TWO tries from Bromsgrove late in the second half of this well contested and well supported North Midlands Plate semi-final were enough to kill off the Pirates' hopes of reaching the regional finals at Ledbury next month.
BROMSGROVE U14s 29pts, MALVERN 'Pirates' U14s 7pts
Playing with the elements, it was Bromsgrove who claimed the first seven points, ten minutes into the game, but only after the home side had been subjected to some ferocious defensive play by the whole of the Malvern team. The lead was short-lived and the home side were stunned when the Pirates' captain, Will Bowen attacked along a weakly defended blindside from a scrum on the Bromsgrove 22. Bowen claimed the five points and a successful John Brierly conversion brought the scores level.
Bromsgrove resorted to forward power to take them back into the lead with No 8 Matt Newman claiming the touchdown for the Finstall Road side,
Close to half-time a clever chip kick to the corner caught full-back Richard Mason napping. Despite a valiant last-ditch tackle from new-boy Mark Schoulten, Bromsgove claimed another fivepoints to put them 17-7 in front at the break.
After weathering a promising counter-attack after the restart, probing kicks to touch from John Brierly and Richard Pitt kept the homeside at bay. With the midfield locked tight thanks to the Malvern back-row trio, the prospects for a break-through for the Pirates looked good.
However, for reasons best known to themselves, the Pirates then changed track. After securing a good field position to work from, the visitors then tried to run the ball through the solid Bromsgrove line. Before too long it was the Pirates who were having to defend in their own 22, as the initiative lost steam.
Inevitably, Bromsgrove were given the chance to regrouped and they struck twice in the last ten minutes of the match pushing the score to 29-7.
Despite their disappointment, the Pirates - sponsored by Banana Fitness and Heath - will be on the road again this weekend, but this time playing at Old Saltleans at Water Orton.
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