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BARFC 2nds 15, Nailsea and Backwell RFC 57 (4/11/17)

| 08/11/2017

Bridgwater and Albion United XV Vs Nailsea and Backwell 1st XV
15- 57

1. Jack Johns
2. Gavin Knight
3. Mike Saunders
4. Simon Buck
5. Scott Woolford
6. Doug Page-Symonds
7. Adrian Tew
8. Joe Stradling
9. Scott Franklin
10. Dan Page
11. Louise St Claire
12. Joe Bussell
13. Dan Lang (captain)
14. James Brakes
15. Callum Gillard
Subs (all used)
16. Jerry Phillips
17. Danny Mahoney
18. Will Kerry

A sunny but windy afternoon at Bridgwater & Albion RFC saw the United XV lose out to an organised Nailsea and Backwell 1st XV 57-15.
Bridgwater, playing with a full squad for the first time in weeks, received from the start, with the wind against them capitalised on a stolen lineout with Joe Stradling dodging and twisting through players to get us up inside their 22, which was turned over but the resulting pressure earned Bridgwater a 5m attacking lineout. A catch and drive had the home side over the line but the referee deemed it held-up. A knock on at the following scrum from a strong Nailsea shove has the Bridgwater pack back pedalling. Shortly after a missed tackle see’s Nailsea through to the 15m line before being bundled into touch. Another lost lineout and Nailsea slice through the defence with a slick back’s move and straight under the posts ‘Try’. Hard work from Bridgy forwards, with some strong scrums and well worked lineouts have us back in the attacking territory but a turnover, fast hands coupled with missed tackles and Nailsea get around the defence and running up the field for another Try. With the ball in hand the boys get some go forward care of number 15 Callum Gillard in the back line, and forward runners we start to pile on the pressure and win a penalty which stand in fly half Dan Page coolly slots over. Great tackling from our number 9 Scott Franklin stops Nailsea’ big Pacific islander prop in his tracks lifting the defence. Bridgwater now seem to spark to life and start to look good but lack the clean and quick ball from rucks to really make inroads into the visitor’s defence. The ever present Stradling with another twisting run and quick ball at the breakdown let the backline orchestrate a move which see’s Gillard batter through the middle of Nailsea’ defence to their 5-meter line but once again good breakdown work from the visitors results in a turnover and quick hands puts them out wide and around us to end up scoring in the corner. Just before the break Bridgwater were rewarded for their patience in attack working the forwards hard before releasing the backs to run created an opportunity for Adrian Tew to Crash over the try line only to have Backwell kill the ball and give away a penalty try dutifully awarded by the referee.
Shortly into the 2nd half facing a blinding sun Bridgwater were sliced through the middle gifting a 2nd minute try to Nailsea. Starting again a great passage of play and lots of pressure means we have been camped in Nailsea’ half for 10 minutes, but a lost lineout means the territory is lost as the United XV rescind into their own half again, good defence from Bridgwater stops a breakaway but a bit of handbags at the resulting ruck and an odd call from the ref resulted in a yellow card shown to both inside centres and both teams down to 14. Hard work by the backs with captain Dan Lang leading the charge opens a chance to squeeze round the outside and through to their 5m line good defence held the attacking team out with the referee awarding a scrum to Bridgwater which was unfortunately knocked on losing the scoring opportunity. The final 10 minutes saw 5 tries scored against Bridgwater a result of fitness taking its toll and Bridgwater pushing harder and playing loser under increasing pressure from a dominant opposition. In the dyeing minutes, a superb swerving run from Scott Franklin lifted the hearts of the supporters and players scoring a try from a quick tap penalty and some good offloads. Ultimately it was Nailsea who had the final say on the day scoring out wide to finish the game 57-15 scoring on the 80th minute
Overall it was a game played with a great attitude and positivity. Every man on the pitch put in great individual performances and worked hard right up to the last minute of the game. However, we lacked cohesion in open play; the forwards were much improved in set pieces, carried well and defended fringes valiantly. In attack, the team were singular working mostly in ones or twos, when we did break the line we struggled with support play and securing the ball. Backs ran some great lines, handled the ball well and communicated throughout but the cohesion was not quite there, seeing the gaps when they were available and utilising the space on the outside when its available is something to work on.

Category: 2nd Previews / Reports -XV

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