Ives take 5 points on the road

With a number of changes from the previous week’s lineup and some playing out of position, it was always going to take a while for the Bulls to settle after their long journey to newly promoted Brackley.
The hosts had the first opportunity for points with a penalty in front, but the home kicker pulled the ball wide.
After the let off, Ives clicked into gear and some fine interplay between Joe Cox and Ollie Raine playing in the centre finally saw Connor Newsome score in the corner.
Ives started to exert pressure up front and gain good possession. A quickly taken penalty close in saw a series of charges for the line before Josh Dear breached the defence. Cox converted the try.
As the first half was reaching its end there was a flurry of points. First, following a turnover in midfield by Chris Williams, the ball was neatly transferred to Albiee Tayedzerwa who tiptoed his way down the touchline before diving into the corner.
Almost immediately, an aimless kick from defence gave Brackley space. They ran the ball hard and released their winger to score in the corner. After his earlier miss, the kicker notched a fine conversion from wide out.
From the kick off, Ives regained possession, Brackley offended and Cox struck a penalty to leave the half time score at 7-20.
For half an hour, the match followed a pattern. Brackley would attack strongly especially through their two centres, but find no way through stout Bulls defence, with Max Flint putting in some thunderous hits.
Ives would then string some fine phases together to score at the other end. First, having been stopped illegally during a lineout maul, Ives executed a neat dummy at the next with Williams darting across the whitewash.
Next Ben Fleming set up an attack after fielding a kick over. Raine charged through a gap, was supported by Flint. Sam Marjason-Stamp found himself clear and realising he was alone dashed from 20 metres out, grounding as the winger got back to catch him.
Finally, following a break by Cox, the ball was whipped wide by Tommy Newman, leaving Harry Smith the room to round the last man.
With Cox converting all three, the score stood at 7-41 with only ten minutes to play.
Brackley showed their mettle by upping their game to secure a try bonus point. A quickly taken free kick saw them score. Then direct running saw a relaxing defence offer space for their third try.
Winding the clock down, Ives then gifted the final score with a telegraphed wide ball which was snaffled by the centre to run 60 metres to score.
Head Coach Paul Humphreys was in reflective mood. “Any away trip where you can walk away with 5 points is a good day.
“Was it a classic performance? I think we can be honest and say not. What it did show was a team that can play good rugby and were workman-like. We did enough to win and always had that bit extra when needed.
“I thought for 20 minutes after half time we started to come to life and showed what we could do. The changes to the team from last week had an effect, so I was very pleased with the boys who came in and played out of position. It shows we are on the road to building something.
“Credit to Brackley they never went away and got a bonus point. But, I’m disappointed we switched off for a spell towards the end of the game thinking it was job done.”