BARFC 10, Clevedon 24 (11/03/16)

AN Other | 12/03/2016

Match report by Tony Pomeroy

Clevedon looked by far the better side in this re-arranged league game played under floodlights on Friday March 11th. Any lingering doubts the visiting side had regarding relegation should have been assuaged as they are now eight points clear of relegation with a game in hand.

In a match played in perfect conditions for rugby, and well controlled by young referee, Max Weston, Bridgwater had the better of the opening exchanges and put Clevedon under pressure. When Clevedon broke out of defence, some fine rugby saw the ball reach second row, Tim Statton, appearing on the right wing, and he crashed over in the corner for the opening score after seven minutes. Keiran Hill converted with an excellent kick from the touchline.

Clevedon continued to pressurise the home side and Hill kicked a simple penalty when Bridgwater offended in their own 22. Play flowed from end to end with Rob Allen running very hard for the home side.

When Clevedon were penalised Chris Ashwin missed the penalty chance that, on another day, he would have easily slotted. It was heading to be that sort of day for Bridgwater!

The only other score of the half was a massive penalty from Hill who easily landed a kick from close to half way, having minutes earlier fallen short with an attempted dropped goal from a similar position. Half time saw the visitors with a 0-13 lead.

At the start of the second half, Bridgwater began to make inroads into the Clevedon lead as Ashwin landed a 35m penalty when Clevedon did not release in a tackle.

Both sides had their chances to score. Bridgwater had a good three-quarter move going left before losing the ball and then Aaron Rice, for Clevedon, tore away down his wing and only a despairing tackle saved a certain try.

Hill then increased the visitors lead with another short-range penalty.

Bridgwater fought back and the pack contributed with a couple of good driving mauls. With the referee playing an advantage to Bridgwater, they moved the ball right where it reached speedy winger, Kyran Devitt. His searing pace took him past the defenders and he scored under the posts to leave Ashwin an easy conversion and a score of 10-16 going into the final quarter.

The ball continued to flow from end to end as both sides made mistakes and allowed turn-over ball. Clevedon sealed Bridgwater’s fate when, following a concerted pressure, Hill scored in the corner but showed his fallibility by missing the difficult conversion. However, he made amends later with another monster penalty kick from near the half way line to make the final score 10-24 in favour of the visitors.

Bridgwater showed only flashes of their early season form and must be more consistent if they are to turn their season around. Clevedon were very good value for this win, demonstrating powerful running and crisp handling.

Bridgwater having had an excellent first half of the season, have now suffered five defeats in their last six games and face the prospect of entertaining league leaders, Camborne, next Saturday.

Scorers:
Bridgwater & Albion
Try: Devitt
Con: Ashwin
Pen: Ashwin

Clevedon
Tries: Statton, Hill
Con: Hill
Pens: Hill (4)
Bridgwater Team
Rob Gurnett, Kyran Devitt, Rob Allen, Chris Ashwin, Tom Fournier-D’Albe, Jervis Manupenu, Scott Franklin, Lewis Phillips, Tom Hillman, Joe Bussell, Taylor Buller, Dan Kemmish, Luca Ercolani, Ollie Dunn (Capt), Joe Sluman (rep James McLachlan 46)
Replacements not used : Adrian Tew, Will Kerry
Referee: Max Weston (Somerset Society)

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