Bristol Saracens II 19
North Bristol 36
It has been a tumultuous summer for the Mens Senior team but 1st XV Captain Alfie Ford led North Bristol on the short trip to play Bristol Saracens second-string to open the season.
It was a veteran player who scored the first points of the year as hooker Tony Booth was in control at the back of a well-won driven lineout to steer the ball across the line for an early 0-5 lead. It was then stalemate with neither side being able to gain a foothold until after twenty-three minutes Saracens equalised, capitalising on an overlap in the far-left corner.
Ten minutes later Harry Iles appeared in midfield, off of his wing, and his break and excellent grubber kick put Paul Romanuik in for a cracker of a try. Josh Lobley connected with the conversion and it was 5-12. North piled on the pressure after some close driving attacks from the forwards, the ball moved right and Will Beacon crossed untouched under the posts. Lobley was on hand again to stretch the lead to 5-19 and that was the half time score.
The home side started the second period well and when their centre crashed over to score a converted try, they were back in the game at 12-19 with thirty minutes left to play. And soon after they intercepted a North pass to score again, under the posts, and with the easy conversion it was all level at 19 each.
The game hung in the balance and with five minutes left on the clock, Tom Cogram capitalised on a run of Saracens penalties to dive into the corner for the go-ahead try. With one minute on the clock, a crunching tackle from Conor Meehan dislodged the ball and Iles was on hand to race away with the ball to score a well-deserved try and give his team a match-winning 19-29 advantage. North weren’t done though as Cogram capped an excellent performance when he chipped ahead, collected the ball, stepped and dodged to the line for a fine individual score. Lobley converted for the final points to ice a 19-36 win and to leave a positive vibe into the weekend.
Tries - Tom Cogram (2), Will Beacon, Tony Booth, Harry Iles, Paul Romanuik
Conversions - Josh Lobley (3)
It was a veteran player who scored the first points of the year as hooker Tony Booth was in control at the back of a well-won driven lineout to steer the ball across the line for an early 0-5 lead. It was then stalemate with neither side being able to gain a foothold until after twenty-three minutes Saracens equalised, capitalising on an overlap in the far-left corner.
Ten minutes later Harry Iles appeared in midfield, off of his wing, and his break and excellent grubber kick put Paul Romanuik in for a cracker of a try. Josh Lobley connected with the conversion and it was 5-12. North piled on the pressure after some close driving attacks from the forwards, the ball moved right and Will Beacon crossed untouched under the posts. Lobley was on hand again to stretch the lead to 5-19 and that was the half time score.
The home side started the second period well and when their centre crashed over to score a converted try, they were back in the game at 12-19 with thirty minutes left to play. And soon after they intercepted a North pass to score again, under the posts, and with the easy conversion it was all level at 19 each.
The game hung in the balance and with five minutes left on the clock, Tom Cogram capitalised on a run of Saracens penalties to dive into the corner for the go-ahead try. With one minute on the clock, a crunching tackle from Conor Meehan dislodged the ball and Iles was on hand to race away with the ball to score a well-deserved try and give his team a match-winning 19-29 advantage. North weren’t done though as Cogram capped an excellent performance when he chipped ahead, collected the ball, stepped and dodged to the line for a fine individual score. Lobley converted for the final points to ice a 19-36 win and to leave a positive vibe into the weekend.
Tries - Tom Cogram (2), Will Beacon, Tony Booth, Harry Iles, Paul Romanuik
Conversions - Josh Lobley (3)
