Bridgwater and Albion RFC v Chew Valley Saturday 11th September

BRIDGWATER & ALBION RFC V CHEW VALLEY RFC SATURDAY 11th SEPTEMBER 2021

CHEW VALLEY VISIT SEEKING TO BUILD ON FINE OPENING DAY FORM WHILST BRIDGWATER & ALBION WILL WANT TO ENSURE THAT HOME ADVANTAGE COUNTS THIS WEEK Chew Valley make their second visit to College Way in almost identical circumstances to those of their last visit in September 2019 (with the void 2020/21 season it is difficult not to refer to “last season”). Then Chew - celebrating their promotion - had opened their season with an astounding 85-14 home victory against St Ives who immediately fell by the wayside and sadly dropped out of the leagues – a bit like Stroud this season. Albion were also then awarded two consecutive home matches to start their season and started with a defeat against Thornbury. Cometh the day it was Bridgwater who triumphed winning 34-10 with a 5 try salvo. In the return match at Lobbingtons just before Christmas 2019 Albion plundered a 20-19 victory – almost a collector’s item as Chew had lost so infrequently at home over many seasons and for us to complete the double was some real achievement.

Chew Valley celebrated their first 50 years as recently as 2019 and have done remarkably in the leagues since they were founded in 1987 when they were placed in Somerset 2. They remained in the Somerset section of the leagues for several seasons finally making their way to Somerset Premier. They had a long spell there and in 2012/13 they won that league with a fine 24-2 record. They finished third in the next season in Western Counties North and remained in the top four for the next few seasons until runners up spots in 2016/17 and 2017/18 took them to the level play-offs but they were defeated firstly by Cullompton and then by Devonport Services. Chastened by these reverses, there is only one way up and Chew made sure in 2018/19 with an excellent 23-1-2 record and scoring 970 points to be champions of WCN and to join this level 6. In 2019/20 they gave an excellent account of themselves in their first appearance at this level finishing in 6 th place in the revised league table with 70.47 points and above Bridgwater & Albion who were in 7 th place. Chew’s home form was the key to their success. They have started the 2021/22 season in excellent form with a home 41-19 win against last time’s runner’s up Thornbury – who just missed out on promotion by 0.88 – yielding the only escape route to Hornets. That result and our own disappointing outcome against Wellington last week will certainly put Bridgwater & Albion on the line and satisfy the many supporters who turned out last week all clambering for the return of proper rugby football. We congratulate Chew on their progress to date and their good start and wish them well for the rest of the season and we will be visiting up the A38 on 18 December.

Bridgwater & Albion will be ruing some of the decisions which may have cost them the match against Wellington here last Saturday. Twice in a tight match Albion turned down the opportunity of kicking their penalty goals in pursuit of tries. However with the scores level at 10-10 the visitors needed no persuasion to kick their simple penalty and to take away the spoils. Therein lies the tale. If tries were to be the only yardstick and an admirable one at

that, then why do the lawmakers persist with the inclusion of conversions and penalties as other means of scoring? Just think of the large number of talented all-round players who would be out of a job if points kicking was not on the menu – we all have them and judging by the leading point-scorers in most clubs then most of them have some considerable consistency – why not use them?

Nevertheless there were some bright spots from the close encounter with several players making their 1st XV debut including our new captain Alex Payne, Jake Knight, Louka Viala and James Palmer. Perhaps the most remarkable and pleasing debut was that of Simon Buck and more about him later in this programme. We also welcomed back John W Hill (not to be confused with John H Hill – a full-back) at scrum half after a season with Old Bristolians – working from home does it for some and even rugby football clubs benefit! Wellington turned out to be plucky and hard opponents with their defence being outstanding. They repelled Albion’s opening salvos and fought back well after going 0-10 down; once they had evened up the score and taken the lead, then their defence ensured that was it. We will all be interested how they perform in their home match against North Petherton today.

Next week Bridgwater & Albion are on their travels and visit Crediton who were one of the promoted clubs with Chew Valley last time and against whom we also scored the double – winning 27-22 here in September 2019 and 19-17 at The Esplanade in January 2020. After that the current league leaders Devonport Services (if it matters after just one game) will visit in two weeks’ time.

SIDES AND ASIDES UNITED XV LATER START With several players clad in brightly coloured strip coming out of the dressing rooms but with both of the XV’s warming up on the main pitch, someone asked me who are 2 nd XV were playing last week. I had to explain that it was not our United XV but it was the Bridgwater & Albion FC team who now share our facilities and club attributes and who were making their way down to the College Ground for their Taunton & District league match.

