Bourne RUFC 19 Lincoln RUFC 3rds 10

Looking for their first win in this year’s Lincs Merit League campaign, Bourne made a very bright start. With a South African flavour to the back row, Bourne opened up at a furious pace, recycling the ball at will and playing at a speed that the visitors found hard to live with. Inevitably holes began to appear in the Lincoln defence, and after 6 minutes a blindside break saw debutant Tex Jacobsen able to canter in from 30 yards out. Smith added the conversion.

Bourne kept the momentum up, and 2 minutes later a kick downfield resulted in a tryline scramble. With a Lincoln player attempting a desperate clearance over his own shoulder, the ball bounced up in the visitor’s 22, and Tom Dixon was on hand to double Bourne’s try tally.

Salivating with anticipation, the faithful Bourne support looked forward to a glut of tries, but it was to prove a false dawn. Lincoln slowed the game down, allowing their backs to set themselves up to run at Bourne. Stout defence kept the away side at bay, but with 5 minutes left until the interval Lincoln hit back; from a scrum on the right hand side of the Bourne 22 the ball was moved the width of the field, creating an overlap for the opposing winger to score.

The second half came and Bourne continued to make hard work of things, in spite of their superiority at the set piece. With a number of replacements on the bench Bourne brought on the big-hitting Rod Asher to shake things up, and a couple of monster hits in the centre revived Bourne briefly. Toby Lewis was then sprung from the bench and the scrum half proved lively in both defence and attack.

However Lincoln continued to grow in confidence, and Bourne tired as the attacks continued. With ten minutes to go the ball was worked wide to the Lincoln right winger, who touched down in the corner, leaving only two points in the game.

Determined not to let the victory slip away, Bourne rallied once more, and with only minutes left they worked the ball upfield. Popping up in midfield, there was no stopping Cuffe as he took a pop-pass and rumbled over from 15 yards out to seal the victory.

Bourne 1st XV face Wisbech 2nds away this Saturday, with the 2nds/Vets away to Oundle.

Bourne RUFC: John Burgin; Richard Chappell, Ben Thornburn, Tom Dixon, Andy Sims; Glen Smith, Phil Whittock; Matthew Cuffe, Simon Sleight, Martin Brown, John Adams, John Hume, Ted Stacey, Tex Jacobsen, Tom Bishop. Repl. Xanti Xipu, Tom Adams, Jay Rock, Olly Sadler, Rod Asher, Toby Lewis, Rob Catlin.