Bulls Twickenham dreams come to a boggy end

St. Ives support numbered well over one hundred as they travelled up the A1 to cheer on their heroes. They were rightly proud of a dogged performance by the Bulls which ended in defeat but demonstrated the guts and character of the team.
Whilst the score appeared emphatic in the end, it did not reflect a tight contest in which a couple of calls either way could have made the outcome much closer.
With the adjoining cricket field to all intents a lake, it was unsurprising that the playing surface was, to put it mildly, boggy. Wath were clearly prepared for such conditions and packed their side with big, heavy ball carriers up front and in the midfield.
The hosts started as they continued, carrying directly, but were met with resolute Ives defence. Matt Wood was everywhere, reaching double figures of tackles in the first quarter. He was ably supported by all his pack colleagues in their defensive duties.
One long Wath pass found the right wing on probably the only grassed area of the pitch in space. His sprint down the wing was halted in its tracks by a thumping head on tackle by Ben Fleming, which brought roars from the crowd.
A penalty was kicked to the corner and pressure mounted on Wath. Unfortunately, the Ives came away with nothing as Wath spoiled the lineout and came away with possession. Wath had their tails up and took advantage of two breakdown penalties to establish a six point lead.
It was then that the Ives superb support game which has been apparent all season came to life. Great handling between forwards and backs saw them gain territory. Wath infringed and set up a lineout maul 20 metres from the home line. The superb driving maul took them to within 5 metres. Mickey Drake rifled the ball to Pete Fahey who ran a great line to slice through the home defence to score by the uprights. Paul Ashbridge added the conversion as Ives sneaked into the lead.
Wath attacked the Ives half again and gained a penalty which they kicked to the corner.
Wath won the lineout, but tremendous defence of the maul by the Ives pack saw Josh Dear emerge with ball. Disaster struck when the ball fed back for the clearing kick was knocked on behind the line. The home scrum half skidded across the mud attempting to ground the ball, but appeared simply to push it on. The referee was in the process of awarding a scrum 5 to the hosts, when the assistant referee intervened and awarded the try from the sidelines.
Ives fought back. Another penalty was nudged to the corner. Skipper Ollie Bartlett soared to collect and was unceremoniously upended by the home second row, who was immediately shown yellow. Five metres out, the Bulls chose to scrummage. They immediately had their opponents slipping back towards the line, but in another close call, the front row was penalised by the referee, to the bewilderment of the charging Bulls. It was a potentially game changing moment as Ives were confident of going into half time with a lead from the scrum, only to be undone by the decision.
Half time 11-7
With the Bulls wanting to play the ball slightly wider despite the conditions, they were met with some smart play by the hosts in the second half. Blitzing the half backs, Wath ensured Ives were unable to break the shackles for long periods.
On Ives’ one sortie into their opponents’ 22, Wath again came away with the ball after turning over a lineout close to their own line. It was to be the last decent chance Ives had as Wath played cannily and starved Ives of possession. Continuing their close in driving play, they added a second try. After initial good defence of a 5 metre scrum by the Bulls, a dart beside the breakdown saw the Wath player over for a converted try.
Wath continued to play in Ives half and the pressure told with a further pair of penalties for the hosts, stretching their lead to 14 points.
With the game slipping away, Ives continued to attempt to get the ball wider. Wath’s blitz defence kept the Bulls in the own half, however. With the last seconds ticking Ives were running from their own line, when a misplaced ball was collected by the home second row who splashed over in the corner for a score which gave the home side a gloss to the scoreline in the gloom.
Whilst naturally heartbroken at their near miss on reaching a Twickenham cup final, Ives were quick to congratulate Wath and wish them well as they take on Saltash. The Ives and Wath support was generous in its applause of the players of both sides after a hard fought game.
Skipper Bartlett was magnanimous in defeat. “I know all the lads are very disappointed with the result. That’s a testament to the ambition we have been showing throughout the season. We came here expecting to win, but Wath played the conditions better than us on the day. I am sure there will be a backlash when we come to next weekend, when we can secure the league title by winning at home to Biggleswade.”