This is further explained by the fact that Somerset 1 where our United XV are due to play does not commence until the weekend of 24-26 September and the first scheduled match is likely to be on Friday night 24 September v Wellington II on this ground. The United performed well in 2019/20 finishing fourth in their league with 11 wins and 4 defeats.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE During his long playing career our Scribe saw out his playing days in the Dirtrackers XV (3 rd XV) where he played with many talented and promising players who thought that the DT’s was their fun and enjoyment and the height of their rugby football playing ambitions. When it was pointed out to them that some could easily have gone up the line into the United XV and indeed into the 1st XV then a lot of them laughed but several players did take heed of the advice and became very worthy club players and provided additional strength to the club generally. With the demise of the DT’s a few years ago, it was always interesting to see who might hang on and keep playing both for their own enjoyment and for the good of the club generally and one of the few was Simon Buck. Simon came through our mini, junior and youth section and was in our Colts and he then joined up with the Dirtrackers where he enjoyed himself for several seasons but in your Scribe’s opinion he also showed that extra promise. In the last few seasons he has played principally in our United XV and has done well – even as he gets older. Hence it was a delight for all concerned to see him on the bench last week and to make his first appearance in the senior side. Perseverance and skills always rule.

PROGRAMMES 2021/22 Last Saturday’s absence of a paper published programme brought about some consternation amongst various factions of the Bridgwater & Albion membership and probably quite rightly

so. There is nothing quite like a match programme to consult during idle moments; to gear up on the teams on display; to look at the history of matches between the clubs; to see whom we are playing in the next few weeks etc. The club intends that the programme be digitally produced and therefore available online but from Friday lunchtimes onwards. This may cause some difficulty in actually referring to the content whilst you are watching the match as many discovered when looking at the small print on their small phones. A lot of players also relish the sight of their name in print and will add the programme to their collections and hopefully look back over the years with some pride on when they appeared and what they did. It is not quite the same thing looking at that on a phone or other tablet type device. Quite sensibly and undoubtedly with financial foresight the club has abandoned the glossy style advertisement bulging document for members – you only need one – the actual match day content being of more general interest. It is also important for members and others to be aware of the constitution and composition of the club’s various committees and particularly relating to our extensive mini, junior, youth; girls and women; and association football sections. However due to the fact that members and other visitors may not identify the club’s new pursuit then printed copies will be available – they may be in short supply so make sure that you arrive early to get your copy.

HOW MANY SPOTTED THE APPLICATION OF ONE OF THE NEW LAWS LAST WEEK? Several new Laws have been trialled and now put into operation for the 2021/22 season and last Saturday against Wellington one of them came into play. As the Albion forwards bundled over the Wellington line but without securing the touch down to the referee’s satisfaction, then one might have expected a 5 metre scrum with Albion ball but no – the Laws now prescribe that in those situations the defending side are awarded a drop out from under their posts effectively meaning that in normal circumstances the ball should be back with the attackers. However Wellington used the situation rather cleverly and their drop out bounced kindly into touch.

The old Law used to award the attackers but perhaps the lawmakers are so fed up with the continual bashing of try lines from a few metres out from catch and drive etc that it has got rather boring and there is the antidote. (Maybe all the more reason to kick your goals rather than chance being held up?)

There was no evidence of the new 50/22 kicking Law and more about that when it actually happens. You need to be switched on these days to keep up with the changes.

NEXT MATCHES ON THIS GROUND Friday 24 September United XV v Wellington II

Kick-off 7.30 pm (check first)

Saturday 25 September 1st XV v Devonport Services

Kick-off 3 pm

Saturday 2 October United XV v Cheddar Valley

Kick-off 3 pm

Saturday 9 October 1st XV v Lydney

Kick-off 3 pm

As members may have gathered, Stroud have pulled out of South West 1 West this season thus leaving additional void dates for Albion on 4 December (home) and 2 April 2022 (away).

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Matt Ranson Gavin Knight – Kindly Sponsored by Carl Turner and Tina Fincham Lewis Phillips Simon Buck 5. Alex Payne (C) – E18hteen Gin - www.18gin.co.uk 6. Shaun Mahoney – Kindly Sponsored by Carl Turner and Tina Fincham 7. Karolis Ubonas 8. Gareth Clwyd-Jones 9. Jon Hill 10. Stuart Heal – Connect Electrical Services – www.connect-electrical-services.co.uk 11. Ryan Barnett 12. Jake Knight 13. Oskar White 14. James Brakes – Kindly Sponsored by Christine Clapham 15. Louka Viala 16. Graham Slorance 17. James Palmer 18. Thomas Croal All the above are available for sponsorship please e-mail emma@barfc.co.uk to arrange.

Away Team 1.

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Dean Brooker Jack Monk Jonathan Eves Ben Whitemore Richard Light Tom Waddington Matt Wright Alex Cox Jack Summers Dan Gatton Joseph Webb Charlie Shallcross Joe Cowell Harry Stride Tom Bryan Frank Worle Mark Dakey Jake Thompson