Sat 25 Mar 2023
Bridgnorth travelled to Kenilworth with the knowledge that if Dudley Kingswinford slipped up at home against Broadstreet and they could secure the away win then promotion was still on the cards.
Bridgnorth played with the wind in the first half and started the game well. With the Kenilworth kick off going straight out, the solid Bridgnorth scrum allowed Scrum-half Bladen to unleash a 50:22 kick deep into the away side’s twenty-two. A series of penalties to Bridgnorth followed and after several attempts, the customary Bridgnorth five-metre attacking lineout saw Cal Bradbury ground the ball for the try. Murphy kicked an excellent conversion with the wind. With the first Kenilworth scrum yielding a penalty to Bridgnorth, further drives after a ten-metre lineout were rounded off by Nick Selway, who ran an excellent line to crash over for the converted try.
With Selway hooking in the scrum plus George Newman and captain Jonah Boyce at prop, the scrum was dominant all game. Luis Evitt threw into the lineout and his ‘arrows’ were accurate all game to Connor Nicholls jumping at 2 and Morgan French claiming everything at 4. With the first two scores and set piece dominance it looked as though Bridgnorth could be in for a straightforward afternoon. However, Kenilworth stuck to their task and won their own attacking lineout after Bridgnorth had been penalised for holding on after a fine break by Evitt. Kenilworth scored a converted try in the centres to bring them back into the game.
Kenilworth’s back row forwards and inside backs proved elusive runners with the ball and their ability to swerve, step and evade the first tackle gave them ‘go-forward’ for the whole game. A kick ahead by Kenilworth during one such break eluded Will Biddell at full back and the home side scrum half crossed for a converted try to level the scores. The first half closed with another attacking lineout to Bridgnorth and even though the drive was held up, Kenilworth had to drop-out on their line. The ball was well returned and George Newman with his usual pace and power scored a converted try to make the half time score 14-21.
The second half started with Tom Foster replacing Cal Bradbury in the pack. With Kenilworth playing with the wind, Bridgnorth knew they would have to play more with the ball in hand and retain the ball for hard fought territory gains. This plan was executed and the away side earned an early penalty. A very good punt by Murphy gave Bridgnorth the attacking lineout and the lineout drive ended with George Newman scoring another converted try to give Bridgnorth the four try bonus point.
Bridgnorth continued to play well although a frustrating factor was their inability to give wing Jordan Burgess a quality pass. Time and again a miss-pass was flung in his general direction which wavered in the wind or the inside player felt they had to do too much with their run before passing and allowed the cover defence to organise. More early straightforward passing would have seen more try scoring opportunities for the left wing. However, the away side scored the next try, Tom Foster scoring near the posts for the converted try while some supporters were watching an altercation between Burgess and a Kenilworth forward.
With a nineteen-point deficit and knowing they could not change their league position; Kenilworth could have allowed their heads to drop. This was emphatically not the case as they scored the next two converted tries, the first after a series of good phases and the second a fine individual try from their impressive fly-half. Their comeback was thwarted with a yellow card and Bridgnorth scored next – an unconverted try by Luis Evitt to give the away side a ten point lead and calm their supporters’ nerves.
Bridgnorth replacement prop TJ Ajuchi scored next for the away side and the try was converted by replacement kicker Will Biddell. This took the away side’s score to 45 points and Bridgnorth were keen to keep playing and rack up the half century. Again however, Kenilworth refused to play their part in this scenario and after TJ was sent to the sin-bin, they launched several waves of attacks while earning penalties. These attacks were rounded off by their number 8 who scored a converted try with the last play of the game and the final score was 35-45.
Although Dudley Kingswinford took promotion with a home win, enormous credit must go to Bridgnorth for finishing in second place, their best performance at Level Five and their highest ever league position.
With the league campaign completed, Bridgnorth now enter the RFU Papa Johns Community Cup. With a pool of 4 clubs (Bridgnorth, Colchester, Syston and Wimbledon) the winner of the pool will go forward to the semi-final with a Twickenham final to follow.
The first game is at home next week vs Wimbledon. The south London club, having lost only one league game all season and scoring twenty try-bonus points will provide a stern test at the Edgar Davies Ground.
Match Photos by Robert Nicholls - BRFC Facebook Page - CLICK HERE!
