Frome RFC U15s v Bournemouth RFC U15s

With Easter just around the corner, the watching crowd had an early gift when Frome RFC U15's played Bournemouth RFC U15's, in the shape of a brilliant game of rugby! 

Bournemouth took an early lead, following a driving maul and led 0 - 5 after five minutes. The next ten minutes was more chess game than rugby match - with big tackles from Rob Norris and Oscar Stickely keeping the away side at bay. Winger, Archie Pearn picked up a loose ball and attacked well from his own half, before the ball was spilt forwards. 

Frome emerged as the dominant force over the next quarter of the game. A turnover from Rufus Phelps, led to a strong run from Aelfric Bidder. Zac Sibley kicked long which led to an attacking penalty. 

Captain Alfie Newbery took a quick tap and dummied before offloading to Toby Cassidy. Cassidy darted towards the try line and was tackled narrowly short of the line. 

The try almost came for home side again, when Phelps jackled and Harry Greenwood attacked the open space. Again, the possession changed hands and it took a Ewan Cox to wrestle the ball back for Frome. The half-ended with Bournemouth surviving waves of Frome attacks, to go into half-time with a narrow five point lead. 

The second half began with a bang for the home side. Kacper Martynovic tackled the opposition winger and the ball was spilt. From the resulting scrum, a clean hook from Freddie Corp gave good ball to the backs. A well worker strike move followed: Newbery dummied Ben Freeman and put Cassidy into a hole. The centre swerved and beat four defenders on an arcing line, to score under the posts. Greenwood added the extra's for a 7 - 5 score line. 

Over the next five minutes, successive tackles from Pearn, Phelps and Greenwood helped defence beat attack. But the dam burst when Bournemouth scored a well worked try in the far corner. The score was well poised at 7 - 10.

With ten minutes left of the game, a good midfield move offered Pearn space. He gratefully took it and ran at pace into the  Bournemouth half. Penalties against Bournemouth followed and a quick tap from Newbery put Stickely into space. He beat one defender and offloaded to his fellow prop, Bidder. Bidder swatted away three defenders and finished in the corner, for Frome take the lead, 12 - 10.

But Bournemouth would break Frome hearts, five minutes later, when the away side charged down a kick, for the winning try. On a sunny Sunday, one onlooker called it 'the best Junior game of rugby I've seen all year!' Bournemouth won this Dorset and Wilts League fixture 12 - 17, but both teams contributed to an excellent fixture!