Bournemouth Lions sponsored by
Wood of Bournemouth
Coney Hill RFC 0 v 36 Bournemouth RFC
Match Sponsored by David Errington of Goadsby, Estate Agents.
The English Clubs Rugby Union Championship – South-West 1
The weather was fine and sunny but with a cold Easterly breeze blowing straight down the
pitch. Underfoot the pitch was well grassed and firm.
Bournemouth kicked-off from clubhouse end and thus into the breeze.
Going left, Bournemouth were soon on the offensive following up their kick-off with a Scott
Chislett chip showing their intentions to attack at every opportunity. The threes moved it
right to the Coney Hill 22-metre where the latter were penalized. Scrum-half Sam Hardcastle
quickly took the penalty and he drew the full back to feed Iain Crombie and the openside
flanker crashed over for the first score after just two minutes. James Flynn kicked an
excellent goal from near the right-hand touchline and into the not inconsiderable breeze. An
excellent start! After Chislett had cleared the kick-off to touch, Coney Hill attacked down their
left but the Bournemouth defence stopped them and turned the ball over. Hardcastle was fed
by No 8 Matt Kiely and the scrum-half went left but the promising break was stopped when
his pass failed to go to hand. In turn Coney Hill set up any number of attacks of their own
with ball being recycled very effectively but they were not able to breach the first line of
defence and very satisfactorily Bournemouth tuned the ball over on a number of occasions.
Nonetheless they gave away a penalty, despite some blatant ‘fringing’ by the Coney Hill
forwards but fly-half Barnett’s kick at goal from just outside the 22-metre line was pulled left
of the near post and Bournemouth supporters felt that justice had been done. From the drop
out, Bournemouth won the ball and Hardcastle penetrated deep into Coney Hill territory with
a typical elusive style. With Coney desperately defending, they were penalized for handling
the ball while off their feet in front of the posts and Flynn duly punishe them with a neat
kick to put his side 10-nil up after thirteen minutes. Straight from the kick-off, Bournemouth
immediately struck back into Coney Hill territory when Hardcastle again broke from the base
of a scrum. In a lovely three-quarter move which had the Coney Hill fully stretched to contain
them, Chislett almost made it to the line but in a very tight situation got the ball to centre
Tim Gray who was immediately tackled but he. in turn, got it to fellow centre James Payne
who went over wide of the left-hand post. Flynn converted and Bournemouth had a very
satisfactory lead of 17-nil after just fifteen minutes. Coney Hill remained a dangerous
attacking force as they continued to use the tactic of running off quick ball from the rucks
and mauls. However a tight Bournemouth defence forced them into any number of handling
errors and they were forced to give up the ball. The Bournemouth threes in turn showed how
dangerous they can be with Hardcastle proving a real handful and fellow half-back Chislett
did well to get the ball in and around the back of the tackle to put Payne free but the centre
was penalized for holding on as he made so much ground and became isolated before he could be ‘rescued’. The forwards also made their own contribution to the constant pressure
under which Coney Hill found themselves. Loosehead prop Jo Burns, making his first start
since Weston-super-Mare at the beginning of December, showed that not only can he
scrummage but how powerful he is in the loose with a great thirty metre charge. This was
matched by lock Jayson Kenny as Bournemouth continued to examine the home side’s
defensive credentials. As a result Bournemouth were able to find a couple of attacking lineouts
inside the Coney Hill 22-metre line. With the first, Coney Hill did well to clear their lines
to their left when Bournemouth made a mess of the line-out. Bournemouth were soon back
off the back of the line-out with a dart from Hardcastle and a surge from Kenny but the ball
was knocked-on in the midfield. Coney Hill were penalized for holding on and Flynn kicked to
left for the second attacking line-out. This time they did much better with lock Tim Seward,
as he did most of the afternoon, securing the throw and Bournemouth drove for the line.
They were stopped illegally and the Coney Hill tighthead prop Corriea was asked to reflect on
his misdemeanour for ten minutes by referee Richard Steggall. Bournemouth chose to scrum
the ball and, from five metres out, inexorably drove the Coney Hill pack back for Matt Kiely to
spot the ball just left of the posts. Flynn duly added the two points and Bournemouth
increased their lead to 24-nil after twenty-eight minutes. Coney Hill committed the cardinal
sin of kicking the ball straight out and put themselves under immediate pressure with a
scrum back. Tim Gray made typical break as the ball was moved left and Coney Hill did well
to stop the attack. Then came the try of the game when from a line-out on the right, Seward
broke left. The move was continued by the ever dangerous Gray who found himself in space
to feed the unselfish Payne who put Flynn clear to run in and finish off a thrilling move by
scoring wide of the of the left post. Disappointingly, the same player pulled the ball left of the
near post but 29-nil was not a bad score with seven minutes of the half left. This gave plenty
of time for Coney Hill to show they were far from done and with their supporters urging them
on they made a typical robust attack down the left where Bournemouth were penalized
inside their own 22-metre line.
