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BARFC 2nds 14, Crewkerne 0 (17/09/16)

| 17/09/2016

Bridgwater IIs hosted their first game at College Way in the 2016-2017 season. After two good wins on the road against Weston Hornets IIs and Bristol Harlequins, Bridgwater were looking forward to facing Crewkerne, whom were promoted alongside Bridgwater last year from Somerset 1. Unfortunately, the performance was lacklustre and showed signs of rustiness, a game that resembled the first of the season not the third.

Bridgwater welcomed back Oscar Tregenna from his holidays and John Hill started his first game of the season after finishing his cricketing duties for Bridgwater. In the pack, Shaun Mahoney was promoted to the first with the old dog Gavin Knight back in the twos. Ali Blundell also returned to rugby after a cricket season and slotted into the engine room alongside Tom Lewis. Joe Stradling was making his first appearance for the twos after being with the first team for the first couple of games. He was joined in the back row by returning captain, George Sluman, who was back after a week off with a soft eyebrow.

Bridgwater were resolute in defence throughout the duration of the game and it was obvious to see that the team have worked hard on this aspect of their game throughout pre-season and the first couple of league games. The rustiness, and resulting disappointment, came more so in attack. Bridgwater failed to capitalise on a number of visits to ‘The Red Zone’ and struggled to string phases together to form a meaningful and decisive attack.

The fantastic attitude and work rate in defence was not mirrored in attack and Bridgwater found themselves easily isolated and turned over due to poor support play that was so good the previous week. As well as lacking support, Bridgwater also lacked the clinical edge from 1-15 that was needed to really put Crewkerne to the sword.

This was evident just before Bridgwater scored their first try of the game. A good break from Sluman down the blindside was almost wasted. After stepping past the winger, Sluman took the ball into the Crewkerne 22 and with numbers outside, he failed to execute the final pass that would have put Bridgwater ahead – muppet! The ball was lost in the ruck that followed. With the opportunity all but gone, Sluman managed to, almost, make up for his transgression by charging down the clearing kick. Tregenna was prowling and was more than happy to scoop up the loose ball 5 metres out and dive over the line to open his, and Bridgwater’s account for the afternoon. Hill added the extras and Bridgwater took a 7-0 lead.

The game ebbed and flowed between the two 22s with some good play but nothing that resembled a scoring chance from either team. Bridgwater gathered a collection of almosts and maybes. Poor handling was the main contributor to the error strewn display with the shining light being Bridgwater’s scrum, which was dominant when they were allowed to compete on level playing field with Crewkerne.

Half time came with no further scores with only one missed penalty from Crewkerne coming closest to impacting on the score. Shortly after the interval, Blundell was replaced by Josh Sturdy who came onto the flank with Stradling moving to the second row.

One of Bridgwater’s more promising attacks was halted abruptly just inside the Crewkerne 22 after high tackles on Ryan Barnett and Dan Lang either side of the line. Bridgwater were only awarded a penalty and the opportunity went begging once more.

Tregenna bagged himself some more meat after a smooth lineout saw the Bridgwater backs receive quick ball. Tregenna was found with space on the left wing and he pinned his ears back and took flight down the wing. The desperate Crewkerne chasers’ attempts were in vain and Tregenna score a fine individual effort from about 60m out. Hill added the extras again and Bridgwater extended their lead to 14-0.

Another missed penalty, this time for Bridgwater was the only further realistic attempt to change the scoreboard. Bridgwater lost full back Ryan Barnett to the bin for the last part of the game after his high tackle deep in the Crewkerne half – harsh punishment after his earlier treatment at the hands of the Crewkerne defenders.

Bridgwater travel to Gordano next week and will be working hard on improving their attacking prowess during training to make their all-round performance more complete.C

Team: Barnett, Lang, Bradley, Kerry, Tregenna, Hill, Franklin; Norman, Knight, Tew, Lewis, Blundell, Stradling, Sluman (Capt), Steward

Substitutes: (Used) Sturdy (Not Used) Moulding, Johnson

Tries: Tregenna (2)

Cons: Hill (2)

Category: 2nd XV News

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