Navy’s Late Rally Falls Short in Bournemouth Thriller

Bournemouth struck first after a scrappy opening spell from both sides. Early Navy pressure forced play deep into the Bournemouth 22, but a knock-on five metres out followed by a scrum penalty handed the hosts a reprieve. Bournemouth quickly capitalised, spreading the ball wide and finishing unconverted in the corner to open the scoring at 5 – 0. 

Despite enjoying scrum dominance, the Royal Navy struggled to convert pressure into points. Handling errors repeatedly stalled any attacking momentum and after a Royal Navy infringement, Bournemouth launched a driving maul from a lineout to extend their lead to 12 – 0. 

Sustained Academy pressure eventually paid off. A powerful 30-metre driving maul marched the visitors deep into Bournemouth territory before flyhalf, Joe Gardener, forced his way over for a well-deserved try. He then converted his score narrowing the gap to  12 – 7. Just as the Navy began to build momentum, further handling errors crept in and Bournemouth punished the mistakes, stretching the lead to 19 – 7 before the interval. 

A rousing half-time address from captain Hamish Michie sparked renewed energy in the Academy players, but Bournemouth continued to apply pressure early in the second half. A powerful carry from the Navy No.8, Charles Crawley, nearly brought reward, only for the ball to be held up over the line. Bournemouth soon added another score to move 26 – 7 ahead. 

The Royal Navy refused to fold. From a well-taken lineout, prop Guy Kelly burrowed through the centre of a driving maul to cross the line. The conversion drifted wide, leaving the score at 26 – 12. Ill-discipline briefly halted the Navy comeback when backchat cost the visitors valuable territory, but they regrouped quickly. 

A slickly executed move on the back of a lineout maul soon followed with winger, Ben Wade, finishing in the corner after sharp handling from the backs. A move straight off the training ground, reducing the deficit to 26–17. Bournemouth responded with another try to make it 33 – 17, but the Navy comeback was far from finished. 

A huge carry through the middle of the park from Crawley sparked the next attack. After winning a penalty, the Navy tapped quickly and worked through several phases before openside flanker, Sam Bartlett, powered over to make it 33 – 24. 

With the final play of the game, Crawley produced another storming run to score under pressure, the conversion bringing the score to 33 – 31. It capped a remarkable fightback, but Bournemouth just held on to deny the Royal Navy a dramatic victory.

Backs Coach, George Wheatley, had the following comments after the game,  “The lads showed grit and determination to come back from two tries down at half time and only lose by 2 points. We wasted several great opportunities in the opposition 22 through our own simple errors but continued to attack from all areas of the pitch and utilise our strengths in the wider channels. The players will take a lot of positives from this game into our season finale against the Army in a few weeks’ time.” 

Academy: T Holloway, A Lynch, G Kelly; A Watson (VC), H Michie (C); L Robertson,  

S Bartlett, C Crawley; E Cooper, J Gardener, V Tuivadra, A Parry, K Baldry, B Wade,  

L Warrington. 

Replacements: C Wiseman, O Whitby, C Gay, C Postle, J McDonald, P Phipps, H Royle.