Score: Lensbury II 10 - BBBRFC 19

After having to change their strip because they also played in black shirts our opposition elected to play down hill and with the wind behind them. The BBB's after a lengthy period of no matches were chomping at the bit to crack into 2003 with some style. Despite a match manager who organised the team at the last minute the club put out one of its strongest sides of the season.

With the wind against and opposing a well drilled and heavy pack the 1st half saw the BBB's 10 points down and could have been more if Lensbury had converted the tries and a penalty. At half time the team re-grouped in the knowledge that we would have the wind behind and the gravitational advantage of the downward slope. Without warning the game turned…..

Try 1:
After a kick downfield we were awarded a line out close to their try line; Simon Slee leapt and prized the ball out of the air and his comrades gathered around him instantly and formed a driving wedge and drove the Lensbury pack back over their try line. Lardy who was controlling the ball dropped to the floor as soon as we had all driven over the line. Try scored, spirits lifted!

Try 2:
After a well placed kick and pressure from Ian MacEachern and Roger Smith the ensuing maul saw Lardy invigorated by his previous try reached down to pick up the ball and made a 10 yard dash for the line, bouncing several Lensbury forwards off in the process Lardy crashed over the line for his second try. The try was converted.

Try 3:
The following 10 mins saw the best spell from the BBB's with heads up everyone wanted a piece of the action. Roll up Dazzla who made a break down the left hand side of the field and slipped the most silkily crafted pass to Harvey who at full pelt ran another twenty yards with only a few men to beat, Harvey was in danger of being engulfed when up popped Charlie Crichton who juggled the ball initially and started in hot pursuit for the corner flag, then fearing he was being chased by his own shadow changed direction in one jinking step and managed to cross the line and place the ball between the posts. Try converted by Ian.
The remainder of the match was not pretty as the Lensbury side came back fiercely. Their fitness supremacy was starting to show, however, the BBB's set up a defensive line across the field that Phil Larder would have been proud of. Giving away 7 penalties in a row and tackling anything that moved we held onto the final whistle to record a 19-10 victory.

Ed Culley