Avon 1st XV V’s BARFC 2nd XV

Emma Kemmish | 12/01/2018

Saturday 6^th of January 2018r

Avon 1^st XV V’s BARFC 2^nd XV

24-14

Lewis Philipps
Gav knight
Brett Shaw
Dan Kemmish
Mike Saunders
Shaun Mahoney
Sam Adcock
Joe Bussell
Jon Hill
Jay Owens
Lewis Plece
Ryan Barnett
Dan Lang©

Kyran Devitt
Rob Gurnett

Subs

Craig Blyde
Tom Lewis
James Brakes

Blowing the cobwebs off a decent Christmas break Bridgwater and Albion’s united XV made the trip over to bath to take on a feisty Avon RFC in some very soggy January weather, bolstered by some big club names and with some returning faces the United XV were banking on A winning outcome but were shell shocked by the ferocity of the Avon attack who barraged the away sides try line for 90% of the game coming away with 4 tries and a bonus point win were as Bridgwater again have to make do with a nil point out come.

The away side started the stronger making great gains up the hill to attack as wide as possible on the narrow and bumpy pitch and were rewarded with a try from number 8 Bussell on the 5-minute mark after a good lineout the backlines set move dragged the defence wide leaving space for the ball to return to the blindside and Bussell to crash over the line leaving ever eager flanker Mahoney calling from the wing at his lost scoring opportunity. Neatly converted by Devitt. 7-0

From the kick, Bridgwater played the ball out of territory with a good clearance kick from Owens, the home sides lineout which functioned well all day gave a good attacking platform for the Avon backs to use, running wide off most calls and gaining yards. The next 25 minutes saw Bridgwater battle up the slope and try to keep hold of the ball, both seemingly impossible to do as penalty after penalty was awarded to the home side giving them ample chance to score 2 of their tries in quick succession. one converted one missed 12-7.

This sudden change of fortune saw the Somerset outfit double their efforts to turn over possession and regain some decorum, unfortunately for Adcock his efforts saw him given 10 minutes in the sin bin for team offences at the breakdown. He would return to action shortly before the half time whistle blew but with United a further 7 points behind. 19-7.

The 5-minute break was enough to get heads re focused on the tasks at hand and get a handle on the ill-discipline and backchat which was fervent throughout the first half. A renewed energy and purpose grasped the visitors as they made strong headway down the slope towards the enemy’s try line giving the home side a taste of the efforts they had exhausted previously. Good attacking lines and strong breaks from returning face Gurnett and faithful Devitt saw the home side disadvantaged and under the cosh. With a chance to attack the whole backline was getting into the swing with forwards joining the action to try and make best use of the heavy pitch, offloading nicely to keep moves flowing. Strong set plays in the bottom corner gave a very strong attacking platform for the men in black, red and amber, eventually led to a try on the opposite wing by replacement James “Forrest” Brakes, who had replaced Barnett when injured earlier, and ran a splendidly strong line off Owens whose neat pop fooled the defence and gave Brakes the chance to crash over with 3 men hanging on to him. This too was converted by Devitt bringing Albion within touching distance. 19-14

The attack would continue for the rest of the game but without Bussell after a knock to the head left him bloodied and needing sometime in the blood bin during a tackle. As it so often the case when chasing a game and trying to create the winning opportunities in a match that a shrewd opposition can take advantage of the smallest mistakes, and so it was with 10 minutes left to go and Bridgwater pushing hard Avon regained possession and through some slick hands scored the last try of the game in the top corner from the 22m line, the kick was missed. 24-14.

The last 10 minutes was all Bridgwater with Owens and Hill upping the pace Bridgwater worked hard to get back into try scoring areas, had the pitch been as wide as the normal pitch the speed of Bridgwater’s backline would have been able to skirt around the defence. But alas whether Avon’s Shrewdness or good fortunes this was not the case and Albion had to be content with 2^nd place as theyre speed was reigned in by conditions. This was a great statement for the 2^nd XV to make on the league after a long break coming so close to a much-needed win. Maybe after another week off their time will come.

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