So on an overcast and breezy day Stags II entertained Somerton at the Pit’s back pitch.

From the kick off the game was a scrappy affair with neither side being able to string more than four or five phases of play together.  It was interesting as there was a lot of dropped ball but not knocked on ball which made for a frantic opening.

On 4th minute Somerton got a penalty but refused the kick at goal and instead went for the corner which was over cooked and resulted in a 22 drop out for Burnham. Again though continuity of play was lacking by both teams. However on the stroke of 10 minutes Somerton earned a penalty in front of the posts to the right side of the 22. The visitors this time took the opportunity to go for goal but couldn’t convert and the ball was wide of the right upright.

From the resulting drop out Somerton took the game to the Stags and sustained phase play saw Somerton score under the posts, the conversion was made 0-7 to the visitors.

From the kick off BoS looked to get some sustained pressure of their own. Some good phase play saw BoS get up the field but couldn’t convert the pressure into points. From that point BoS were pushed into their own 22 but I’ll discipline from the visitors saw a relieving penalty. Alex Bowkett found a howitzer of a kick which saw the ball land into touch on the Somerton 22. A good solid lineout saw BoS put together consistent phase play in a pod format and after five phases saw a hole open in the visitors defence which Scott Mills took advantage of to score under the posts, conversion made 7-7. That was the way it remained for the final two minutes of the half.

The start of the second half was almost a mirror image of the first except this time it was ripping of the ball which saw the teams swop possession.  Around the 50 minute mark it seemed certain that Somerton were going to score but excellent work in defence and ripping of the ball by Dave Wainwright saw BoS get the ball from their end of the pitch to the visitors 22. Unfortunately the final phase of play couldn’t see a score. 

From the resulting 22 drop out Somerton pressed and pushed their way up the field but managed to knock on at the crucial moment. The resulting scrum saw BoS try to play the ball out their 22 but an errant pass was pounced upon by the visitors who scrambled through to score. The conversion was missed, 7-12.

BoS weren’t going to be outdone and pushed upfield through some amazing handling. By the half way line Scott Mills was at full pelt and looked certain to score but a dubious tackle saw him downed about five metres short. This resulted in the Stags being short handed but more unfortunately the scrum wheeled and Somerton literally used two runners to go the length of the pitch to score. Conversion wasn’t made from wideout. A cruel blow at a crucial moment.

From that point Somerton pressed again and managed to earn a penalty. This resulted in a lineout on the BoS 22, from that Somerton ran a pre-worked move which resulted in their fourth try of the afternoon.  There was enough time for a kickoff with a minute of play left but the clock was against the Stags. Final result 7-22.

Overall a tough loss to take as with less than 10 minutes left the game could have gone either way. Alex Bowkett had a good day with the boot, and it was good to see Jamie Blyth, Neil Harding and Barry New back on the park.  The players of the day were Scott Mills and Stuart Theobald, both of whom were outstanding and played with great heart.

Whilst it was a tough loss at home the mood was up beat in the camp as it showed how close the game really was with 10 to go. Some exit strategies and slightly better execution of set play was the difference on the day.  Overall, positives can be taken away and worked on for the next game in two weeks time.

Thanks to the supporters who cheered the team on and for David Timms for running the line.