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 A quickly taken penalty found the Bournemouth defence back
pedaling so as not to infringe but they managed to force the ball carrier wide across the face
of the posts. When he was stopped just short of the line, the ball went wide to the left where
there seemed to be plenty of overlap but somehow this much-improved Bournemouth
defence manufactured out of nowhere the means to force the ball into the relatively safe
haven of a 5-metre line-out. At least it was their own throw-in. The Bournemouth situation
was relieved by a Coney Hill misdemeanour but Chislett’s kick didn’t find touch and of course
the ball was returned with interest as Coney Hill found themselves, unexpectedly, on the
offensive again. With Coney Hill now back to full strength Bournemouth were forced to
defend and they did well to keep full back Firth out when he did very well to pick up a
clearance kick and was bravely stopped short of the line.
The second half was anti-climatic. After some very exciting play in the first half, Bournemouth
supporters were looking forward to some more of the same but it never happened. Six
minutes into the half, something, what one can only say was due to frustration, sparked off a
bout of fighting which resulted in hooker Chris Ulu and Coney Hill lock Richards being red
carded. The result was some very scrappy play with neither side able to find the fluency and
execution of task of the first half. The situation was not helped by a number of lengthy
stoppages which meant referee Steggal played an additional ten minutes in that rugged
second half.
Although Coney Hill never in any sense gave up, other than one strong attack
where they knocked-on over the line, they, otherwise, never looked like scoring either. It was
left to Domenick Davies to come into the line late in the game and finish off, at last, one of
any number of Bournemouth attacks. Mention must also be made of the replacements whose
introduction did nothing to disrupt Bournemouth’s pattern of play as they fitted in so well into
what was a tough match. The Bournemouth scrum remained strong and they almost gave an
opportunity for Hardcastle to score when they totally disrupted the Coney Hill put in just
before referee Steggall blew for no side.
A great result in difficult circumstances. Rugby in the West Country is not for the faint hearted but Bournemouth played some excellent football, especially in that first half, and
weren’t fazed by the rigours they faced in the second. With both Old Patesians and Oxford
Harlequins losing, we jump two places to the dizzy heights of fifth. However, just four points
separate seven of the bottom sides so there is still much to do. In the run in, we face each of
the top four sides, three of them at home, and, as a climax to the season, Redingensians
away. A tough, challenging but exciting prospect and a real test of whether we are good
enough. I am sure you will know the answer I would give to that conundrum!
Attendance – 100 approximately.
Referee – Richard Steggall, Devon. Touch Judge – Steve Buffery, Bournemouth.
Bournemouth Team - 15:Domenick Davies (1T); 14: Joe Frost; 13: Tim Gray; 12: James
Payne (1T) (‘Eddy’ Edwards 49); 11: James Flynn (1T, 4C, 1P); 10: Scott Chislett; 9: Sam
Hardcastle; 1: Jo Burns (Tim Wareham 63); 2: Chris Ulu; 3: Alan Manning; 4: Jayson Kenny;
5: Tim Seward; 6: Chris Hughes (c); 7: Iain Crombie (1T); 8: Matt Kiely (Dan Cawley 49).
Scorers – Tries (5): Crombie, Davies, Flynn, Kiely, Payne. Con (4): 4 Flynn. Pen (1): 1 Flynn.
Red Card – Chris Ulu 46m.
Milestones – Domenick Davies starts for the 25th time in all matches for the 1st XV. James
Flynn passes 100 (103) points for the season and 250 (253) points his career in the league.
Sam Hardcastle plays his 100th game at scrum-half in all matches. James Payne reaches 100
points in his career in the league.
Coney Hill Team - 15: G Firth; 14: D Carr; 13: M Wheelan; 12: C Overthrow; 11: S Felice;
10: R Barnett; 9: L Liggett; 1: A Pettigrew; 2: R Nicholas; 3: L Corriea; 4: P Richards; 5: C
Cooper; 6: C Ballinger (c); 7: D Gaze; 8: M Rimmer. Replacements – C Hall, D Brown, G
Tippens.
Scoring sequence – 3m: Maidenhead try (Gallina) 0-5; 10m: Huges try, Flynn con 7-5;
17m: Hardcastle try, Flynn con 14-5; 23m: Davies try 19-5; 28m: Payne try, Flynn con 26-5;
40m: Half-time: 26-5; 49m: Chislett try 31-5; 55m: Frost try 36-5; 65m: Cawley try, Flynn
con 43-5; 70m: Flynn pen 46-5; 77m: Hardcastle try, Flynn con 53-5; 80m: Full Time: 53-5.
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