NPRFC 2ndXV 0, BARFC 2ndXV 43 (05/09/15)

AN Other | 05/09/2015

Bridgwater seconds kicked off their campaign in style with an emphatic win over local rivals North Petherton II. The game was originally scheduled to be played at College Way but was rescheduled to mirror the venue of the two clubs first teams. An early kick off meant that both sets of players were given the rare opportunity of watching their fellow team mates in action in what turned out to be a very successful derby day for Bridgwater. Bridgwater gave senior team debuts to Rob Gurnett and Scott Franklin who played in the centre and at scrum half respectively.

For a good 20 minutes Bridgwater soaked up the North Petherton attack and countered through Nick Spellissy, who opened the second teams account for the game and the season by finishing off a great team try. The forwards battered up the gentle slope into the Petherton 22 before releasing the backs into the wide, open space. The backs ran up to the 5 metre line before clearing the ruck and quickly recycling the ball back towards the forwards. Some quick handling from Rob Gurnett and Olly Steward allowed Spellissy to dive over the line outside of the posts. John Hill successfully converted the extras to give Bridgwater a 0-7 lead that they would not relinquish.

Steward and Spellissy linked up well again to create the second try with a cheeky one two move which eventually saw Steward over the line. The kick was unfortunately missed meaning the lead was only extended to 0-12. Shortly after, Spellissy left the field with a back injury and was replaced by Mitch Windsor.

Bridgwater’s third try came from a well executed training move with forwards and backs linking off the back of a scrum. Franklin carried forward well, throwing a dummy and jinking away from a tackle before feeding the ball to Hill. Hill had the legs to run in from 30 metres out to score under the posts before converting his own try, 0-19.

Steward secured the four try bonus point and grabbed his second bit of meat for the day when the packs dominance in the scrum forced Petherton over their line. Steward simply controlled the ball all

the way and dropped down once Bridgwater were over the line. Hill’s successful kick took the score to 0-26.

Jay Owens was shown the first yellow card of the season for dangerous play in a maul after his arm rode up in a tackle towards an opponent’s neck and head. Despite being reduced to 14 men, Bridgwater survived a number of close range scrums before edging their way down the pitch to the safety of the North Petherton half. James Collings was next on the score sheet for Bridgwater. An attacking scrum on the 5-metre line was, unusually, halted by North Petherton. Franklin dug the ball out and released the backs. It was Collings’ turn to throw a dummy and jink around his opposite man to jog in under the posts. Hill converted again to extend Bridgwater’s lead to 0-33.

After some good forward phases sucked in a number of Petherton defenders, the backs let loose. Some quick hands from the back line was finished well by Dan Lang who beat the fullback during his run from the 22 to score out wide near the corner. The wide kick was unsuccessful and Bridgwater led 0-38.

Adrian Tew had soldiered on with a neck injury but eventually threw in the towel and Matt Ranson came on to a relatively unfamiliar position for him – prop. Ranson however, played his part admirably and Bridgwater kept the squeeze on in the scrums and continued to use it as a destructive tool in their dismantling of North Petherton.

The seventh and final try of the game came courtesy of Ryan Barnett. Further swift handling from the back line gave Barnett a bit of room to manoeuvre in and he opened his legs to outpace his opposite man and dive over in the corner. Another successful conversion from Hill ended the score at 0-43.

Bridgwater will be more than happy with their performance and will look to carry their positive start into the game next week when they travel to Chard looking to go one better than last season and beat the opponents away as well as at home. To secure the bonus point win without conceding a single point will hopefully put them in a strong league position early on.

Team: Hill, Barnett, Gurnett, Owens, Lang, Collings, Franklin; Tew, Hillman, Woolford, Page-Symonds, Lewis, Spellissy, Sluman (Capt), Steward