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Sat 18 Apr 2015 ·  National League 3 London & SE
Bury St Edmunds
1st XV
61
10
Tries: T Okenla, A Moorey
Bury run off with promotion
Mike CUBITT18 Apr 2015 - 18:19
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An under strength Gravesend XV paid a visit to the National 3 league champions to be subjected to an excellent display of back-up running rugby.
A slick Bury St Edmunds XV outplayed Gsss on the park at Greene King IPA Haberden ground but were not able to dominate all aspect of the play.
Gravesend's pack were more than able to hold their own at all phases, but it was noticeable that the strength of the back row was absent on the day, but this must not take away the commitment of those players that stood in.
Good scrummaging and line-out work was evident for the full ninety minutes, and it was surprising that more didn't come from this reasonable supply of possession.
This said, Gsss backs were up against a back division that had proved its worth in forty-five games before this one, and their team work and support play was nothing but excellent. This can be seen from the fact that they had scored two hundred more points than Gsss before this fixture, and at the end of the fixture that had moved on to three hundred all but nine.
Gravesend must look to rebuild for the future, and this defeat must be put behind them as they now have the summer to recuperate, recruit for the positions that are showing weaknesses and for those that may now be retiring.
Both sets of backs played with ambition, but BSE had the skills and ability for backing up, along with the rub of the green, to make the most of their opportunities, and some of these were again presented to them by some wayward passes and one could say lack of attention of the players that consistently manage to pass the ball to the opposition.
Temi Okenla was again starved of the ball, but this was mainly due to the speed of the home line when Gsss backs were in possession but he proved his worth and showed his pace for all to see when he chased down and won the race to the ball when the Bury player(s) had at least thirty metres advantage on him but he still got to the ball first to prevent a try.
The speed of pass in the Gravesend back line, was so slow at times, that rather than telegraphed moves, it could have been smoke signals that Bury were relying on to regain the ball, and the gaps left for them to run though were massive.
When they could get their hands on them Gsss tackled well, but the fleet of foot and laying off at the tackle by BSE kept them on the front foot and was, hopefully, a lesson learnt for the future.
But as is often the case, when up against a well drilled team like BSE, Gravesend crossed the whitewash twice, and were close on a number of occasion in both forty minute periods.
Indiscipline by the home fifteen saw them give away more than double the number of penalties than Gsss, and had three players sinned binned, that they maybe should have been punished by Gsss scoring, but alas just the five points from the numerical advantage was all that was put on the board.
With the score standing at 46-10 with just four minutes left on the clock, Gsss had not let up playing, but three tries with the last two coming in added time was the rubbing of salt into the wound of defeat.
Gravesend now need to regroup, recruit and rebuild for a secure future a National 3 next season, but we must give credit to those players that have stepped up to the line, and despite the sometime frustration of the season, have kept the club where it deserves to be for season 2015/2016.
Gravesend's pack were more than able to hold their own at all phases, but it was noticeable that the strength of the back row was absent on the day, but this must not take away the commitment of those players that stood in.
Good scrummaging and line-out work was evident for the full ninety minutes, and it was surprising that more didn't come from this reasonable supply of possession.
This said, Gsss backs were up against a back division that had proved its worth in forty-five games before this one, and their team work and support play was nothing but excellent. This can be seen from the fact that they had scored two hundred more points than Gsss before this fixture, and at the end of the fixture that had moved on to three hundred all but nine.
Gravesend must look to rebuild for the future, and this defeat must be put behind them as they now have the summer to recuperate, recruit for the positions that are showing weaknesses and for those that may now be retiring.
Both sets of backs played with ambition, but BSE had the skills and ability for backing up, along with the rub of the green, to make the most of their opportunities, and some of these were again presented to them by some wayward passes and one could say lack of attention of the players that consistently manage to pass the ball to the opposition.
Temi Okenla was again starved of the ball, but this was mainly due to the speed of the home line when Gsss backs were in possession but he proved his worth and showed his pace for all to see when he chased down and won the race to the ball when the Bury player(s) had at least thirty metres advantage on him but he still got to the ball first to prevent a try.
The speed of pass in the Gravesend back line, was so slow at times, that rather than telegraphed moves, it could have been smoke signals that Bury were relying on to regain the ball, and the gaps left for them to run though were massive.
When they could get their hands on them Gsss tackled well, but the fleet of foot and laying off at the tackle by BSE kept them on the front foot and was, hopefully, a lesson learnt for the future.
But as is often the case, when up against a well drilled team like BSE, Gravesend crossed the whitewash twice, and were close on a number of occasion in both forty minute periods.
Indiscipline by the home fifteen saw them give away more than double the number of penalties than Gsss, and had three players sinned binned, that they maybe should have been punished by Gsss scoring, but alas just the five points from the numerical advantage was all that was put on the board.
With the score standing at 46-10 with just four minutes left on the clock, Gsss had not let up playing, but three tries with the last two coming in added time was the rubbing of salt into the wound of defeat.
Gravesend now need to regroup, recruit and rebuild for a secure future a National 3 next season, but we must give credit to those players that have stepped up to the line, and despite the sometime frustration of the season, have kept the club where it deserves to be for season 2015/2016.
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