ALL GOLDS SECOND BEST ON OPENING DAY
WESTS WARRIORS 64 – 10 BRISTOL ALL GOLDS
Christopher Wilson at Wasps FC, Acton
SUMMARY
The Bristol All Golds opened their season with a 64-10 defeat at title favourites Wests Warriors. For an hour, the All Golds gave as good as they got against last season’s runners up but lacked the killer instinct when in good field position.
After conceding an early try, Joe Capener levelled matters on debut with a well-taken try, but the Warriors added five touchdowns to their tally for a 30-4 interval lead.
Brandon Lamb crossed for a try early in the second half, goaled by Oli Winterbottom, though the response from the Warriors saw them grab half a dozen further scores.
FULL REPORT
The All Golds opened their season with arguably the toughest game on the fixture list and ended up on the wrong side of a lop-sided scoreline, conceding 12 tries.
However, that statistic hides the fact that the All Golds played well for an hour of the game before fatigue began to set in and the scoreline escalated.
The All Golds were on the wrong side of the possession count throughout the game, partly because Wests consistently got to the end of their sets of six tackles and partly because of errors while in possession gave Wests plenty of ball to play with.
Josh Fitzgerald had a fine game at stand-off while debutants Joe Capener, James Boyles, Carl Thompson, Mike Ward, and Ben Neave all showed up well and Capener scored a fine try to mark his debut.
In bright sunshine, the All Golds got off to the worst possible start sending the kick-off dead as the strong breeze made judging the flight of the ball difficult.
Gifted prime field position, the Warriors weren’t about to waste it, though Reiss Walker did well to catch Jacob Thomas’ high pass before touching down.
They almost had a second shortly afterwards, but Leon Atherton and Boyles combined in a superb tackle that bundled Bojan Cecaric into touch at the corner flag.
The All Golds were finding opportunities in the Warriors’ half hard to come by but Fitzgerald fashioned a chip over the defence, gathered by Tega Rume-Tabiowo and Capener had the pace and strength to finish from 20 metres out. Unfortunately, Oli Winterbottom missed the conversion, and the score was tied at 4-4.
However, five minutes later, the All Golds conceded a 20-metre tap and a seven tackle set, which ended with Jack Payne showing great footwork to dodge over. Payne was denied a second by a fine tackle from Boyles, but the Warriors’ Blake Nahu was on hand to exploit a fractured defence to score on the next play.
With half an hour gone, Louis Robinson scored the first of three Wests tries in a ten-minute period before the interval. The second came from Robinson’s burst down the middle and smart hands from Walker presenting the score to Thomas, before Walker made the break that led to a score for Cecaric. Neil Thorman kicked his third goal of the day to give the Warriors a 30-4 half-time lead.
The All Golds needed a quick reply after the break and got it as an error by the home side in their own half followed by the concession of another set of tackles allowed Fitzgerald to provide Brandon Lamb with a try with a lovely inside pass close to the line, Winterbottom adding the extras.
However, after the All Golds had earned three consecutive sets, Fitzgerald’s ambitious pass towards Henry Symons eventually ended up with a Wests player and, on the last tackle of the resulting set, Paul McCulloch sent Thomas over for his second try, Thorman adding his fourth goal of the day,
Play became scrappy for a short while before Nahu scored a fine individual try and took over the goal-kicking duties to add the first of his four goals for the day.
Whether it was tiredness or the pressure of the score against them, the All Golds conceded a string of penalties around the hour mark and Wests were only too happy to turn the possession this gave them into points.
After Payne was held up over the line, Liam O’Callaghan coasted over; Dylan Leney then sent Ben Russell scampering under the posts at the end of Wests next attack.
The All Golds still had some spirit as four defenders combined to prevent Payne from scoring but in the final few minutes, Cecaric’s change of angle wrongfooted the defence and he was able to stroll in under the posts.
With the final play of the game, Nahu burst through and chose Payne from the three supporting players to give the tryscoring pass to.
Nahu added a straightforward goal to end an entertaining match which was perhaps felt closer than the scoreline suggests, but the Warriors had the class and skill to take their opportunities when they came.
Next week the All Golds face the trip to Essex to face the Brentwood Eels, who last season snatched a draw with a last-minute try in a typically tough and feisty encounter.
MatchStats
Teams:
WARRIORS: Blake Nahu; Reiss Walker, Tamati Gribble, Paul McCullagh, Bojan Cecaric; Jacob Thomas, Jack Payne (Capt); Louis Robinson, Neil Thorman, Judd Greenhalgh; Ben Russell, Sam Griffiths; Liam O’Callaghan; INTERCHANGE: Dylan Leney, Tyler Johnson-Thomas, Keanu Laumatia-Paki, Sam Roberts.
Scorers:
Tries: Walker (2), Payne (15, 74), Nahu (20, 55), Robinson (31), Thomas (35, 48), Cecaric (38, 71), O’Callaghan (62), Russell (65)
Goals: Thorman 4 from 7, Nahu 4 from 5.
ALL GOLDS: James Boyles; Henry Symons, Brandon Lamb (Capt.), Joe Capener, Leon Atherton; Josh Fitzgerald, Oli Winterbottom; Ed Tait, Adam Turner, Carl Thompson; Mike Ward, Tega Rume-Tabiowo; Jack Uren; INTERCHANGE: Greg Hamilton, Callum Merrett, Morgan Lewis, Ben Neave.
Scorers
Tries: Capener (9), Lamb (43).
Goals: Winterbottom 1 from 2.
Scoring sequence: 4-0, 4-4, 10-4, 14-4, 20-4, 24-4, 30-4, (HT), 30-10, 36-10, 40-10, 46-10, 52-10, 58-10, 64-10, (FT)
Penalties: Warriors 9-2 All Golds
Referee: Michael Brighton (RFL)
All Golds Player of the Match: There were plenty of promising efforts throughout the team, but with an assist for one try and a key part in the other, stand-off Josh Fitzgerald gets the nod this week.