Mark Bryant and his BCRU News group's byline this morning referenced that the Lomas 'stunned' the Bays...on that we agree. Not to take anything away from the Lomas success, part of the reason for the two Bays' losses was due to self-inflicted wounds.
The morning started with promise as 50 JBAA players, fans, support staff and cling-ons arrived at Connaught Park to face the home team Meralomas. The Premier Reserve game began well for the visitors going uphill as they strung together mulitple phases culminating in a try by Ben 'Big Train' Johnson as he boshed six wide-eyed, would-be tacklers to score under the posts for the first score of the game. The Evan Boothroyd convert gave the Bays an early 7-0 lead. Things began to erode for the Navy Blue shortly thereafter. A defensive mix-up on the re-start allowed a speedy Ciaran O'Hanrahan to score on a 40 meter unimpeded gallop to knot the score at 7 each. Adding insult to injury shortly thereafter, an innocuous kick by the Lomas coming downhill was grossly miss-played by the JBAA backs and after the ball was kicked mindlessly off of several sets of legs, it ended up over the try line where it was pounced upon by a gleeful Loma to suddenly make the score 14-7 for the Orange and Black.
The second half saw the Bays coming downhill, hopeful to make up the one try difference. The second half was rather chippy, with a yellow card to each team leaving them at 14 aside early in the second half. Innumerable mystery calls by the ref involving scrummaging, along with increasingly moribund weather made the second half quite uneventful except for a third Meraloma try, 15 minutes into the second session. For their part, the Bays showed some individual brilliance but failed to put together a cohesive team effort and unable to use the boot to take advantage of the field conditions. Meralomas defended vigorously throughout and took advantage of the opportunities provided. The final score favored the home team at 21-7.
In the Premier Division game the Bays, as in the earlier game, began by coming up the slope and after an initial enthusiastic assault were rewarded with a penalty goal by Tom Burton to jump into a 3-0 lead. The determined Lomas responded with two quick tries to go ahead 12-3. The Bays look dangerous on several good individual runs but were thwarted by lack of support and/or turnovers. A series of scrummaging penalties against the Bays provide the Lomas with the opportunity to score a third try by winger Dewi Williams and go into the half time break leading 17-3.
Coming downhill but without the boot of Cooper Coats, a late scratch from the game, James Bay failed to take advantage of the wind, slope and field conditions. Rather than kicking, the visitors ran the ball at every opportunity and with the number of turnovers numbering in the twenties, created a recipe for disaster which the predatory Lomas feasted upon. The Lomas' Williams scored his second try to widen the gap to 24-3. The Lomas lose a player to a yellow card after he is spotted using the boot, while Noah Barker of the Bays also gets binned for some dastardly scrummaging violation. The Bays finally string together some effective phases and after a nice break by Kainoa Lloyd and a dish to charging prop Nico Krawczyk, the visitors have their second try of the game. The score moves to 24-8. A long penalty kick gives the home side a 27-8 lead with 15 minutes remaining. The wheels now fall off the bus for JBAA, starting with the referee awarding an 'interference' try (not a penalty try) to the Lomas. which inflates their lead to 34-8. A late tally turns the game into a thumping....41-8.
For the Bays, lots of individual promise was demonstrated, but team cohesion was lacking on the day, as was effective use of kicking for field possession. The Lomas were tenacious on defense and opportunistic on offense; full value for both wins on the day.
Game report courtesy of The Black Rat