Saturday 5th March Match Programme

BRIDGWATER & ALBION RFC v OLD PATESIANS RFC SATURDAY 5th March 2022 KO 3PM

Match Sponsor Warm Welcome and sincere thanks to

BASEMENT SIDES DO HONOURABLE BATTLE WITH PERHAPS ONLY PRIDE AT STAKE

We welcome Old Patesians to College Way this afternoon for their first visit since January 2012 when the clubs met in what is now SW Premier. Then, Patesians completed the double winning 22-15 after a spanking 66-30 home win in Cheltenham earlier that season. In fact, of the four meetings between the clubs before this season, then Patesians have won them all. Like ourselves, they have had a somewhat topsy turvy run up and down the league system. Starting life in Gloucestershire I in 1987/88, they gradually made their way through Western Counties, South West II and then South West I (N3SW). In our first season of fixtures, Patesians were actually promoted to what is now N2S where they enjoyed several seasons before relegation in 2006/7. By that time, Albion had advanced to N2S. In 2009/10, Patesians were runners up in N3SW but lost in the play-off and after being 3rd and 6th in the next two seasons, they gradually drifted away and were relegated in 2015/16 but to SW1 East. They bounced back almost immediately in 2017/18 and were back in N3 SW but only for one season 2018/19 when they were relegated back to this level to the Eastern Section.

In 2019/20 they finished 9th in SW1 East and were transferred to the Western section for this season.

Until last weekend, it was Bridgwater & Albion in the bottom spot but our victory at North Petherton has now taken us level on points with Patesians and now one place ahead. Both sides will be looking to be more convincing in the run in but whether that is to any avail remains to be seen with the anticipation that league restructuring will be under way for 2022/23 placing the emphasis on more leagues at levels 5 and 6 and more local fixtures – we will see.

Both sides took some time to get off the mark in the league but when they did, they produced the goods for at least two weeks’ running. In fact, our victory at Old Patesians on 6 November (our first against them) came hot on the heels of the Friday night home win against North Petherton – so perhaps there is an omen there with last Friday night’s 28-25 pulsating win giving us the same opportunity today. Patesians countered well in January – beating North Petherton and Wellington in consecutive weeks. They have also been able to pick up welcome losing bonus points.

It was a tight encounter back in November with both sides surprisingly playing better up the notorious Everest Road slope. Albion’s 19-16 victory perhaps summed up the occasion.

We wish Patesians well for the remainder of the season and wonder whether the RFU geography will encompass both sides next season.

Albion returned rather buoyed with the victory at Beggars Brook completing the double for the first time since the clubs have been bound in the same league over the last nine seasons. Some wondered whether it was our first win away but it was in fact the second – we triumphed there in September 2015 26-13. Putting the points on the board early on was Albion’s ploy and that worked well – making sure that the home side were always playing catch up – a theme strongly illustrated on the following day as England did the same against Wales. We also scored three tries equalling our best effort this season and Stuart Heal’s boot kept the scoreboard ticking over and his 13 points brought him to 106 for the season – yet again passing the

century mark on his 173rd appearance. Ethan Trebble-Westlake made his 125th appearance in that game and he and his fellow forwards set the scene for the evening with a convincing performance in both scrum and line-out. Perhaps the form was no surprise as Albion considerably improved in their last outing against Newent before going down narrowly 23-27.

Alarmingly, there are only two more home fixtures before the end of season – St Austell here on 26 March and then Thornbury on 9 April. However, today’s match and the visits to Sidmouth and Wellington may give us the opportunity of improving our points and league position as they are amongst the teams around us so that we can round off the season hopefully in some style.

Alas Albion’s form did not extend to victory in Wednesday night’s Cup match at Wellington where we went down 18-24 – another narrow defeat for the second time this season against these opponents but as they are our final encounter of the season, then an opportunity to claw back some pride and prestige.

