It was a ‘must-win’ – but Bognor fall short against Guildford
Bognor’s 31-24 defeat at home to Guildford came from a hugely disappointing performance in a match they had rightly targeted as a must-win.
Guildford, two tries down after ten minutes, celebrated wildly at the final whistle, clearly enjoying their first win of the season. The result was no more than the Surrey side deserved as they showed great spirit to fight back from their early lapses to dominate much of the second half.
Bognor took two bonus points and remain above Guildford in the table but this was scant consolation for the dejected home players and supporters.
Determined to make amends for their previous couple of slow starts, Bognor were quick out of the blocks and immediately put the visitors under pressure.
After just two minutes fly-half Jeremy Newton-Young made a half-break and handed on to Elijah Green who quickly transferred the ball to Connor Herrington. The centre purred through the gap and touched down near the posts for Bognor’s first try, converted by Newton-Young.
Guildford hit back and it took a great tackle from Charlie Spray to prevent his opposite number from going over in the corner. Spray, looking back to his best, followed up his sound defensive work by sprinting up the touchline and putting in a deft chip ahead.
Bognor’s pack began to gain the upper hand at the set-pieces, driving the Guildford eight back at a scrum and earning themselves a put-in deep in opposition territory. The ball was moved quickly and ended with scrum-half Alfie Spurle hopping over for the second try.
Sometimes early scores can lead to complacency and that seemed to be the case as a poor clearance kick by Bognor, followed by a lazy chase, led to Guildford’s first try, well-taken but out of the blue.
This seemed to spark the visitors into life, their intelligent kicking from hand beginning to look far superior to Bognor’s and enabling them to build pressure deep inside the home half.
With their confidence clearly rising they began to build momentum and were enjoying the lion’s share of territory and possession. Eventually they crossed for their second try to make it 12-12.
An uncharacteristically loose kick by the visitors allowed Herrington to run clear to the line and, when he was hauled down a couple of metres short, the ball was moved to Jamie Foote who went over for Bognor’s third try. Newton-Young’s conversion restored Bognor’s seven-point lead and his team began to settle down to produce some decent rugby.
But the home kickers missed two penalties to touch, the result being that Guildford ran the ball back through a disorganised defence to score their third try. Half-time arrived with Bognor enjoying a narrow two-point lead.
The second half began with another fine 50m run from Herrington, but a lack of control by his team-mates saw the chance wasted. Guildford escaped and then showed the control necessary to cross for their fourth try.
The visitors, far from hanging on to their lead, defied their lowly league position by displaying a greater sense of urgency and intent than their counterparts. At this stage Bognor appeared disjointed and disheartened, a tired-looking defence conceding a fifth try.
With a 12-point gap Guildford’s tails were up and they were smelling blood – but Bognor stirred themselves at last and Russ Watmore was just held up over the line after a strong run.
After a further missed opportunity Bognor’s last-ditch efforts were finally rewarded when Kurtus Dent went over in the corner to earn his side two losing bonus points.
Bognor’s next match is away at lowly Camberley on November 14 and the two-week gap might provide the opportunity for the return of key injured absentees.
Head Coach Karl Flinn and his team will be working hard on the necessary improvements in order to come away with more precious points.