ALL GOLDS SEE OUT RHINOS’ RAMPAGE TO SECURE FINE WIN

BRISTOL ALL GOLDS 32 – 16 EASTERN RHINOS

 Christopher Wilson at Lockleaze Sports Centre

 SUMMARY

 The Bristol All Golds secured a well-deserved 32-16 win over an Eastern Rhinos side that pushed them all the way but were unable to break through the home defence in a frantic final few minutes.

The early exchanges were well contested, both sides running and hitting hard, but the Rhinos got their noses in front early through Maximin Edwards, Chris Kerkow adding the first of his two goals.

The All Golds’ response was immediate and decisive. Tega Rume-Tabiowo powered over, followed by Kurtis Haile to edge the home side 8-6 in front.

That’s the way it stayed until five minutes before the break when the All Golds struck twice through Brandon Lamb and Henry Symons, with Oli Winterbottom adding a goal, to lead 18-6 at the interval.

Symons made it a hat-trick with two touchdowns in six minutes early in the second period to extend the home side’s lead to 26-6.

However, the Rhinos surged back into the game with close-range tries from Will Cooper and Rob Williams to cut the deficit to 26-16 as time ticked down. Jangling home nerves were eased as Eric Davidson powered over for his first try for the club to seal the game with five minutes remaining.

FULL REPORT 

The Bristol All Golds secured a well-deserved 32-16 win over a big Eastern Rhinos side on a warm but blustery day at Lockleaze Sports Centre. They crossed for seven well-worked tries, and had two others disallowed, as their attacking play brought plenty of reward. Their defence also stood up to the test of the Rhinos’ big pack particularly late in the game when the visitors tried to salvage something.

Henry Symons took the scoring honours with a fine hat-trick of tries, though the normally reliable Oli Winterbottom struggled with the boot converting only one of his five shots at goal.

Both sides put together some good sets in the opening few minutes, with play transferring from end to end but with no real scoring chances being created. After 12 minutes, the deadlock was broken as Maximin Edwards took a hit-up from a tap penalty and coasted through a huge hole to score a very easy try. Chris Kerkow converted to give the Rhinos a dream start to the game.

However, they lost possession quickly from the restart and the All Golds hit back immediately. The excellent Callum Merrett broke through, dummied past the full back and gave the supporting Tega Rume-Tabiowo the scoring pass.

From the restart a penalty and a six-again gave the All Golds prime field position and smooth handling gave Kurtis Haile the chance to mark his debut with a try.

The home side were not finished and were again given prime field position through the Rhinos’ indiscipline and Winterbottom outpaced the defence to the corner. However, the referee did not see the ball being grounded and the score was denied.

Play settled down with a quarter of the game gone and the All Golds leading 8-6 with both sides’ defences working hard. The best chances for points came when Merrett almost connected with James Boyles with a long kick downfield and then excellent defence kept the Rhinos at bay after three straight sets on the home line.

With five minutes to the break, a superb pass set Brandon Lamb flying downfield from 40 metres out and he had the pace to reach the line for a great try.

From the restart the All Golds reached the fifth tackle and Merrett chipped over the top for Boyles, who took play downfield before giving the scoring pass to the supporting Symons.

Winterbottom gave the score a deserved reward by kicking the conversion and the All Golds took an 18-6 lead into the break.

The Rhinos’ attempts to make a positive start to the second half quickly came to nothing as Lamb forced an error with a big tackle and the All Golds were able to camp on the visitors’ line. However, the referee ruled out Adam Turner’s claims for a try after a dummy half sneak over the line.

The Rhinos then managed to mount some pressure of their own and were again held up over the line by some determined defence. However, they fell further behind with ten minutes gone in the half as Symons picked up a poor play-the-ball and ran hard at the line from 20 metres out, beating several defenders for his second try.

Six minutes later, he was in again, this time finishing some fine handling across the field with a four-pointer. Neither try was converted but the All Golds had a handy 26-6 lead with half an hour remaining.

The Rhinos pushed all their big men onto the field in an attempt to get back into the game, and the home defence was given a torrid time.

Just after the hour mark, Will Cooper blasted through for a try goaled by Kerkow but the All Golds, helped by some breaks in play for injures and other stoppages, held on until Rob Williams went over with eight minutes to go.

Kerkow’s kick from a difficult angle went wide leaving the All Golds 26-16 in front. But the Rhinos made a mess of the restart handing an opportunity to their opponents, which was gratefully accepted. Eric Davidson crashed through the defence on the last tackle for his first try for the club and Merrett’s goal put the All Golds three scores ahead with around five minutes left.

They still had work to do and a fine tackle by Joe Capener prevented the Rhinos from getting one of those scores before Merrett’s interception and long run upfield ended their last chance as the game ended.

A second win in a row for the All Golds moves them above the Rhinos into fifth place in the table. Next week’s game against the London Chargers will be an exciting prospect with the Londoners looking to stop the All Golds making it three wins in a row against them.

In what was no doubt an excellent day for the Bristol All Golds club, the Golden Ferns made the long journey to Brentwood and returned with a superb 44-8 victory. Jessie Hood and Daisy Pearce-Lyons were outstanding as the Ferns scored tries through Trish Brown (2), Chloe Fletcher (2), Esme Bird, Emily Jennings, Anna Treharne, and Hood with Vicky Mansell kicking five goals and Fletcher one.

The Ferns’ next game is at Lockleaze SC against the Army RL on 28 June. Both sides are unbeaten so far this season.

MatchStats

Teams:

ALL GOLDS: Oli Winterbottom; Leon Atherton, Will Armour, Joe Capener, James Boyles; Josh Fitzgerald, Callum Merrett (Capt); Tega Rume-Tabiowo, Adam Turner, Eric Davidson; Kurtis Haile, Brandon Lamb; Morgan Lewis. INTERCHANGE: Henry Symons, Dan Short, Wes Long, Rob Davies.  18^th Player: Luke Davies

SCORERS:

Tries: Rume-Tabiowo (16), Haile (19), Lamb (35), Symons (38, 50, 56), Davidson (75).

Goals: Winterbottom 1 from 5, Merrett 1 from 2.

RHINOS: Ethan Johnson; Charlie Sims, Peter Mbwasse, Jacob Burton, Justin Young; Joe Dakin, Chris Kerkow; Will Cooper, Rory Butcher (Capt), Bayley Eden; Charlie Key, Rob Williams; Mofe Abidekun. INTERCHANGE: Maximin Edwards, Sam Bragoli Jones, Yamikani Kamanga, Greg Short.

SCORERS

Tries: Edwards (12), Cooper (61), Williams (72).

Goals: Kerkow 2 from 3.

Scoring sequence: 0-6, 4-6, 8-6, 12-6, 18-6, (HT), 22-6, 26-6, 26-12, 26-16, 32-16, (FT)

Penalties: All Golds 11-9 Rhinos

Sin Bin: 79 min, Cooper (Rhinos) – Foul play

Referee: Malcolm Holmes (RFL)

All Golds Player of the Match: Callum Merrett was at the heart of the All Golds’ excellent attacking display, setting up an early try for Rume-Tabiowo and putting on a superb last-tackle play that ended in a try for Symons. He also contributed fully to his side’s defensive effort as the Rhinos rolled their big pack at the home side in a desperate attempt to salvage something from the game.