Bournemouth Rugby Club beat Chobham at Chapel Gate

Hosting Chobham in Regional Two South Central, it was a game of two halves as the Lions built a good lead in the first period, before the visitors came back at them in the second.

A penalty try, after the ref deemed Chobham had infringed at a Bournemouth maul from five metres out opened the scoring, before the visitors hit back and levelled the scoring at 7 apiece.

Ben Goodall then crossed for Bournemouth after coming off the bench for Lucas Quera who went for a head injury assessment, stealing from a Chobham defensive lineout maul and scoring with a good reach for the line.

(Image: Photo: Simon Carlton)

Bournemouth extended their lead through a Grant Hancox try and conversion, with the hosts entering the break 21-7 points to the good.

The Lions flew out of the blocks in the second period, with Maverick Goodchild showing good speed on the right flank to cross, with Hancox adding the extras.

But Chobham scored two converted tries to bring themselves back to within a score, as the momentum of the game shifted.

Tom Napier broke some of the pressure by dotting down to extend Bournemouth’s lead back to 14 points, before Chobham scored again to make it a nerve-wracking final 15 minutes.

David Scupham was sent to the bin with less than 10 minutes to go, but Bournemouth held on to secure their first win of the season.

(Image: Photo: Simon Carlton)

Director of rugby Will Croker was ‘chuffed’ with the bonus point victory.

“We came out incredibly strong in the first period, played some of our best rugby,” Croker said.

“[We] played the sort of rugby which we’re desperate to try and make our trademark and to try and really elevate the number of passes we’re making.

“One of the metrics that we use is passes per defensive action and were looking to try to increase that significantly in order to try to stress defences, and I thought in the first period we did that really well.

“Second half the referee took a slightly different view on the picture he was seeing at the scrum, which meant that we came under a bit of pressure there.

(Image: Photo: Simon Carlton)

“I think the fatigue took a lot out of our pack’s legs, which stopped them perhaps being able to execute as many of the bruising carries as they were in the first period., “That said, it was a gritty and determined performance.

“Grant Hancock said to the players at the end of that game that if that had been last season, coming under that much pressure through the second half the team would have almost certainly lost the game.

“It was really good to be able to hold on.”

Croker said the side are hoping to make Chapel Gate a fortress this season.

“The support we had there was brilliant, a decent sized crowd and the players love running out in front of that,” he said.

Highlighting some key Bournemouth performances, Croker said: “I thought Matt Horne on his debut was outstanding, a number 8 that really took it to the opposition and got us across the gain line really well.

(Image: Photo: Simon Carlton)

“I though Maverick Goodchild coming off the bench added something with his searing pace, and also that helped us get out of trouble once in defence.

“I thought the game was controlled really nicely by Joshua Sanchez especially in the first half and we looked a real threat.”

Bournemouth travel to Tottonians this Saturday, September 21.