Bromsgrove 16, Nuneaton 15

BROMSGROVE had to dig deep to defeat a stubborn Nuneaton and record their sixth win of the season in the National Midlands Division Three on Saturday.

A last-gasp penalty by Jon Critchlow saw the Boars seal a hard-fought victory.

It was their fourth narrow win by three points or less, which is a reflection of the fighting spirit in the side and their never-say-die attitude.

They needed plenty of attitude particularly in the first half when Nuns dominated territory and possession, but due to the tightness of Town’s defence they never crossed the whitewash and their fly half Joe Wilson only succeeded with one penalty from three kickable attempts.

The only try of the half belonged to the hosts when, on 25 minutes, a superb break by centre Ed Spalding was finished off by prop Paul Norris who scored in the corner.

The ultra-reliable boot of Critchlow converted.

Grove’s rearguard action continued for the rest of the half with flanker Greg Campion prominent and some excellent clearance kicks from Spalding, Critchlow and James Upton as the Boars took a 7-3 lead into the break.

The second half was much more even in possession and territory, but it was the visitors who got their act together first scoring two tries in the first 15 minutes.

The first saw a big gap in the home defence open up for second row Matt Gibbs to score, which Wilson converted.

The second was a pushover scored by Seb Roche as Nuneaton took a 15-7 lead.

This obviously stung the home forwards who visibly upped their game afterwards and started getting the better of the visiting forwards forcing a series of penalties during the last quarter.

Three of these were kickable and that man Critchlow did the business slotting all three to put Town ahead by a single point.

Nuns did have the opportunity to steal the points with a last-minute penalty attempt, which fell just short much to the relief of the home support.

Bromsgrove go to Old Halesonians on Saturday (2.15pm kick-off).