Cotham Park RFC The closest Rugby club to Clifton in Bristol

Spirited Second Half Come Back Can't Deny Kingswood

Starting XV:

1. Ginna
2. Fat Legs
3. John Williams
4. Victor
5. Pete Cowell
6. Alec Vincent
7. Nick Vincent
8. Johnny A

9. Marcus Wooldridge
10. Damien Myers
11. Matt Ace
12. Dom Carroll
13. Sam Sterling
14. Dave Wells
15. Elliot Broadley

16. Graham Hinchley
17. Kiwi
18. Lozza

First game back after Christmas and everyone was keen to get out on the pitch and get the ball in hand and run off all those mince pies and turkey. Selection had been a bit tricky this week and we were starting the game with 11 forwards on the pitch, 8 in the pack, sparky at 9, me at 12 and Wellsy on the wing. Happy days! Confidence was high and the adrenaline was buzzing. The whistle went and we kicked off. We dominated Kingswood for the first 10-15 minutes but then gave away two silly penalties in succession and we went from nearly scoring at their end to having to defend our own line. Unfortunately, after they sucked our defence in, Kingswood spun the ball wide for their winger to run the ball in for a try.

We went back at them hard, but then a late cheap shot saw Marcus go down with an injury to his back (turns out he’s slipped a disc, wonderful). At the same time, it became apparent Wellsy was struggling massively with a dead leg. This forced us to make a double substitution early on and have a quick re-shuffle in the backs. Kiwi came on, legs taped for the line-out and scrum cap on, asking “what do I do then?” he looked right at home on the wing!

Our scrum was creaking a little but holding and our lineout was working well which meant the backs were getting a fair bit of ball, especially with Damien’s quality 9 service. We pressed their line a couple of times but couldn’t find the all telling pass to unlock their defence. Kingswood managed to stretch our defence in the first half scoring a couple more tries before the break.

Half time brought a good team talk, all of us still fully believing we could win the game. The second half started, we now had the slope and the sun behind us. There was lots of good team play and we worked our way down into their 22. We took full advantage of a couple of penalties, taking the quick tap the forwards applied loads of pressure which finally told in Nick Vincent going over in the corner for a try. We then received the kick off and pressed back down into their half. Again, we were quickly down into Kingswood’s 22 and I found myself shouting something I never thought I would on a rugby pitch, “I’m 10, I’m 10!” Amazing! I took and gave the pass and we kept the pressure on. A few plays later and Acey was bundled over the line in the corner by the forwards for a 2nd try, boom!

I think it’s fair to say we dominated the second half, pressing hard in attack with good support and in defence we made them work hard for every yard they made. However, the two scores weren’t enough to bring us back into the game and the final score ended 29-10 to Kingswood. Everyone played well, and the team and club have turned a big corner since the start of December. All the players are really starting to put the effort in which I greatly appreciate and I think it is starting to show in the way we’re playing. Longlevens away next week, bring it on.

Tries: Nick Vincent, Matt Ace

Dom Carroll