Bournville 9 Old Hales 0.

OLD Halesonians failed to make a decisive step towards a second league title in as many years when they lost 9-0 to Bournville on Saturday. The win would have put them two-points clear with the Christmas break fast approaching. They will now have to wait until the last day of the season to see if they can exact their revenge.

The first half belonged to Hales, who came out firing. They demolished the home scrum, with front-row replacement Scott Scuffleton required after just15 minutes. Hales continued to dominate at the breakdown and were rewarded with a number of penalties out wide. With the momentum, they continued to attack instead of opt for the posts. However, the impressive Bournville defence held true. Indeed, on the stroke of half-time, a handling mistake by Hales saw the home side mount their first attack into the visitors territory. Hales were deemed to have slowed the ball illegally, and Bournville promptly converted their fortune into three-points.

The second half saw the hosts apply themselves with more structured attacking play. An injury to second row Dan Grant, shortly followed by replacement Eoin McMahon being sin-binned, saw Hales struggle to regain their first half momentum. The infringement by Hales provided Bournville fly-half Neil Bartos with a simple three-point kick in front of the posts.

Desperation struck Hales late on, yet despite some creativity from their half backs and powerful running from their forwards, they were unable to get the essential score. Bartos added a final score in the final quarter to take the lead to 9-0, with Hales chasing the game to the end. Next week, Hales have another difficult league fixture, at home against Lichfield.