Saturday 10th November found Bristol Telephones visiting the Portway for our first meeting this season. Bright and dry, we had the conditions for the open, wide rugby we wanted to play, and the personnel to match. There were a few notable absentees, but the recent strength in depth at the club meant we were still able to field a strong team, both in terms of the starting XV and the bench. Rob Hawkridge slotted in at scrum-half at late notice, Nigel made his SBOB debut in the centre, while Will Driver made worryingly girly noises when El Capitan informed him he was taking the Number 8 shirt. Luke himself also returned to the playing arena after last week’s stunning success on the sidelines – we were doomed.

The tone was set soon after the kick-off, as Rich Hawkridge was silly enough to put his face in the way of the first punch of the game, in the first maul. Early exchanges saw Telephones keeping it tight, but the SBOB pack gave as good as they got and the kickers were probably the busiest players on the pitch. The packs continued their wrestling in the middle of the field, with numerous scrums and lineouts, and neither backline having much a chance to have a go. An early St Brendan’s foray into the Telephones half saw an attempt to get the ball through the hands of the backs, and we were awarded a penalty just to the left of the posts. Taff Powell stepped up, but couldn’t repeat his kicking feats of last week, pushed it narrowly wide and we remained scoreless.

Having literally drawn first blood, Telephones then did it metaphorically as well, recording the first try of the game. A lineout at halfway was taken in by the Phones pack, and one of them burst from the ensuing maul. The SBOB defenders combined to all miss their tackles, and although it seemed impossible that the line would be reached and no-one would bring him down, that’s exactly what happened. A despairing dive from the SBOB full-back got a hand under the ball, but it wasn’t enough and the try was awarded. The angle and wind were against the Telephones kicker, who missed the conversion, but they were still 5-0 ahead.

As seems to have happened in recent weeks, we responded well to conceding an early try. Play continued from the restart in much the same way as it had been before the Telephones try, with much of it in the Telephones half. Clearance kicks were returned with interest, with James Brindley prominent as his opposite number clearly had no idea how to stop him. But for a couple of dodgy bounces, James could have been through several times, but although it wasn’t to be it kept the pressure on and the ball nearer the Phones line than our own. From this platform, we had the chance to do what we’d been saying we wanted to, and as the pack secured the ball, it was released through the hands as the backs swept left. Taff, Greg and Nigel created the space in midfield, and when the ball reached Ian Mussell on the left wing, Mussell chose not to go himself and popped the ball back inside to full-back Chilvers in support. The defence had nearly scrambled across, but despite their close attention Ben got over the line and down to level the scores. The conversion was missed from wide out, but at least we were level again – though that fact seemed lost on El Capitan, who came out with the “It’s nil-nil” shout. Near enough, Luke.

The first half finished much as it had progressed up till that point, with little chance for the running rugby we’ve managed on occasion this season, but equally with the pack putting in the effort and not conceding much. It remained 5-5 at the break, and we’d done most of what we’d planned. The SBOB huddle was quiet, but little needed to be said. One change at half-time saw the late-arriving Jimmy Fry on for Ian Mussell, who had taken a knock in the process of setting up our try. Rob moved from scrum-half to his more normal position on the wing, with Jimmy in at 9. We started the second half determined to carry on the good work of the first 40 minutes, but with hopefully a little more composure when the chances came. We’d been guilty of a few missed opportunities or poor decisions in the first half, and this wasn’t the sort of game where we could get away with that.

The second half began in predictable fashion, with little given away by either team and clear-cut chances very few and far between. Again the kickers were busy, as both teams spent periods camped in their opposition’s half only for the pressure to be relieved by clearances or mistakes. Several Telephones clearances gave the SBOB back 3 a chance to run in broken play, and it was from one of these that we had our first good chance of the half. Fielded on the left just inside the Phones half, the ball and our backs went right, giving Nigel the chance to go round the outside of the Phones defence. He hurdled his way past tacklers until one eventually brought him down, but recycled well and we worked it back towards the middle. Through many pairs of hands, showing the support play that had won us the Minchinhampton game the previous week, the ball found Taff on the crash under the posts. But just as it looked like he would draw us level, a number of Telephones jerseys arrived and stopped him short. We couldn’t gain the last couple of metres, and the chance was lost.

And as seemed the case with this match, Telephones were soon back in our half as the balance swung their way once more. Pressure on the left yielded a succession of set pieces, but the Brendan’s pack stood firm. Mike Williams had replaced Spendo at tight-head by this point, but Spendo was soon to come back on and show his versatility by slotting into the middle of the front row when Chunks went down with knee trouble. Despite the fresh (ish) legs and collective effort, the Phones pack wasn’t to be stopped and, after edging forward phase by phase, were awarded another try in the corner. The conversion was missed again, but we were 10-5 behind.

That left us about ten minutes to make up the five point deficit. In such a tight game, it would require a few risks to be taken, and we tried just that. Rob and James had been replaced on the wings, with Chris Baber and Kris ‘Derek’ Tavender providing more fresh legs for what we had in mind. Several times the ball was run out of our 22, and though we looked dangerous each time we couldn’t quite find that final ball or gap. We ran out of time before we ran out of steam, as we were still pushing when the final whistle went, but we’d come up just short. The reactions of the two teams to said whistle showed how the game had gone, and for the second time in two weeks we had narrowly lost at home.

Ben Chilvers