Injuries see Bourne Crash out of the cup

Barton made the long trek to Bourne for a vital game that was battled out in the sunshine because this match was important to Bourne’s N.L.D league and Merit League campaigns. The journey took its toll on the visitor’s team making them sluggish for the first 20 minutes with Bourne firmly camped in the visitors 22 however. A surprise chip to the corner resulted in a try for Barton after 25 minutes. This first score gave the visitors an injection of energy that began a solid passage of play. This coordinated team work lead to Barton’s centre spotting a gap and culminated in him squeezing through a poor home defence to extend the lead .Bourne regrouped and thought they were back in the game with the giant matt cuffe bulldozing over for a try that was inexplicably ruled out by the officials with no reason given . Visibly angered by this decision the Bourne backs continued to punch holes in Barton’s defence for Captain Hume to squeeze over from 2 yards.
Towards the end of the first half Barton had begun building pressure on Bourne which they physically felt in the scrums losing both Matt Cuffe and Simon Sleight to serious injuries. . The 2nd half saw that building pressure in the rucking where Barton dominated the previously industrious Bourne pack. Barton’s 3rd try soon followed another turnover in the rock. Steady hands passed the ball down the line from the ruck to for Barton to score . bartons last try in the sunshine came once again from another ruck which had Bourne sucked into the breakdown, leaving a gap between the ruck and winger dale ginger big enough to drive a bus through the Bourne defences and took advantage of it. . In the last few minutes of a long tiring day Barton let their guard down letting Bourne get the last score of the day as the irrepressible Tom Bishop burst through 4 tackles to touch down after running 20 yards. All in all a tough physical battle that Bourne only really lost due to the injuries received unsettling a once steady pack, with the talented backs not getting the service they have grown accustomed to.
Bourne
Matt Cuffe, Simon Sleight, Karl Gray, Tom Douglas, John Adams, Chris Mulherne, John Hume, Dan Bishop , Jordon Payne Calum Weston, James Beanland, Tom Bishop, Mark Needham, Dale Ginger, Jack Berry subs Jim Clark , Tom Donely, Paul Mamby, Rhys Powell , Tom dixon