Sat 20 Nov 2021
The fixture list threw up an interesting time for this contest as both teams were having an indifferent spell within the season; Bournemouth had failed to win any of their previous five fixtures, whereas the CABs had failed to win on the road this season, but were creating a stronghold at Polson - so something had to give.
For the first 20 minutes the game was extremely evenly matched; disciplined defences on top and some really good abrasive rugby played by both sides and trying to find areas to exploit and significantly capitilise on. The one area that was becoming a real boon for Bournemouth was the box-kicking of the home team's 9 - in fact as the game wore on his influence became greater and greater and it certainly bought out the best in the CABs own 9, in Adam Collings during the afternoon. One missed tackle, on the Bournemouth 9, off a lineout led to home team extending their lead 13-5 which they eventually added to right at the end of the first half. Despite being over two scores in arrears the defensive sets and line speed, by the CABs, was impressive.
The half-time talk was very much focused on using our defence to drag us back into the game. The half backs changed playing style and we elected to use territory and boot of Adam & James Tucker to provide field position and earn penalties/turnovers to start converting into points and that was exactly what happened - an early Cam Fogden try in the second half and the game was back on! The next 10-12 minutes was good pressure by both defences and the breakthrough came when a penalty reverse gave Bournemouth a 5 metre scrum which they ended up putting the winger in the Club corner. A further try by each team gave the home side a 35-22 win and in all fairness fully deserved -they were a little bit better in most areas and certainly demonstrated their recent National 2 South playing experience.
Next week sees the first league visit of Brixham and we hope the Polson crowd are provided with another super home performance, like last week's v Royal Wootton Bassett's.
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