Bourne Rugby Club beat Stockwood Park in their first match of the new season
Bourne Rugby Club kicked off their Counties 1 Midlands East (South) season with a nail-biting 16-19 victory away at Stockwood Park on Saturday.
The Lincolnshire side made the journey down to Luton looking to pick up an opening day victory - something that they hadn't done for the last two seasons.
Stockwood Park had also enjoyed success at home to Bourne with their visitors only winning there once since 2018.
The home side began the game strongest, pinning Bourne back near their own try line for the majority of the first half.
The relentless pressure resulted in points for Stockwood with two penalties and a converted try giving them a 13-0 lead as the first half drew to a close.
Bourne did gather some momentum and they capitalised on some ill-discipline when captain Sam Evison kicked a long range penalty to get his team on the scoreboard.
The away side then scored a try of their own shortly after, Evison again the scorer having been the recipient of an inch-perfect pass on the gainline by fly-half Liam Shields. Evison converted to make the score 13-10 at the interval.
Stockwood came out in the second half in similar fashion to the first, forcing Bourne onto the back foot.
This time, however, the away side held firm and prevented them from adding to their score.
Evison added two more penalties and, despite having little of the ball, Bourne had an unlikely lead.
Stockwood answered back with a penalty of their own, before Evison added the decisive penalty with five minutes remaining to give his side a 16-19 lead.
Stockwood had numerous attacking opportunities in the dying stages of the game with Bourne managing to hold out courtesy of a remarkable try-saving tackle by full-back Matt Lines.
A knock-on ended the match, giving Bourne an outstanding victory to start their season.
Bourne are in action again on Saturday when they host local rivals Spalding at Milking Nook Drove.
The club are also hosting a women's rugby taster session prior to the derby match, along with junior rugby, an inflatable assault course, and live music throughout the day in what promises to be a fantastic occasion for local rugby.
