A great club day with all Seniors in action. The BoS IIs took on the visitors from Chard on the second team pitch which was in perfect condition. Due to a late withdrawal BoS IIs could only field 14 against a Chard outfit who brought 20 with them.
From the kick off Chard showed dominance and kept attacking putting BoS on the back foot. The pressure told and after a messy passage of play Chard were awarded a penalty try as the BoS defender took the Chard player out as he went to dive on the ball, the referee deemed it obstruction and that was 0-7 after 4.
Then came a turn around and BoS were on the attack and showed great endeavour and some consistent phase play which result in a cut back on the wing from the returning Matt Love which resulted in a great busting run from Dave Harris who scored just to the right of the posts, the try was converted and 7-7 after 15.
The next 15 minutes saw a bit of an arm wrestle between the teams and some scrappy phases which rattled the visitors. Unfortunately the turning point of the game happened on the 30 minute mark when the visitors scored two quick tries one after an interception pass and the second through a missed tackle. Only one was converted resulting in 7-19 score line. By half time the score line had been pushed out further by the visitors to 7-33.
The start of the second half saw BoS take the game to the visitors as with nothing to lose they went for it. Unfortunately, the game started to fracture literally through the visitors picking up regular injuries and yellow cards. This created a bit of a stop start half but nevertheless BoS kept at it and another great rumbling run from Dave Harris saw his second try of the day, unfortunately Alex Bowkett couldn’t convert but it showed BoS would not be pushed around.
From the restart Chard were receiving stern words from the Referee along with picking up a string of injuries most notably what appeared to be a dislocated knee. This meant a reshuffle for the visitors who managed to conjure a score in the corner against the run of play, conversion was not made so 12-38.
However, BoS were not finished and great pressure resulted in a series of line outs on the visitors 5 metre line which after a number of efforts resulted in a try from Felix Grandfield, the conversion was made and whilst that was the end of the game BoS had won the second half which is a great effort for the 14 players in the blue and white hoops.
The game turned in the first half where, with 15 players, the interception pass may not have been thrown and that additional player would have locked out the middle. None of the players will use that as an excuse though which is credit to them all.
Congratulations to Matthew Slater on picking up his 100+ cap tie, well deserved given his club endeavours over the years and a welcome face in the IIs. Fair play to Raw Sprts Coaching, Matt Love, on his return to rugby.
Next week is on the road to Weston IV, with no first team game hope to see some travelling support for the short drive down the road, the team would appreciate it!