Bourne hosted Brackley in the league on Saturday, in a fixture that was a potential win, having beaten them at home the previous season in the corresponding fixture 19-5. All though damp after heavy rain the previous day, the rain had stopped for the match and would hopefully allow for some decent rugby. A club lunch had been held before the match for supporters and the main team sponsor JJ Mac Ltd who were in attendance, team photo’s and a presentation of a framed shirt also took place before kick off.

Bourne received the ball from the kick off with a good call from Faversham who took the ball into contact, with the remainder of the forwards securing the ball, Brackley competed at the breakdown but illegally giving Bourne a chance to clear up field , this was aided even more when an additional 10m was given . Binns kicked for touch and took Bourne deep into the Brackley half, giving the forwards the chance to work the lineout. Despite changes this worked well with Mellor finding Cooke jnr allowing Giullari to give good ball to Hounsell at fly half, the attack was ended with Brackley being offside and Binns kicked for goal , converting from 30m out. 3-0 ,just the start that was required.

With the back line Bourne had on display they were always going to try and run the ball, but Hounsell also kicked well for position on the pitch when required to maintain their pressure in the Brackley half. Any attacks from Brackley were always stopped quickly with Cooke jnr making a nuisance of himself at every occasion possible. The pressure eventually lead to a further penalty which Binns again kicked convincingly, taking the score to 6-0. It remained that way until half time, which with the wind behind them in the first half meant they had plenty of work to do in the 2nd.

Bourne continued to apply pressure in the 2nd half , Wood and Hiscocks both had good runs and good work at the breakdown by Hume and Faversham , led to Brackley again infringing offside. Binns had his kicking boots on and again converted for 3 from 3 and a 9-0 lead. This did seem to bring Brackley to life and they had a period of sustained pressure in the Bourne half, a great defensive effort was made by all the team , with some great rucking by Dixon and forwards turning over the ball on a number of occasions. Brackley were throwing the ball about and Westcott managed to intercept a pass, he still had a lot of work to do but ran a good 70 yards to score in close to the posts, Binns converted 16-0.

Hounsell had now moved to scrum half with Dixon at 10, Binns and Thornburn were running some moves which in turn got them in the opposition 22 again, when play was held up got rucking by the forwards kept the play moving forward . The forwards then made a wedge going forward to touch down in the corner, Hume popping up with the ball from the back of the drive to score, this was however unconverted 21-0. Bourne should have scored again in the final stages but when Thornburn fed Andy Dixon on the wing after good work from Dixon and Binns he was unable to keep hold of the ball, but in the end no extra score was required.

In summary it was a disciplined performance , with a great effort by both forwards and backs, to stop the opposition from scoring was also a bonus, all positives to take into the match next week against local rivals Deepings Rugby , which is always a close and hard fought game.

Man of the Match: Adam Binns