Slippery Oyster’s
Match report by Neil Wallace;
Saturday 26th November saw the BSN Juniors playing away to Oysters RFC, Oisterwijk. The weather was sunny and dry and a good match seemed on the cards. Sixteen BSN players were available for the game, limiting the Coach’s options and forcing some to adopt unfamiliar positions. The local team benefitted from substantial and vocal support although BSN voices could still be heard. The Oysters supplied the referee and side-line duties were shared by BSN, including an enthusiastic and energetic half by the club Chairman.
The match kicked-off on schedule and thanks to winning the toss and the captain’s canny choice of ends, the opposition had the low sun in their eyes. The first quarter was a tight and hard fought affair with BSN breaking the deadlock after 13 minutes with a cheeky kick and sprint through the Oysters wide and stretched line of defence, touching down near the corner flag. The difficult conversion was missed and at the restart it was clear the opposition had been stung into action.
BSN fight hard to defend their 5 point lead
The last 15 minutes of the half saw the Oysters step up a gear with a quick equalising try and missed conversion, taking the score to 5 apiece. Two more Oyster tries followed, including a successful conversion, ending the half with a disappointing 17 to 5 score.
The second half started with a rejuvenated and attacking BSN, following the half time team talk, with both the forwards and backs putting in good performances. There was also a welcome appearance from Eduardo, following a forced substitution.
BSN Back-line halt an Oyster’s offensive as forwards move in to support
BSN Forwards provided a strong base for attack, including a great performance by Stuart in an unfamiliar scrum half position
A converted penalty kick at the start of the last quarter saw the points deficit narrow to 17:8 and from this point on it is fair to say BSN dominated the opposition, residing almost entirely in the Oysters half and narrowly missing out on a try 3 minutes from time, thwarted on the touch-line by a last ditch Oysters defence.
BSN line-out on the Oysters 5metre line
Despite continued pressure from BSN the final whistle blew, ending the match with a score of 17 to 8. Although a disappointing start following promotion to the new pool, BSN fought hard with great performances by a number of players in unfamiliar positions, and as emphasised by the Manager during the post match huddle, the return match with Oysters will be eagerly anticipated as BSN seek to rebalance the books on home turf.
Game stats:
Half time score: 17 Oysters – 5 BSN
Full time score 17 Oysters – 8 BSN
BSN point scorers
- Jay – 5 points (try – 13mins)
- Stuart 3 points (penalty kick – 50mins)
Players: Backs – Jay (Captain), Williams, Safwan, William, Eduardo, Sam, Laurens;
Forwards: Mika, Alex, Elliot, Hector, Mika, Sandy, Sangir, Sebastian, Dennis, Stuart