Bognor back with a bang: Winchester beaten in promoted team’s season opener

The long wait for their Regional 2 South Central season was prolonged by the enforced delay to the season due to extreme weather conditions. But their young side started the season with a bang by defeating a fancied Winchester team who have consistently been among the top performers in this league.

The average age of the team is only 23, all having come through the club’s junior ranks but they were far from over-awed by their bigger, more experienced opponents.

Charlie Jays, beginning his third season as captain, was superb until forced off with a shoulder injury. Whether it was by claiming virtually every kick-off or throwing himself into tackles, he led by example and he, together with No8 Jamie Foote, were the two outstanding forwards on the field.

Hat-trick hero Connor Herrington was a worthy MoM as he embraced the challenge of the higher level with a display full of pace and class.

Bognor started strongly and seemed to take the visitors by surprise. Assuringly for the large home crowd, the first two scrums were managed comfortably; indeed, the front row of Josh Turner, Ollie Mitchell and Charlie Weller never took a backward step all afternoon.

Turner has visibly grown in confidence since converting from wing last season and, when he was replaced, Simon Billingham came on to reinforce the dominance.

This solid platform enabled Foote to pick up from the base and begin the process of re-acquainting himself with fly-half and ex-teammate Brad Caparo, who had an uncomfortable afternoon in defence.

After 12 minutes Charlie Spray finished off a fine move for the first try. The conversion was narrowly missed by Adam Halligan but the young full-back was involved in some dangerous attacking moves before suffering a torn hamstring.

Winchester conceded six penalties in the first quarter but pulled themselves together and began putting Bognor under pressure. They were rewarded with a try near the posts and the successful conversion put them ahead.

Herrington restored Bognor’s lead with a trademark touchdown but ill-discipline by Bognor resulted in them being pinned back on their own line. Scrum-half Alfie Spurle cleared to the 22 and a wonderful piece of attacking rugby saw centre Matt Norrell offload to Herrington who handed on to Spray. The winger put in a neat grubber kick but the ball just touched the line.

Herrington strolled through the visitors’ defence for his second try but the conversion was missed. A handling error by Norrell resulted in an easy penalty for Winchester which they slotted to end the half four points behind.

Bognor’s lineouts had functioned smoothly and, from the first one in the second half, a well-worked move saw Herrington cross for his hat-trick and Bognor’s bonus-point try. Newton-Young added the conversion – 22-10.

This was followed by the try of the match as Bognor’s forwards and backs combined for a breath-taking combination of handling skills which ended with Spurle touching down.

Billingham smashed his way out of his own 22 before handing on to Foote who rampaged up the field before being hauled down yards from the line. A Winchester player cynically prevented the ball from being released, resulting in a yellow card and a penalty which Newton-Young chipped over – 30-10.

Bognor were starting to look second best for the first time. The defensive line began to lose shape and tackles were being missed. In attack, the home backs were still looking sharp and narrowly missed adding another two tries to their total.

The Winchester No8 ran straight through a tiring defence for the visitors’ second try and this was quickly followed by their third.

Newton-Young had a Gallic rush of blood near the visitors’ line and was yellow-carded, resulting in a final flourish for Winchester. In the last play of the afternoon the visitors’ full-back butchered a clear opportunity to score a try.

The latest prognosis on Jays’ injury is a torn AC joint which may require surgery, so his team will need to dig deep at Wimborne on Saturday.