BARFC 2nds 64, Clevedon 2nds 19 (19/09/15)

For the third week in a row, Bridgwater seconds mirrored the fixtures of first team and played host to Clevedon II’s. With two big wins under their belt on the road, Bridgwater were looking to make a statement on home turf and begin to make College Way a fortress. Clevedon have recently returned to Somerset 1 after spending one season in Somerset Premier. Bridgwater thought the game would prove to be a tough one with this experience under the opposition belts and with their recent poor track record against Clevedon IIs. The game turned out to be a 13-try thriller with Bridgwater taking the lion’s share of the points after scoring ten of those tries.

Due to player unavailability, Adrian Tew and John Hill were called upon by the clubs first team to play in the clash of the first teams. Olly Steward also became unavailable on Saturday morning after waking up with a gammy eye after some contact lens difficulties. Bridgwater fielded a much changed side with the highly experienced Dave Norman starting at prop and Alan Trunks and Adam Modrynzski coming up from the third team to provide a heavy-weight bench for the twos. In the backs, Roger Drabble started at scrum half with Jay Owens shifting to fly-half after James Collings ‘hurt his back’ in the Chard victory. Dan Lang shifted to inside centre with a debutant Liam Gillard starting at outside centre. Ryan Barnett, Kyran Devitt and Tom Denovan made up the back three.

Hooker Tom ‘Spud’ Hillman was first over the whitewash moments after Doug Page-Symonds was denied the opening points for a knock on whilst grounding the ball. Bridgwater built the phases well all game – a skill they have struggled to deploy so far this season. After a number of phases and a good run from Ryan Barnett, Spud crashed through an opponent, barely slowing on his way to the try line. The wide conversion was missed by Denovan 5-0.

Clevedon hit back with a try of their own, also scored out wide. After using the width of the pitch really well, they stretched the Bridgwater defence and exposed the right wing with a well worked overlap. The inevitable result was a score in the corner which was not converted 5-5. In the build up to the try Liam Gillard split his eyebrow open and had to leave the pitch to go to hospital. Unfortunately for him, his debut had only lasted about 10 minutes and had earned him three stitches. Scott Franklin replaced Gillard but came on at scrum half with the rest of the back line shifting out one.

Jay Owens carried well and went on a bulldozing run gaining some good yardage into the Clevedon 22 and sucking in a handful of defenders in the attempts to bring him down. Drabble swept across the pitch in front of the Clevedon defence before Lang hit a superb line off of him, dissecting the Clevedon wall and strolling in from 10 metres out. Denovan scored the conversion to take Bridgwater’s lead to 12-5.

In-form winger Ryan Barnett scored his third try of the season after a period of forward dominance. A text-book driving maul from the line out ate in to the Clevedon territory. Despite the Clevedon efforts the maul rolled on and on. The pack splintered and the backs were given the ball. Some quick hands and a miss pass to Barnett provided him with enough space to work his way around his opposite man to score in the corner. Denovan missed the conversion – 17-5.

With the first half nearing its conclusion, Bridgwater earned a lineout near the Clevedon 10 metre line. A well drilled driving line out surged forward and when things started to get messy in the Clevedon defence, Bridgwater broke into open play. A number of forwards carried forward before Mitch Windsor found a gap and squirmed through, slipping out of a tackle and rounding under the posts. Denovan converted easily to leave Bridgwater at 24-5.

Joe Stradling added his name to the score sheet after using his slippery socks to good effect. He cut a nice line off of Drabble, wrong-footing the Clevedon back line and slipping between two ‘tacklers’ to score near the posts. Denovan added the extras again to take the score to 31-5.

Barnett’s fourth try in three games was a classic wingers try. After Bridgwater had committed a number of defenders to the ruck area an overlap was created. Some good handling from the back line saw Barnett with the ball in space as the extra man. He easily beat the covering full back and swung in under the posts. Denovan converted to further Bridgwater’s lead to 38-5.

Ranson was the benefactor of a dominant Bridgwater scrum, who went forward at every opportunity. When they won a scrum five metres out there was only one thing on the minds of the pack. On the first attempt, a Clevedon player infringed by losing his bind early and coming around the side of the scrum. Bridgwater elected to scrum again and were rewarded when Ranson flopped over the line to secure another 5 five points. Denovan converted to turn it into a 7 point try, 45-5

Roger Drabble joined in the fun and after some patient play and good discipline whilst building the phases, a perfect opportunity arose for a player of his speed and agility. Although Clevedon had the greater numbers on the open side, there was a lot of space around the mismatched back lines. Franklin and Drabble linked well and the latter fixed his opposite man before neatly rounding him and scoring in the corner. Jay Owens stepped up to convert and although he had the accuracy, he lacked the power to successfully convert, 50-5

Windsor’s second try came courtesy of some rather outrageous handling from Doug Page-Symonds. His round the back, one handed, no look pass was an absolute treat for the fans and players alike. It was like watching a Swedish Sonny Bill Williams at his best. The unexpected pass caught the Clevedon defence unawares and Windsor cruised in for his second. Devitt successfully converted the try to take the score to 57-5.

Clevedon managed to scrape back a try for themselves after some strong running and shoddy tackling; they quickly made their way up the pitch. They smartly worked the blind side, sucking in the Bridgwater defence before clinically making use of the extra men on the open and a mismatch in the centre of the pitch. The try under the posts was easily converted via a drop goal which slightly reduced Bridgwater’s lead to 57-12.

Adam Modrzynski had come off the bench earlier in the game to replace Matt Ranson (after a first half cameo for the slightly sore Joe Stradling) and capped off his return to the second team with a classic Modrzynski try. The forwards built the phases and with holes opening the backs wanted quick ball. Modrzynski had other plans and powered his way through the crumbling defence to score. Devitt miss the conversion 62-12

Disappointingly for Bridgwater, Clevedon had the final say in the match and scored the final try in the last play of the game. Some poor discipline and slow reactions from Bridgwater led to a huge amount of field position being ceded to Clevedon. Bridgwater seem to fall asleep and some nimble footwork from Clevedon saw them scythe through the scattered defence. The score was again under the posts and easily converted. This act somewhat tarnished a fantastic performance from Bridgwater who will still be happy, especially after the referee awarded an extra conversion, with the 64-19 victory.

This third bonus point win from three games moves the twos to the top of Somerset 1 on points difference. They lead Imperial by a points difference of +79 which could make the encounter between the two sides in a few weeks time even more interesting. First however, Bridgwater must travel to the tough venue of Bristol Barbarians whom currently sit in 4th place after losing to Imperial this weekend.

Team: Denovan, Barnett, Gillard, Lang, Devitt, Owens, Drabble; Norman, Hillman, Woolford, Page-Symonds, Stradling, Windsor, Sluman (Capt), Ranson
Reps: (All Used) Trunks, Modrzynski, Franklin
Tries: Hillman, Lang, Barnett (2), Windsor (2), Stradling, Ranson, Drabble, Modrzynski
Cons: Denovan (5), Devitt

Category: 2nd Previews / Reports -XV, 2nd XV News