2nd XV lose to Sleaford but rugby is the real winner

With the 1st XV rested at the weekend Bourne put all their efforts into fielding a Development XV to take on Sleaford 2nd XV at home. With a mixture of old heads, young potential and fringe 1st XV players Bourne found themselves with a huge squad of twenty-five players, which proved particularly useful when Sleaford arrived with just twelve players.

Keen to make the game competitive Bourne lent Sleaford 1st XV backrower Adam Binns to play hooker and 1xt XV Captain Tom Dixon to play at Number Eight in a bid to gauge his progress after a long injury lay-off. Bourne also lent Sleaford new centre Adam D'Argteets whose contribution to training recently has been highly rated.

And it was the Bourne contingent representing Sleaford that started brightly. Giving the Sleaford pack some go-forward Dixon and Binns carried well relishing the opportunity to run into their normal team-mates.

Initially the Bourne pack were fairly solid in defence and the game appeared well balanced. But with Dixon and Binns inspiring the Sleaford forwards it wasn't long before Sleaford started making yards and they benefitted from playing behind the gainline. With a good platform troubling the Bourne defence the Sleaford backs began to make inroads and it was Bourne's debutant D'Argteets that opened the scoring, albeit for the wrong side. With the conversion added Sleaford were 7 - nil up.

And a short while later Sleaford extended their lead when momentum allowed them to build a number of phases which forced Bourne to focus their defence centrally. One too many defensive phases for Bourne left them short of numbers out wide and Sleaford seized their opportunity crossing in the corner.

Bourne finally took some control and began to play far more collectively taking their time to build pressure with better possession and territory. Ironically though it was a counter attack that brought about Bourne's first points of the afternoon with arguably the try of the day. As Sleaford cleared their line a long kick found its way into the Bourne half but straight into the arms of fullback Jack Fitch. Fitch showed blistering pace as he headed wide and linked with wing Chris Warnes before Warnes in turn showed good pace and agility as he stepped inside the first wave of covering defence. As Warnes was met by a second wave of defence he gave a sublime pass to Fitch who had showed the presence of mind to support Warnes on the inside. Fitch still had work to do but his pace was too much for the Sleaford fullback and he rounded the last man to score in the corner.

Sleaford struck next through Bourne's Binns. Some decent handling in the Sleaford midfield created a large gap in Bourne's defence and Binns cruised through untroubled. With the extras added Bourne seemed to be letting the game slip as they went to 19 - 5 behind.

But it appeared Bourne were actually well in the game and wing Matt Kidd, having a lively first half, proved the inspiration for Bourne's next try. Having received the ball well inside his own half Kidd beat almost the entire Sleaford side as he moved towards the tryline. Brought down just short of the line Kidd threw the ball back; with both sides heading the same way there was a scrap for the ball but it was Bourne flanker Charlie Short who came out on top gathering the ball and dotting down for his first try in Bourne colours. Warnes added the conversion.

With half-time reached Bourne were just 19 - 12 down and both sides were looking forward to another forty. Bourne coach Dave Maudsley, concentrating his efforts off the pitch for a change, made a number of substitutions to both sides prior to the second half. Bourne captain for the day Jake Appleby moved over to the Sleaford front row and centre Matt Ross, back at Bourne after a number of years away, slotted into the Sleaford backline.

Despite the heavy influx of Bourne players Sleaford clearly had some talent themselves, notably their halfback pairing. Within minutes of the second half starting the Sleaford flyhalf had enjoyed several breaks and he eventually finished one with a try putting the guests 26 - 12 ahead.

It was the Sleaford scrumhalf's turn next as he pounced on a Bourne error. The Bourne pack, thanks in part to a veteran 2nd XV front row of Iain Taylor, Neil Oglesbee and Jason Goodyear, were utterly dominant at scrumtime. Having shoved Sleaford well off the ball at a scrum in their own twenty-two the Bourne pack would have thought their backs were in control of the ball but Binns, having switched to scrumhalf for Bourne, had taken his eye off the ball as his pack moved forward and unaware that the ball was out didn't notice his opposite man
swipe the ball as he ran in for an easy five points.

With more changes made to both sides the game became disjointed but the tempo remained high and a number of individuals took their chances to showcase their talent. Fittingly Kidd, who had moved from the wing to the centres, enjoyed more time on the ball in the final quarter and looked threatening. It was a fantastic solo effort by him that brought about Bourne's final points of the afternoon. Receiving the ball inside his own half Kidd rounded the Sleaford defence before cutting in field and heading straight under the posts. Warnes added the extras to finish the game with Bourne edging closer to 31 - 19.

Maudsley was pleased with the efforts of his squad, "It was a great afternoon's rugby. From our point of view the result was completely irrelevant - thirty-six guys got a decent run around and a large number were Bourne lads. Some of the guys are 1st XV players coming back from injury and today was a good chance to see where they're at; some are 1st XV fringe players who got a more significant run-out than they sometimes do. Most importantly though we had a large number of the older guys enjoying themselves and a number of youngsters who we are looking to develop as much as possible."

Bourne stalwart Neil Oglesbee reflected on the nature of the game "It was a brilliant opportunity for both sides and played in fantastic spirit. Giving Sleaford three first-teamers meant it was always going to be a tough challenge for Bourne and so many changes throughout the game meant building momentum was difficult but there was some great rugby at times. Ultimately the scoreline didn't matter - it was about everybody enjoying the game."