BARFC 2nds 61, Castle Cary 3 (24/10/15)

Bridgwater had the burden of expectation in their recent home encounter with Castle Cary. Unbeaten at the top of the table with home advantage, it was Bridgwater’s game to lose against 13th placed Cary. However, Cary have proven themselves more than capable in recent seasons and have become somewhat of a ‘bogey’ team for Bridgwater II’s. Bridgwater welcomed back props Adrian Tew and Scott Woolford from the first team but also lost hookers Gavin Knight and Gabrielle Nobili. Matt Ranson stepped up from No 8 to ably fill the hooker berth for the day. Nick Spellissy started at No 8 with Joe Sluman coming in on the bench to mark his return to Bridgwater following a 4-year vacation in New Zealand. Will Kerry also returned to the second team after a lengthy injury kept him out of the game for over a season. Tom Denovan was taken for first team duties so Ryan Barnett switched from the wing to full back and James Brakes started for the second team after returning from holiday.

Cary started the game well and kept the pressure on from the deep kick off. 5 minutes in they forced an early error with some pressing defence. The rushed Bridgwater passed didn’t go to hand and in their scrambled attempts to regain possession Bridgwater infringed in the ruck. The early penalty attempt was successful and Cary took the lead 0-3.

James Brakes was injured trying to win the kick off back after colliding in the air with a Cary player and coming down heavily on his shoulder but played on to start with. Bridgwater were outstanding in the set piece all day, particularly the scrum. After shunting the Cary pack backwards, Bridgwater released the backs and a move down the blindside saw Barnett break through. He committed the full back and released Brakes, who was still carrying his shoulder injury. He was tackled over the line by the covering winger and in the contact he knocked the ball on. He decided to throw the towel in and was replaced by Roger Drabble who came in at full back, allowing Barnett to take up his usual position on the wing.

With an attacking lineout near the Cary 22, Bridgwater set up a driving maul – a weapon in their arsenal barely used this season. The forwards drove all the way to the try line with Adrian Tew in possession. Once at their destination, he dropped out of the pack to score out wide. The wide conversion was missed by Jay Owens, the first of a number of kickers for Bridgwater, 5-3.

15 minutes later Bridgwater scored their second try with their second driving lineout. This time the Cary defence were more stubborn and the maul had to readjust and change the point of attack a number of times. With the movement, the ball changed hands a number of times and when the maul reached the try line it was Doug Page-Symonds who dropped down to score the try. The conversion was again missed by Owens, 10-3.

With 5 minutes left on the clock for the first half, Bridgwater scored their third, and by far best, driving lineout of the game. From outside of the Cary 10 metre line Bridgwater won the line out. After a slow start the maul splintered and Bridgwater kept driving building the pace of the drive. The Cary defence struggled with the speed, finding it difficult to get back around the maul in an attempt to slow it. On arrival at the try line the maul was at a good trundle speed and Nick Spellissy ended up sliding in when he dropped off the back of the maul near the posts. Will Kerry successfully converted with his first attempt at the sticks, 17-3.

Bridgwater attacked again, eagerly looking for the four try bonus point before the half time break. In an attempt to stop another score, a Cary player came in the side of the ruck and attempted to play the ball. The referee sent the accused to the naughty step so he could think about his actions for 10 minutes and also called for the last play of the half. Bridgwater elected to scrum from 5 metres out. Spellissy broke from the back and joined up with Jay Owens. What he lacked in place kicking, he made up for with powerful running and was rewarded with his just desserts. He cut a simple but hard line towards Spellissy who popped the ball to him and he waltzed over to score offset of the posts. The conversion was missed by ???. Half time came and Bridgwater had already earned one league point, 22-3.

Bridgwater added seven second half tries, the first, courtesy of Joe Stradling. After a four on one was spurned by some white line fever, Stradling found himself stood in the scrum half position. Ever the opportunist, he spotted a lack of defence the other side of the ruck. He picked the ball up and leapt like a salmon over the ruck. A Cary player attempted to catch/drive him back but all his efforts did was manage to rotate Stradling over the side of the ruck. Christmas came early for Stradling and he was left sat on the floor, over the try line with his back to the opposition. He touched the ball down between his legs to score the simplest of chances. The conversion was missed, 27-3.

Spellissy bagged his second try of the day after some great phase building play across the park. Once the defenders had been suitably committed to tackles and rucks, Spellissy took advantage of the extra space near the fringes of the ruck and struck clinically to score again.

Fed up with the forwards having all the fun, the backs demonstrated their own knack for scoring. After some hard running and clinical offloading in and around the tackle area, the backs orchestrated an overlap. Barnett was the benefactor of the clinical play and crossed the whitewash for the 7th try of the game and the 7th try of his season. Yet another missed conversion took Bridgwater to 39-3.

Will Kerry marked his return to the fray of 2nd team rugby with a try of his own to go with the conversion he scored earlier in the match. Drabble broke through a lazy defensive line, stepped and incoming defender and put Kerry away into an inviting gap. Conversion missed, 44-3.

On the hour mark, Bridgwater looked to the remainder of their bench. Brett Shaw replaced Scott Woolford in the front row and Joe Sluman replaced Mitch Windsor joining younger brother George in the back row.

Cary set up a defensive maul and in the process of trying to clear their lines, home scrum-half Doug Caddick was penalised for blocking. The cynical foul was not well received by the referee who sent Caddick to the vacant naughty step. Despite being down to 14 men, Bridgwater scored two more tries – both from the younger of the Sluman’s. The first, was a cheeky snipe from the side of the scrum. With the shunt on from the Bridgy pack, Cary retreated over their line and when the ball squirmed out the side, Sluman reacted faster than his opposite man to pounce on the loose ball. Collings knocked over the easy conversion and took Bridgwater to 49-3 with 10 minutes left.

With 5 left on the clock, Sluman bagged his second try after some very unselfish but highly clinical play from Spellissy. The two back rowers found themselves filling in the backline in the outside centre and wing positions. After some good hands, Spellissy was presented with a 2 on 1 opportunity. With the Cary winger hesitant to commit to either player, Spellissy could have probably made it to the line himself to secure a hat trick. However, he took the ball forward, patiently waiting for the winger to commit to the tackle before passing to the overlapping Sluman to slide over in the corner. Spellissy then attempted a cheeky drop kick for the conversion which, compared to some of the place kicks on show was not that far away. Be that as it may, it was still unsuccessful and Bridgwater led 56-3.

Dan Lang finished the rout after another good line out drive. The pack sucked in the Cary defence before releasing the backs against a tired and ragged opposition. The simple stuff was executed brilliantly by the backs and a series of draw and give passes found Lang with enough time and space to ease his way over the try line. Not surprisingly, the touchline conversion was missed. Bridgwater ended the game 61-3.

The seconds have a week off next week but some will be involved with the first teams cup encounter with Weston Hornets in an early kick off before the World Cup Final. They then travel to league newcomers Wyvern on carnival day and will look to continue their winning streak which now sits at 6 games.

Team: Barnett, Brakes, Owens, Kerry, Collings, Lang, Caddick; Woolford, Ranson, Tew, Stradling, Page-Symonds, Windsor, G Sluman (Capt), Spellissy

Substitutes: (All used) Shaw, J Sluman, Drabble

Tries: Tew, Page-Symonds, Spellissy (2), Owens, Stradling, Barnett, Kerry, G Sluman (2), Lang

Cons: Kerry, Owens, Collings

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