Tribute South West One West

Bridgwater & Albion 39, Bideford 30

BRIDGWATER & Albion ran in six tries to secure a 39-30 bonus point victory over Bideford in an entertaining and open game on Saturday, writes Tony Pomeroy.

Matt Hastie (2), James Brakes, Bryan Webb, Ollie Dunn and James Martin all crossed for Albion as the sizable crowd at College Way were treated some fine entertainment.

Bridgwater were first on the scoreboard with a Stu Heal penalty but this was quickly nullified by one from Ollie Wickett.

Home winger, Oscar Tregenna, who caught the eye all afternoon, made a run deep into visiting territory - and the ball was recycled right by Bridgwater, giving James Brakes an easy run to the corner for an unconverted try.

Bideford made inroads into Bridgwater territory and an unstoppable driving maul saw skipper Simon Bright score an unconverted try to level the scores again.

When Bridgwater stole a Bideford line-out, Tregenna's initial break was taken on by James Bryant, who, showing remarkable speed and skill for a prop, drew the last defender and passed inside to Bryan Webb who cruised over for an excellent try converted by Heal.

Minutes later, at a line-out on the visitors 22, Matt Hastie seized on a loose ball and romped unopposed to the line for the third try, again unconverted, and a 20-8 lead.

Bridgwater lost Nick Spellissy to a yellow card as the home side struggled to cope with incessant Bideford pressure, but with the aid of tremendous tackling from Hastie, skipper Ollie Dunn, James Martin and Tregenna, they held out until half time.

Bideford had all of the early pressure after the break but could not break the resolute home defence.

They eventually, narrowed the gap with Wickett’s second penalty, but Hastie then grabbed his second try and his side's fourth to ensure a bonus point.

A scintillating break by Heal again put Bridgwater on the offensive and yet another bout of intricate passing from a lineout saw Dunn romp over under the posts giving Heal an easy conversion.

To their credit, Bideford hit back hard and a period of pressure culminated in a good move that saw prop Paul Thomas get an unconverted try.

Play flowed from end to end and eventually, Bridgwater moved the ball right and Martin made a clean break and scored the sixth try.

Heal's conversion made the score 39-16 with less than five minutes to go, but two late tries from the visitors closed the scoreline.

Bridgwater now face two away matches - next week they travel to Wells who lost their first game last week following a hat-trick of wins, before the short trip to North Petherton.

Bridgwater Team

James Martin, Oscar Tregenna, Jay Owens, Stu Heal, James Brakes, Jervis Manupenu, Roger Drabble (rep Jonathon Hill), James Bryant, Matt Hastie, Joe Bussell (rep Scott Woolford), Tayler Buller, Dan Kemmish, Bryan Webb (rep George Sluman), Ollie Dunn (Capt), Nick Spellissy Referee: Andrew Beckett (East Mids)