LUCS 24 – 0 BOURNVILLE

AND WITH ONLY 14 FOR 66 MINS

Luctonians RFC v Bournville RFC
Saturday 20th January 2024 – Mortimer Park
Match Reporter – Geoff Vickress

The pitch at Mortimer Park was only deemed playable an hour before kick-off, but a massive performance by the home side, who were down to 14 players after only 14 minutes, saw them defend superbly, but also score 4 unanswered tries for a fantastic bonus point win.

Luctonians were on the scoreboard after only 4 minutes when wing James Wheeler ran a lovely inside line, after taking a measured pass to touch down. Departing, and long serving home scrum half Louis Silver, who was playing his last game for the club before moving abroad, adding the extras for an early 7-0 lead.

However, the game was thrown wide open when, after only 14 minutes, Lucs No5 Owien Harriott-Davis, was adjudged by the referee Ben Simpson to have made head contact in a tackle with Bournville wing Alex Evans. It was highly controversial as the knowledgeable crowd, including the Bournville support thought the tackle was slightly high at best. Evans reaction was akin to what is seen on the football field, milking the reaction, and as soon as the card was raised, he was off the ground looking to get back into the game. This put Lucs on the back foot and Bournville raised their game to new levels against the home side 14.

However, they were sent home scoreless as a superb defensive performance by the home side restricted them to few, if any, genuine attempts on the Lucs try line. The home side increased their tally when hooker Ben Link ran in yet another try to increase his prolific record for the season, when he intercepted an overthrown Bournville line out in their own 22 to run almost unopposed to dot down. Silver missing this conversion (12-0).

Bournville were awarded a penalty after 31 minutes, but Jacob Fewtrell sliced his attempt at goal and it was to be their only opportunity at scoring, as the home side roared on once again by the very vibrant home support were superb in defence throughout. The touch kicking of Tom Jones for the home side permanently kept them deep in their own half and they struggled to gain any meaningful attack where they looked like scoring. But neither side could add to their score before half time as defences remaining very much to the fore.

Half Time Score
Luctonians RFC 12 v 0 Bournville RFC

The home side were comfortable with ball in hand early in the second half, despite being a man down, and some excellent passing through their backline saw centre Rob Aikman pop up on the wing to touch down to increase the home sides lead. Louis Silver superbly converting from the touchline for the extra points to give the home side a 19-0 lead after 47 minutes.

Bournville gave their best and should be applauded for their efforts. They ran almost all their penalties awarded to try and gain a foothold in the game, but they could find no way through the black and white defensive wall, which was man for man excellent throughout. Connor Deignan and Lewis Parkes were both stand out players for the home side, but throughout their squad their efforts in defence stopped Bournville in their tracks.

The home side gained their deserved bonus point win when their driving maul was loudly cheered over by the large crowd when Connor Deignan appeared at the bottom of the pile with almost everyone in black and white in the drive, after 51 minutes.

The slippery ball and the difficult conditions didn’t lead to any more scores as both sides squandered opportunities late into the game, and the Luctonians faithful gave Louis Silver a standing ovation when he was replaced on 70 minutes as he left the field to depart for pastures new.

Full Time Score
Luctonians RFC 24 v 0 Bournville RFC

This was an excellent all-round performance by Luctonians, and with results going their way it increases their lead to 6 points at the top of the league going into next week’s fixtures.

Star Man
Connor Deignan
Luctonians

On our Facebook Page you can check out the live scoreline with goal-line videos of the tries, and view some great pics from Andrew Hargraves HERE.

Picture Credit – Andrew Hargraves