Sides and Asides

UNITED XV RAMPANT BEFORE FRONT ROW DILEMMA In recent weeks, our United XV have picked up their form considerably with three consecutive victories over Midsomer Norton II 60-19, Morganians 31-5 and Nailsea & Backwell II 30-15. Unfortunately, the run stopped when front row difficulties following the 1st XV outing at Petherton on Friday night, meant that we were unable to provide sufficient expertise in those positions and had to concede the re-arranged match at Keynsham II. During these matches, the team have made hay and none particularly more than Kyran Devitt who scored 25 points against Nailsea & Backwell including two tries. The team was at North Petherton II last night and will be at home next week against high riding Old Redcliffians II as the season ebbs away.

WOMEN’S XV TRIUMPH YET AGAIN Our Women’s XV maintained their tremendous form with an overwhelming 60-0 victory over Trowbridge Ladies last Sunday. Nine tries were scored with Megan Lake, Charlotte Woodward and Gemma Batts each scoring 2. Charlotte added the extras to 6 tries and also kicked a penalty. What a successful first league season this is and no doubt more to come.

TODAY’S MATCH SPONSORS We welcome the Partners, Staff and guests of Maxwells Chartered Accountants as our sponsors for today’s match. The firm has been sponsoring the club for over 40 years and always produces an excellent crowd and we hope that this will have some impact upon the game on the field. Maxwells - also known as Bridgwater’s Sporting Accountants – has been in existence for over 100 years at its King Square base and assists many sporting, cultural and other recreational societies in the area. We hope that they and their guests will have the usual enjoyable day with us.

NEXT FIXTURES ON THIS GROUND Saturday 12 March United XV v Old Redcliffians II

Kick-off 1500

Saturday 26 March 1st XV v St Austell

Kick-off 1500

Saturday 9 April - Friends Luncheon E-mail Richard Atwell for a table at this lovely event friendsofbaarfc@aol.com Our United XV are likely to be playing at Wellington II on Friday 8 April and away to Cheddar Valley on Saturday 16 April before the 1st XV encounter Wellington away on the last day of the season on 23 April.

1st XV v Thornbury

Kick-off 1500

IF THE CAP FITS THEN WEAR IT WITH PRIDE AND HONOUR – AND HE DID!

Our loyal servant Matt Ranson made his 250th 1st XV appearance in the home match against Newent on 12 February and was awarded his club cap and was extremely proud and honoured to have reached the mark during his 23rd season with the club. It was great to see three generations of Ranson’s celebrate and father Richard (Dick) made several 1st XV appearances and had a long career in our United and Dirtrackers XV’s and Matt’s older brother Simon is a 300 capped player (311). With Matt’s son Austin also in tow, then it was a family day with wife Colette beaming in the background.

Matt made his debut at the tender age of 16 3/4 years at Nuneaton on 29 April 1995 replacing brother Simon at scrum-half. After that initial appearance it took him some while to establish himself in the side – perhaps not helped by his extreme versatility as he has appeared all over the field for us, missing out only the second row (for fairly obvious reasons) from the positions available.

After appearing mainly in the backs in the early part of his career, Matt has successfully switched to the forwards – initially in the back row but now coming into the front row where he has been an almost everpresent in recent seasons. His versatility can perhaps be demonstrated by the fact that he has also represented Somerset at Colts; Under 21 and Senior XV’s where he appeared in two County Championships Shield Finals v Surrey at Twickenham and v Warwickshire at Butts Arena, Coventry in 2006.

Albion’s coaching mis-management at the start of the 2010’s meant that Matt moved away from the club to Wellington for a few seasons where he also performed notably in the back row but fortunately he returned to the fold in 2013/14 and assisted the United XV in their unbeaten season en route to promotion to Somerset Premier in 2015/16.

Earlier this season there was some doubt whether he would reach 250 this year as he was side-lined with a leg injury but fortunately it has healed considerably and he has retaken his place to come through to this magic mark. At the age of 43 – approaching 44 – he is certainly not the oldest to reach this mark and still appear but he is almost in chosen company.

Congratulations Matt for your efforts for the club over a long period and long may you continue in harness.

