Cotham Park RFC The closest Rugby club to Clifton in Bristol

Forgive me for the tardiness of this match report, it’s only now I can bring myself to talk of Saturday’s harrowing events.

We arrived at BAC full of confidence following our 3 from 3 start to the league season, the weather was good and conditions looked excellent for rugby. The hosts were already out and training when we arrived so we knew we were in for a tough game; but with a strong team in the black and white of Cotham we were hoping for a victory.

The game began and we were instantly on the back foot, the hosts putting on a strong driving display which saw us quickly camped on our own line. Some quick play from their half backs saw them cross easily for the first try, not a good start! The ease at which they had scored made me fear for the afternoon ahead, but thankfully I was mistaken. This early try spurred us on and we began to show the form that had seen us climb to the top of the table. From the kick off we pushed on and began to eat into the BAC territory; some quick thinking from the back row saw us charge down an attempted clearance kick. Marcus snaffled up the lose ball and strode for the line; luckily common sense over-ruled the dollar signs that were fluttering in his eyes and he off-loaded to ‘Pistol’ Pete Ashby who outstripped the covering backs for the first Cotham try. Unfortunately Nick narrowly missed the conversion so we still trailed 7-5. This try knocked the confidence of the previously bullish BAC boys; this coupled with the fact our scrum was in imperious form meant that they were clearly rattled. The following minutes are a bit of a blur, but all I know is our penalty count began to rise and this culminated in Marcus seeing yellow. The resulting penalty saw us fall further behind, 10-5. This could have seen us shut up shop and begin damage limitation, but to our credit, it didn’t. We pushed on and began to take it to BAC, we surged back up the park and started some very effective strike running. Both Jack Kelly and Nick cut some excellent lines through some weak tackling to make much needed yards, but indiscretions at the breakdown area saw us surrendering decent field position. Still, we kept on the pressure and just before the half time whistle we got a penalty just outside their 22 and Nick stroked it sweetly over. Marcus returned just before the end of the half and at the whistle we were narrowly trailing 10-8.

The half time talk outlined the plans for the 2nd half, we needed quicker ball out and to cut out the penalties, we managed one of these- briefly! We began the second half with a new sense of belief and we quickly camped ourselves in their half. With George once again soaring in the line out, we were on the front foot. Following some good driving from the now dominant pack the ball was shipped out and a great delayed pass from Stuart put me through the gap; I surged past some would be tacklers to score under the posts. Nick easily converted and we were now ahead 15-10.

I’d like to say that this was the start of a rout, but sadly it was not. Our game play did not deteriorate but our discipline did. We continued to be strong in the pack and the backs’ tackling was the best it has been all season, but in the break down we let ourselves down. Around 15mins into the 2nd half BAC had a player red carded for kicking Jonny A in the back (as he was trying to pull down a maul), this only served to tie the game up as BAC started to keep the ball tight and use their strong mauling game. We seemed to come unstuck as we were starved of ball and territory, which saw frustration slip into our game. Despite continual talking from the very vocal Ref we continued to ignore his guidance and we gave away penalty after penalty. This saw BAC eat away at our lead, following a converted penalty we were now only leading 15-13. With 10 minutes to go we were still leading and were not being out-played, but we were putting ourselves under pressure. No sooner had we cleared our lines then we were back again, defending on the line. Our defence stood resolute as it had done from the 5th minute following their try, but sadly this was not enough. Some strong driving and rucking from BAC saw us yet again give away a needless penalty inside our 22. Their full back strode up and stroked a solid conversion to take the lead 16-15. The last 3-4 minutes saw us try play after play to get back down the pitch and get in range of their line, but our efforts were in vain. Perhaps a fitting end to the game saw us give away yet another penalty inside our half and they kicked to corner where the ref quickly blew for the end of the game.

I don’t think we should dwell on this defeat because we were not beaten or out played by a stronger team; instead we were beaten by our own indiscipline. That is the most frustrating thing! It is how we respond to this game that will show our strength and commitment to improving as players, because discipline is not something that can be trained, it has to be down to the individual to take responsibility.

I’ll leave you with a quote from their coach that was re-iterated by their Captain,

“corr, that was a tough one. Thanks for giving it to us lads!”

Stringer

Result: 16-15 Loss

Tries: Pete Ashby

Craig Coulstring

Conv: Nick Comer

Pen: Nick Comer