still managed to play a fair bit of rugby,” Price said.
“We tried to move the ball and our kicking game was outstanding. The boys stuck to the game plan to the T.
“Tight games like that come down to one or two little moments and we just lost that at the end which gave them the opportunity for three points which they took.
“I said to the boys afterwards: we can’t knock you at all. You have grafted, you have worked hard, you have followed the game plan and you have executed it.
“It comes down to a couple of moments and it’s tough. We have got to take it on the chin and we have got to become a side where it doesn’t happen to us and we nick those sort of games.
“How we get there is with a bit of confidence, a bit of know-how, a bit of looking after the ball when we are in their 22 and not coughing it up and not giving away a penalty in that middle third which we did and that put us under pressure. They are all learning points but we are a side that is all about learning.
“Cinderford are quality opposition, They are looking to bounce back straight away and to be in that top three if not winning it. They turned over Camborne last week, they know how to win games and that’s what we have got to get to. As soon as we do that we will push up the table.”
There were significant performances throughout the side with number eight Jasper Smith and centre Rob Knox carrying powerfully, wing Nathan Decalmer scoring a length-of-the pitch interception try, openside flanker Adam Shaw tackling and foraging industriously and hooker Ben Rhodes hitting his lineout jumpers despite the strong wind.
But Price felt that full-back Owen Williams – Bournville’s Mr Consistent – mastered the conditions better than anyone.
“We don’t often talk about Owen Williams but he is a league and above of anything in this league. He was outstanding today. His kicking, his positioning, his running was a cut above the rest,” Price said.
Bournville complete the first half of their league programme with a trip to Clifton next Saturday and are likely to be without two tighthead props, Stef Thorp and Chad Thorne.
Thorp has been hospitalised for tests to identify the cause of an illness and Thorne was taken to hospital on Saturday with a suspected fractured collarbone.
“Chad was flying, making hits everywhere and really busy at scrum time. It looks like quite a nasty one -his collarbone or chest bone. Hopefully it’s not too bad but he has gone off to hospital,” Price said.
“We had already lost Stef Thorp so we have got to look at that over the next couple of weeks. We have a couple of other options, Kurtis Payne being one of them and Kieran McGuire the other.”
