Match Report

Friendly Match

Midsomer Norton 2's Vs Kingswood

Kingswood had a break from the pressures of the league this week and were drawn against Midsomer Norton 2^nd’s in a friendly match.  Midsomer Norton appeared to be sporting a few of their Somerset Premier players and with Kingswood missing 3 first team regulars, it had all the hallmarks of a great match.

Despite Kingswood not having a warm up and two players arriving 5 minutes before kick off, they made a great start to the game when they grabbed a try within the first 2 minutes.  A Norton penalty kick didn’t find touch and the ball was skilfully caught by Mark McGarrigle who went on a surging run infield.  It was then the turn of Mike Oakley to power up the centre of the park as a powerful run made great yards before the ball was released to Rich Francis.  Francis skilfully let the ball bounce in front of him before sending a lovely little kick through which could not be secured by Norton and there was a mass of bodies on the floor before Rich Francis gratefully chased up his own kick to pick up the ball and dive over the line.  Ben Phillips could not make the difficult conversion. 0-5

Kingswood were then caught napping as straight from the restart, Norton put together several phases of play and it ended with No. 7 going over.  Norton also missed their conversion attempt and the score was now 5-5 with only 6 minutes on the clock.

Kingswood had the chance to retake the lead 5 minutes later when they were awarded a penalty for Norton killing the ball. Ben Phillips conversion attempt had the accuracy but the ball seemed to scrape the wrong side of the crossbar and Norton secured the loose ball to clear their lines and keep the scores the same.

Another 5 minutes went by and Kingswood finally managed to turn their pressure into points.  A Norton scrum 5m from their try area was turned over by the impressive Kingswood pack and the scrum edged its way to the Norton try-line.  It looked as though Mark McGarrigle would have the honour of grabbing the try but a Norton player had different ideas and ran around the scrum to kick the ball away.  The referee had no option but to award Kingswood the penalty try.  Ben Phillips had an easy conversion to make right under the posts and he did to make the score 5-12

4 minutes later and Norton then equalised again as they secured a lineout 5m from Kingswood line and some excellent hands in the backs found No. 13 who slipped through a gap in the Kingswood defence to grab a try under the posts. No. 16 added the conversion and the scores were level at 12-12 with 20 minutes on the clock.

Just after the half hour mark, a Kingswood lineout missed its intended target and the ball ran loose to Norton’s No. 8 who picked up the bouncing ball and ran over the line to hand Norton the lead for the first time in the game. 19-12

Norton were continuing to see a lot of possession and on the stroke of half time they increased their lead further when Kingswood defended an attack close to their line but the ball was popped off the floor to No. 11 who had space in front of him to dive over the line and give Midsomer Norton a first half lead. 24-12

 Half Time:  Midsomer Norton 2's 24-12 Kingswood

It took only Kingswood 7 minutes of the 2^nd half to pull some points back.  Kingswood were pressuring well and Mike Oakley once again exploited some space in the Norton defence and burst through to give Kingswood the upper hand.  The ball was played wide as the attack made its way down the pitch before reaching Ian Kirley who beautifully side stepped two Norton defenders to get the ball down over the line and secure the try and an easier kicking position.  Ben Phillips added the 2 points with an excellent kick and the score was now 24-19

The possession in the game then kept switching for the next 15 minutes as both teams searched for that all important next try.  Unfortunately for Kingswood it went the way of Norton as in a repeat of his first half try, No. 13 slipped through a gap in the Kingswood defence after a lineout and Norton now held a 31-19 lead

Rich Francis then made way for Ben Nicholls.

The game then turned a bit sour as No. 4 placed an elbow into the face of Gareth Pond during an attempted tackle and the game was halted as players from both teams showed their dissatisfaction.  The referees 20^th blast of the whistle finally worked as both teams settled down before No. 4 and Pond were both sinned for 10 minutes.

From the resulting Kingswood penalty a lineout was secured and a nice catch and drive marched towards the Norton line before Mike Oakley dived over the line to grab Kingswood’s 4^th try of the game. Ben Phillips added the conversion and Kingswood now found themselves within a converted try of the lead. 31-26

With the final few minutes approaching, Kingswood then had the chance to grab the win as Mike Oakley once again broke through several tackles to be faced with a one on one with the Norton Full-Back.  The tackle on Oakley was made but the offload agonisingly went forward and the chance had gone begging for Kingswood.

The referee then ended what was an excellent game for the spectators and Midsomer Norton had grabbed the victory.  Kingswood now prepare for an important league fixture against winless Cheltenham Saracens at home on Saturday.

Full Time: Midsomer Norton 2's 31-26 Kingswood