Bourne suffer at Stamford

Hoping to turn their fortunes round at the start of the new year Bourne made the short trip to Stamford at the weekend. Despite a number of injuries Bourne fielded a strong side and were looking to avenge the 52 - 19 drumming they'd received from Stamford at the beginning of the season.

The game looked to have started well when Bourne, despite having the kick-off, took possession in the opening seconds. After some good work at the breakdown the ball was shipped wide through the backs. Despite the intervention of the Stamford defence at the far side of the field the ball was quickly recycled and fed to flyhalf Dave Maudsley (sponsored by DT Accountancy) who made yards through a narrow blindside channel. As he met the Stamford winger Maudsley chipped the ball before gathering it and rounding the last of the Stamford defence. The Stamford cover defence were ready though and Maudsley was eventually brought down just inches short of the tryline. With the Stamford defence in disarray Bourne shipped the ball the other way but a handling error brought their attack to an unfortunate end.

Bourne's start set the tone for the first twenty minutes and they didn't let up, keeping Stamford pinned to their twenty-two for the entirety. Stamford did get their hands on the ball and looked threatening when they did but the Bourne defence, unlike the first meeting of the two sides, was resolute. As Stamford attacked Bourne continued to make their tackles, not just stopping their opponents but often knocking them backwards.

It was against the run of play when Stamford utilised an overlap on the blindside, broke out of their twenty-two and headed well into the Bourne half. Fullback Jack Berry (sponsored by Ian Knight Stonework Brickwork) stopped his man just short of the tryline but the Stamford support runners found themselves in a better position than the Bourne cover defence as it scrambled back and the pressure quickly led to a try.

In previous games Bourne might have been content to get to half-time just five points behind a side sitting at the top of the league but this is a Bourne side that is becoming more and more resilient. From the restart the guests put Stamford under pressure again and soon had possession of the ball. The Bourne pack was superb in open play and were equal to their opposition at the set-pieces allowing their side to build a platform from which to attack.

From a scrum just ten metres from the Stamford tryline Bourne number-eight Adam Binns (sponsored by The Roma Group, Lisa Batty and Drain Doctor) picked the ball from the base of the scrum and headed to the blindside before feeding scrumhalf JJ Roberts; Roberts then fed Maudsley who'd run from the open side and provided some quick hands to get the ball to winger Rob Bentley (sponsored by Kruger Equestrian) who finished with a strong dive into the corner. The reliable Sam Evison (sponsored by Moon & Evison Ltd) added the touchline conversion and Bourne had a deserved lead at half-time.

Sadly for Bourne it wasn't long before they conceded and it was to be the last time they would have the lead. The Stamford fullback once again proved pivotal to his side's fortunes as he crossed for two tries in relatively quick succession as the Stamford backs exploited gaps out wide once their pack had done the hard work infield. As Bourne started to adapt and plug the gaps on the outside Stamford changed their ploy and scored another two tries through the middle, leaving Bourne clutching at straws. With the Stamford fullback also adding a number of conversions his side reached thirty-four points with fifteen minutes left to play.

It was to Bourne's credit that throughout the second half they had continued to attack well with the ball in hand. Maudsley was lively at flyhalf and made good yards with a number of breaks before linking with his forwards, and his pack continued some of the good form they have shown this season. Prop Jake Appleby (sponsored by KCW Windows) and second-row pairing Sam Harby (sponsored by Ian Knight Stonework Brickwork) and Keir Moore (sponsored by Electroflow Ltd) carried well and hooker Harry Thornburn (sponsored by Sion Williams PT) was heavily involved often providing an extra man in the Bourne backline.

Bourne finally regrouped in defence and made a decent fist of the final quarter of an hour. With more ball they played as they had in the first half and were camped in the Stamford twenty-two creating a number of opportunities to add points, but with a number of handling errors they were unable to execute and looked to be finishing scoreless in the second half.

Awarded a penalty on the Stamford five-metre line with the last play of the game Maudsley took it quickly before kicking across the pitch to inside-centre Sam Evison who, realising he would quickly be under pressure, passed to wing Jamie Colangelo. Colangelo looked to have taken the wrong option when he cut infield rather than simply going round his man but beating several Stamford defenders on his way to score under the posts he certainly made his try look more spectacular. Evison finished the game with the extras.

Player Coach Maudsley, Bourne's Man of the Match, spoke frankly after the game, "Our preparation isn't good enough and that showed in the second half. Half our side haven't touched a rugby ball for at least two weeks and if we continue in that vein this is the result we'll get week in and week out. There's no doubt we're a decent side and we were well worthy of leading at half-time, but that means nothing if we fall away in the second half."

Maudsley went on to add: "If we can play against second in the league as well as we did for forty minutes we have to set out and do that for eighty minutes. And if we can run sides like that close we have to believe there are a number of sides we can beat convincingly. People keep saying we don't play like a bottom of the league side but unfortunately that's where we are. We had a tough start to Midlands 3, and have an uphill battle in front of us, but if we prepare well I still believe we can avoid relegation."