Bognor battle well - but are beaten by London Cornish

The loss leaves Bognor rooted in the lower half of the table but, if they can reproduce the passion displayed while down to 13 players in a scoreless second half, they will surely enjoy success in the near future.

The game began with a handling error by Cornish which allowed Dave Sweeney to kick through and pressurise the home side into conceding a scrum five metres from their own line.

A penalty to Bognor was quickly taken by Joe Toone, making a welcome return at scrum-half, but the Cornish defence held out. More pressure resulted in a second penalty to the visitors and Sweeney was just wide with a good effort.

Cornish responded strongly and, after sustained pressure, they gained an attacking lineout seven metres from Bognor’s line. Several phases followed and Bognor did well to keep their line intact. A few minutes later, however, a mix-up in defence allowed Cornish in for the first try.

Almost from the restart Bognor’s forwards drove their opposite numbers 30 metres up the pitch and, when the home front row collapsed the ensuing scrum, Sweeney kicked a penalty to put his side back in it.

Five minutes later came the decisive moment of the match. Cornish’s left-winger, Robin Heymann, showed electric pace and a devastating sidestep to score a superb individual try.

Cornish’s tails were up and their three-quarters were looking confident but Bognor settled again and Sweeney pulled back another three points following a high tackle on Stuart Pearce.

Just eight points behind at half-time, Bognor were still well in the game but were hit by the loss of skipper Lee Balchin with a head injury just two minutes into the second half.

The visiting pack, with man-of-the-match Joe Greenslade seeing off his two young adversaries, continued to dominate at the set-scrum but Bognor’s inability to turn their first-phase possession into meaningful second-phase ball meant that scoring opportunities were few and far between.

Cornish established a platform a few metres from the visitors’ line but, after eight phases, more great tackling by Bognor resulted in a turnover and a clearance by Rob Parry.

Fifteen minutes into the half, Bognor had a great opportunity to close the gap to just one point when they hammered away at the home line for a prolonged period of time. Just when it looked as if they would get there they lost patience, Richard Heydon found himself isolated and the ball was turned over.

The feeling that Bognor had missed a golden opportunity was emphasised when, first Lee Thompson was forced to leave the field with a shoulder injury, and then Greenslade was harshly yellow-carded. Bognor’s 14 players continued to defend with passion and continually thwarted the home attack.

Several tempers started to flare, a rare occurrence between these two sides, and referee Garry Fielder, who both coaches agreed had failed throughout to impose his authority, dismissed Bognor’s promising young prop Graham Broome for illegal use of the head. Now down 13, Bognor refused to buckle and deservedly kept their line intact until the whistle.

A last-ditch penalty attempt by Sweeney, which would have rewarded Bognor with a bonus point, dropped just under the bar from a massive 60 metres.

This Saturday, Bognor entertain high-flying Guildford at Hampshire Avenue (3pm).

BOGNOR: Sweeney, P Stickland, Pearce, Castleton, Burgess, Parry, Toone, Greenslade, P Mitchell, Heydon, T Stickland, Thompson, N Mitchell, Lang, Balchin. Reps: Broome, Dove, Wolf.