A great away win for Bourne

With the 2nd team not having a game, Bourne were able to travel north to Market Rasen with a strong squad, including 6 replacements. Arriving to torrential rain and howling wind, Bourne knew to expect a difficult game for handling. They faced a youthful home side who started strongly. Playing with the wind, Bourne faced a mismatch at the opening ruck of the game, with the opposing scrum half able to use his pace and run 30 metres to the line.

Unfazed, Bourne took the game to their hosts, with the forwards setting the standard that was to continue for the rest of the day, clearing out rucks at will. Sleight carried the ball up with brio, blasting through the Rasen defence, and Sims was consistently first to the breakdowns as Bourne worked their way upfield. Sucking in defenders left Dixon free to dance his way over the line; Bourne taking the lead as Whittock converted.

Bourne welcomed back the veteran Burgin after a 6 week lay-off through injury, and the centre was delighting the away support with some thunderous hits in midfield. Frustrated by some of the officiating, skipper for the day Hume made one injudicious comment too many, and was rewarded with ten minutes in the sin bin. Bourne didn’t lose momentum however, and further pressure on the Rasen line led to Dixon being driven over for his second, with Whittock again converting.

On the stroke of half time the Rasen full back broke through the Bourne back line before chipping ahead into Bourne’s in-goal area. The chasing Bishop was deemed to have clipped his heels, bringing him down, and with the referee awarding a penalty try Bourne were left with a slender 4 point lead at the interval.

Minutes into the 2nd half Bourne were down to 14 men once again, as Sleight was given 10 minutes for speaking out of turn. With Rasen applying the pressure, Bourne’s defence remained rock-solid, typified by an incredible try-saving tackle from Stacey on his own line. As the shadows lengthened, the home side threw all they had at Bourne. With ten minutes to go, Bourne turned the tide, laying siege to the home side’s line in an effort to secure a bonus point for scoring 4 tries. Mulhern, who had carried the ball up tirelessly all day, was instrumental in driving Bourne on, and with the ruck on the Rasen line Whittock was able to touch down from a yard out to secure the points.

This was a great team performance and one to which every player on the field contributed. Bourne look forward to welcoming a hospitable Market Rasen side back to Bourne in February, and continue their Merit League campaign at home to Stamford College 2nds this coming weekend.

Bourne RUFC: Richard Chappell; Xanti Xipu, Tom Bishop, John Burgin, Neil Oglesbee; Tom Dixon, Phil Whittock; Martin Brown, Ted Stacey, Simon Sleight, Olly Sadler, John Adams, Andy Sims, John Hume, Chris Mulhern. Repl.: Ben Thornburn, John Turner, Simon Pick, Jay Rock, Steve Hirschfeld, Rod Asher.