MATTHEW RICHARD RANSON DATE OF BIRTH

01/07/1978 AT HEREFORD APPEARANCES

1994/95 1995/96 1996/97 1997/98 1998/99 1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 (up to 4.3.22)

Debut 29/04/1995 75 100 150 175 200 225 250

SCORES

1 1 1 5 8 20 8 22 27 30 12 8 2 5 1 1 18 27 21 20 13 ___ 251

v. Nuneaton v. Oxford Harlequins v. Oxford Harlequins v. Clevedon (Cup) v. Cullompton v. Cullompton v. Keynsham v. Newent

T–5 5T 25

T–5

T–5 T-5

_____ 9T- 45

A H A A A H A H

L L L L W W L L

8-15 17-21 0-3 7-10 29-26 80-10 7-22 23-27

8/11/2003 11/10/2004 18/01/2009 30/09/2017 15/09/2018 23/09/2019 12/03/2022

It is always interesting to look back at the XV Bridgwater & Albion fielded on Matt’s debut at Nuneaton in 1995 and it was:-

Bergin; B Goulby D Buller Whittingham Crook; J Goulby S Ranson; M Tompkins Pimm Bromme G Buller Rackham Whitcombe Rees Harris. Replacement: M Ranson.

Bergin kicked a penalty and B Goulby scored the try. Harris was making his 500 th appearance (ending with 582 – club record). This was also Albion’s 37th (!) game of the season in which they won 17 and lost 20 but scored 718 points against 748.

ANOTHER LANDMARK ECLIPSED

Ethan Trebble-Westlake not to be outdone made his 125th appearance for the club at North Petherton last Friday night in just his 6th season with the club – showing his consistency, although he has not been available regularly this term. Ethan made his debut at the start of the 2015/16 season – ironically against North Petherton and in a 26-13 victory. He would have been pleased to have repeated the dose last Friday. Equally at home in the back and second rows, he has graced the side with some considerable consistency both as regards his form and durability.

Yet another example of a player making the most of his opportunities and with plenty to come, having just turned 30 years of age. Congratulations Ethan and we look forward to your advance to your cap.

ETHAN J TREBBLE-WESTLAKE DATE OF BIRTH 02.12.1991

Debut v North Petherton 05.09.2015 A W 26-13 at No.6

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2021-22 (up to 4.3.22)

APPEARANCES

SCORES

18 25 27 24 20 11 ___

T–5 3T – 15 5T – 25 5T – 25 3T – 15 ___ ____ 17T - 85 _______

125 ___ ___ 50 v Exeter University

A

21.10.2017

L

5-45

75 v Coney Hill

H

29.09.2018

W

97-14

100 v Hornets

H

12.10.2019

L

12-21

125 v North Petherton

A

25.2.2022

W

28-25

Bridgwater and Albion RFC Team:

1. Michael Saunders – Kindly Sponsored by Ian Stone 2. Gavin Knight – Kindly Sponsored by Aspen Waite – 01278 445151 3. Matt Ranson – Kindly Sponsored by Godfrey and Shirley Stacey 4. Ethan Trebble-Westlake - Kindly and cryptically chosen as one of Badgers Boys 5. Olly Davis 6. Karolis Urbonas – Kindly and cryptically chosen as one of the Presidents Men 7. George Sluman – Kindly Sponsored by Jane Heal in memory of John 8. Taylor Buller 9. Jon Hill - Kindly Sponsored by MRB Properties 10. Stuart Heal – Kindly Sponsored by Connect Electrical Services - 652190 11. Richard Bright 12. Jake Knight – Kindly Sponsored by Mike Morgan Electrical Services 13. Jay Owens – Kindly Sponsored Neil Owens Carpet and Vinyl Fitting – 07917 886009 14. Will Monro – Kindly Sponsored by Richard Preece Mortgages – 07545 860805 15. Oskar White – Kindly Sponsored by Britannia Lanes of Bristol and Somerset 16. Michael Saunders – Kindly Sponsored by Ian Stone 17. Graham Slorance 18. Rowan James 19. Lewis Plece – Kindly Sponsored by Mike and Ryan Plece

Old Patesians RFC

TBC

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