Match Report

Friendly Match

Kingswood 'Allsorts' V Bristol Barbarians

With most of the first team missing, Kingswood fielded a team comprised of a mixture of all 3 sides for the friendly match against Bristol Barbarians. 

Kingswood started the better side and with just 6 minutes on the clock Kingswood scored their first try when they turned over a Barbarians scrum from which Rich Francis received the ball and burst through to run for almost the whole of the Barbarians half before passing the ball out to Ian Kirley who finished under the posts.

Barbarians restarted the game and Neil Ward caught the kick and set up a rolling maul, Mike Oakley took the ball from the back and ran for almost the entire length of the pitch before finishing under the posts to give Kingswood their 2nd try in as many minutes.

Kingswood were turning over a lot of Barbarians scrums which meant that Barbarians were having very little attacking opportunities.  19 minutes in and after several scrums just outside the Barbarians try area, Kingswood grabbed another try when a slick passing move was finished of by Gary James.

Several injuries then broke up the flow of the game and this lead to both teams having spells of possession in the middle of the park.  28 minutes on the clock though and Kingswood grabbed another try when Rich Francis went on another of his runs before delightfully chipping the ball over the Barbarians fullback and running round to drop on the ball to bag himself a try.

Barbarians then had a good spell of pressure for the remaining minutes of the match and even came close to scoring but Gary James put in a great tackle in a one on one situation and Kingswood finished the half under pressure but 26-0 up.

 Half Time: Kingswood 'Allsorts' 26 - 0 Bristol Barbarians

2 minutes into the 2nd half and Kingswood turned over yet another Barbarians scrum and a slick passing move finished with Ian Kirley going over to grab his 2nd try of the game.

There was more of the same just 6 minutes later when another simple passing run was finished off eventually by Ian Kirley to get his hat-trick.

It was clear that the combination of the 3 teams was not effecting Kingswood's game and they were building up a huge lead.  Mark McGarrigle then looked to have bagged himself a try after a huge solo run starting from his own half but he was tap tackled just a metre short of the tryline. 

On 55 minutes, Kingswood grabbed another try when JP Toffi went over in the corner to give Kingswood a convincing 43-0 lead.

With Kingswood looking invincible, there was suddenly a dramatic turn of events when the Barbarians No. 15 grabbed himself two tries in 7 minutes, the easiest of which came from when Dave Coleman ran and hit the Kingswood ruck unaware that he had ran over the ball 3 feet behind him, leaving No. 15 to run round the ruck and pick up the ball to go over.   No. 15 converted both kicks and the score was suddenly 43-14.

With 25 minutes of the 2nd half played, Barbarians pushed for a third try by attempting a down field kick and chase, however, Gary James caught the kick and powered up field before passing the ball out to Ian Kirley, who then fed Rich Francis.  Francis then went on one of his trade mark runs before chipping the ball over Slim who then proceeded to trip Francis, a chorus of boo's rang out from the Kingswood supporters!  However, Mark McGarrigle was still chasing the ball as it bounced towards the try area and managed to gather the ball and go over for his first try of the match.

With Barbarians still pushing for another try, they once again tried a down field kick, but as before, Gary James caught the ball and then passed it straight out to Rich Francis who went on another huge run and risked his knee caps for a second time by running past Slim.  Francis wisely took a wider birth around Slim and made it look easy as he ran over to grab his 2nd try of the match.

There was just time for one last Kingswood try and it all started from a bursting run from Gary James who then fed the ball out to JP Toffi who then sold the most outrageous dummy to send the Barbarians full-back the wrong way, leaving himself an easy run in to score his 2nd try and Kingswood's 10th of the match.

So a convincing win for Kingswood who showed that even with a group of players who haven't played together all season, they were still capable of coming together and put in a great team performance.

Full Time: Kingswood 'Allsorts' 58 - 14 Bristol Barbarians