South West one (West)

Bridgwater and Albion 12

THE hosts made it three wins on the bounce as they dismantled their Somerset visitors to climb up to fourth place in the table.

This was a match that on paper looked destined to be a tight affair; however, right from the kick off the Okes were dominant and a home win was never in doubt.

Playing up the slope the hosts settled quickly on the sticky surface and struck immediately. The kick-off was gathered and after Keiran Lee had made good ground, a kick ahead bounced loose and skipper Tom McGrattan hacked on, ultimately resulting in the ball ending in the grateful arms of centre Rhys Palmer, who cruised in under the bar to give the Okes the perfect start. Scrum half Richie Friend converted,and it was 7-0 after barely a minute. 

Bridgwater were shellshocked by the Oke’s lively start and hardly had chance to catch their breath before the home side were on the offensive in their 22 once more. A penalty was kicked to touch and the Okes  lineout provided clean ball. The ball was recycled into midfield and second row Brad Curtis, in a prolific vein of try scoring form, cut an astute line to crash over the line with a swallow dive for the Okes second try in less than  ten minutes. Richie Friend added the extras for 14-0.

The Okes were now in relentless mood and the young Albion side were struggling to contain the home side’s attacks. In the 12th minute the hosts had their third try, much to the delight of the home fans. Fine build up play involving the Lee brothers and Sizmur and Palmer allowed skipper Tom McGrattan to stretch out to score in the top right corner, for what was to be the first of a hat trick of tries for the captain. The conversion went wide.

Bridgwater showed spirit though to gain momentum and territory courtesy of some rare lax Okes defence. As the match entered the second quarter, the visitors forced their way over by the posts to reduce the arrears to 12 points after fly half Heal had added the conversion.

It was just a temporary blip though, as the Okes soon re-established their territorial superiority as more strong ball carrying from Neil Perrott and Martin Harrison-Browne took them close before a turnover allowed the visitors a slight respite. The relief was short lived though, as Bridgwater conceded a penalty in front of the posts in the 27th minute, which Richie Friend duly landed to stretch the lead once more to 22-7. 

Less than five minutes later the Okes had struck again, bringing a well deserved try bonus point, after stealing  a lineout and releasing danger man Rhys Palmer. A couple of steps and some searing pace saw the young midfielder cut a swathe through the visitors defence to cross for a superb solo score, leaving a simple conversion. Richie Friend obliged for 29-7at the break.

The Okes saw their commanding lead as a good opportunity to make changes, and they brought on all three replacements at the changeover.

The visitors were now throwing the ball about and trying to attack from deep with nothing to lose. However, an Oke penalty on 50 minutes saw clean lineout ball leading to quick thinking George Courtier gathering the loose ball and ran in from 30 metres for his maiden first team try. Friend added the extra two for 36-7.

To their credit though the visitors did not let their heads drop and got their reward, when quick thinking from a penalty in front of the Oke posts saw them quickly spread the ball left to create an overlap corner try for their right winger.

Soon after the restart Okes lost replacement winger Brandon Horn to the bin  for a dangerous tackle. It seemed to have little impact on the Okes attacking threat though as they soon hit back with another try of their own. The ball was moved right from a midfield breakdown, and fly half Dan Foggarty seized the chance to glide through a gap and step the fullback for another fine individual score. The conversion was adrift, but at 41-12 it mattered little.

In the 73rd minute the Okes secured their seventh try when player coach Martin Harrison-Browne set up a try for back row partner Tom McGrattan, the captain cutting another cute angle to race over for his second five pointer. Number nine Richie Friend made the conversion.

McGrattan crossed for his hat trick, after another lightning break up the left side from Rhys Palmer. The conversion was good and with only two minutes remaining that would be the final score, leaving things at 55-12 come the ref’s last blow of his whistle.

In all a very comprehensive victory against a game Bridgwater outfit, but in truth not one that truly tested the Okes. The match showed the strength in depth for the Maroon and Ambers coming to the fore in mid winter.