Bognor rugby colts take first step on Twickenham road

Bognor began their route to the RFU national colts final at Twickenham with a comprehensive 61-7 win over high-flying Trojans at a sunny Hampshire Avenue.

Near-perfect conditions helped Bognor start in positive fashion. Matthew Norrell and skipper Harrison Southern smashed over the gain line, fly-half Ben Woolnough released Lewis Decarteret and the speedster scored the opening try.

Work at training on kick-offs paid dividends as Bradley Smith gathered the restart and carried strongly. Great hands from Edward Gilbert-Jones put fellow centre Tyrone Masaki into space. He left the Trojans cover for dead as he skated home to score. Decarteret converted from the touchline.

Scrum-half Alfie Spurle took a quick tap penalty on halfway and sped round the outside to score. German under-18 international Finn Glass came into the game with his rampaging runs. Smart play from Owen Henton gave Decarteret space to race over. Gus Haplik was next on the scoresheet after a pass from Masaki.

Trojans hit back with a great try. But strong running from James Billingham gave Deacrteret room to touch down for his hat-trick, making it 40-7 at the break.