ST bernadettes 10 Gordano RFC 31

Gordano travelled into Bristol to face a Bernadettes team that defeated them 6 months ago at the end of last season so they knew what sort of encounter they faced with.

The game was typically bruising up front where Gordano appeared to have the upper hand which was confirmed after 20 minutes with a penalty try from a scrum. Both teams did try and move the ball when they had the opportunity, Bernadettes looking to get the ball in to the hands of their 15 whose recent run on the 7s circuit was evident as he proved a tricky player to get hold of. It was Gordano though who looked purposeful when they put the ball through the hands, the first real materialisation being when decoy runners in midfield freed up space for a wide pass to put winger Josh Richards away on the right hand side where he beat his opposite man but was adjudged to have stepped into touch. Moments later though Gordano got their reward as Mike Yandell bundled over from close range for a rare try for the Sharks back rower, Rowsell adding the extras for a 14 point lead.

The next 10 minutes saw St Bernadettes see more ball and put real pressure on the Gordano line with a series of attacks through their forwards in particular their number 8. Gordano however managed to hold the home side and push them back towards half way. A charge down kick from centre Jack Hendy resulted in the ball being moved out to the left hand side where winger Aaran Thomas showed a decent turn of pace to beat his winger and progress down field before drawing the fullback and putting Tom Arnall free for the score that after the conversion put Gordano 0 - 21 ahead at the break.

The second half started well with an early penalty in front of the posts which was almost added to moments later when centre Owen Abbott scything through a gap on half way, chipping over the full back but just failing to gather the ball. From there Gordano became increasingly frustrated both by the opposition and the referee as the game was not allowed to progress at the pace they wanted. 3 yellow cards, 2 for the Sharks and 1 for the home side di not help the game. Credit to St Bernadettes who continued to push and scored 2 tries to bring them back in the match. It was Owen Abbott however that sealed the victory, getting on the end of an outside pass to score on the right. Rowsell made it 100% off the tee to leave the final score at 10-31.