Woodrush 25 Bedworth 7
Midlands Three West (South)
ON A WET afternoon at Icknield Street, the home team kicked off the new season with a hard earned victory against relegated Bedworth on Saturday.
The opening exchanges were dominated by the visitors who played with pace and purpose and asked serious questions of the home defence.
However, the Woodrush rearguard held firm and, with the drizzle turning into a more consistent downpour, the tackling around the fringes resulted in a number of spilled balls by the Bedworth carriers.
Having weathered the storm of the opening ten minutes, The Rush started to take some control.
Scrummaging strongly, the Woodrush forwards started to edge the exchanges and forced a penalty opportunity for Jake White on the 12-minute mark.
The ball narrowly slid left of the uprights but consistent home pressure forced another penalty which White duly slotted over on 20 minutes.
On 25 minutes the best move of the game saw Dan Lavander carry strongly from the base of a scrum 15 metres out from the Bedworth line.
The resulting quick ruck ball saw White slip the ball back inside to Josh Tomlinson who slid past two defenders and drew a third to put Luke Sinclair over and White added the extras to make it 10-0.
Another attacking scrum on 38 minutes saw Lavander carry once more and offload to Titch Thomas who put James Gordon one-on-one with the Bedworth wing.
It proved to be no contest as Gordon showed a clean pair of heels to cross for Woodrush’s second try.
Most sides would have closed out the half with that score but Rush, scenting blood, chose to attack once more.
White put a steepling kick up which split the defence and a fine kick chase by Nick Igracev followed by a superb offload put the perfectly positioned Sinclair in for his brace.
White added the extras on the cusp of half time and the sides turned around at 22-0 to the home team.
The rain continued to fall which reduced much of the second half to a scrappy affair.
Woodrush were edging the contact areas but much of the next 20 minutes was spent between the two 22 lines in a pretty even contest.
White slotted over a penalty for the home team before Bedworth responded with a well earned converted try of their own from Woodrush indiscipline.
A nasty injury to Sinclair, which proved to be a broken ankle, took something of the shine off a very satisfying victory for the home team who began their 50th season in a very positive way.
Woodrush visit Old Leamingtonians on Saturday.
