Kingswood Claim Higher League Scalp In Cup Classic

Due to fixture congestion, Kingswood gave up their home advantage against Chipping Sodbury and the Bristol Combination Cup match was moved to Tuesday night under the floodlights at Chipping Sodbury. On paper this game was promising to be a cracker. Currently undefeated Kingswood of Gloucester 2 versus winless Chipping Sodbury of Gloucester 1. A sizeable crowd braved the torrential rain to see a near full strength Kingswood side take to the field.

The pressure of the cup, mixed with determination to gain local bragging rights, saw both teams came out firing from the start, which also meant the opening exchanges were riddled with nervous mistakes. Kingswood were using the wind advantage to their benefit, placing Sodbury under pressure with some nice downfield kicks. On 8 minutes, the pressure paid off when Sodbury were penalised and Kingswood opted to go for the posts. Ben Phillips stepped up and slotted home the ball straight, albeit slightly low, between the posts for a 0-3 lead.

Bolstered by this good start, Kingswood continued in the same vein and placed Sodbury on the back foot with some strategic kicking. With just over quarter of an hour gone, Kingswood were awarded another penalty, and despite the strong cross field breeze, Ben Phillips slotted over his 2nd penalty of the game to give Kingswood a 0-6 lead.

With Kingswood holding most of the possession, Sodbury had their first opportunity to get points on the board on 25 minutes after Kingswood conceded a penalty, fortunately, the wind made the kick awkward and the ball was put wide.

Then it was time for Kingswood’s first real running attack of the game, a well executed Backs move meant that Paul Allen was able to exploit a gap in the defence and carry the ball from the half way line before being tackled just 5 metres short. Sodbury’s over zealous defending of their line led to another Kingswood penalty and one in the sin bin for Sodbury. Kingswood could have gone for the try, but they sensibly opted for the 3 points and Ben Phillips slotted over another kick to make it 3 from 3 and give Kingswood a 0-9 lead.

With the extra man advantage in the Forwards and spurred on by the score line, Kingswood had their heads up and were proving themselves to be extremely rambunctious. Another downfield kick on the slippery surface forced another error and Kingswood had a scrum 5 metres out. Kingswood drove well, gained an advantage and were soon awarded the penalty. Ben Phillips’ well polished shooting boots sent his 4th kick through the posts and Kingswood had a 0-12 lead at half time.

Half Time: Chipping Sodbury 0 – 12 Kingswood

Kingswood made one change at half time with an injured Liam Stinchcombe coming off and being replaced by Gareth Pond.

Knowing that Chipping Sodbury now had the wind behind them, Kingswood were very lackadaisical at the start of the 2nd half and a downfield kick was allowed to bounce, which conveniently skipped off the surface, just 5 metres from the line. The lineout was won by Sodbury and sent to the Backs and Sodbury’s Centred was allowed to run through the Kingswood line right under the posts to frustratingly undo most of Kingswood hard work from the first half. The simple kick was made and the score now a lot closer at 7-12.

It was now Sodbury who had their tails raised and similarly went for the downfield kick tactics that was placing Kingswood under pressure and 10 minutes after their last score, Sodbury were awarded a penalty that agonisingly sailed through the uprights to bring the scores to a close 10-12 and things were no longer comfortable for Kingswood.

Kingswood then made a 2nd substitution with Joe O’Leary coming on for an injured James Willmott at Full-Back.

Sodbury were then awarded another penalty kick for the lead, luckily for Kingswood the kick was missed. Stan Bailey then came on for Matthew Perriman before Sodbury were again awarded another penalty. The Gods were smiling on Kingswood as another kick went the wrong side of the posts and Kingswood held onto their slender advantage.

Kingswood were then forced to make another injury related substitution as Damien Crosswell made way for Club Captain Neil Ward, who was making a return from injury himself. Ward's impact on the scrums was instant as Kingswood wheeled a Sodbury scrum and retained important possession just inside their own half.

Kingswood then put together their first real attacking opportunity of the 2nd half. A clever little kick through the defence from Dean Stephens was scooped up by Paul Allen who broke left before feeding Ben Lambert near the touchline. Lambert ran the ball forward before being tackled and Kingswood were eventually awarded a scrum and some partial rest bite to the defending. Kingswood were unable to capitalise on their field position though and Sodbury soon pinged a long ball downfield to yet again put more pressure on Kingswood’s defence.

Then came the games turning point, with little over 10 minutes remaining, Kingswood were attacking and had made it into Sodbury’s 22 when suddenly an off the ball incident was spotted by the referee. Kingswood were awarded a penalty just to the left of the posts and Sodbury found themselves reduced to 14 men once again, this time for violent conduct. Ben Phillips stepped up for his most important kick off the game but made it look simple as the ball sailed straight down the middle. Kingswood had opened up the lead again, but it was still close, very close at 10-15.

If that was the turning point in the game, then what followed was surely Kingswood’s match winning moment. A Backs move by Sodbury allowed their Centre to break clear just inside Kingswood’s half, a sinking feeling came over the Kingswood supporters on the sideline as a one on one developed and Full-Back Joe O’Leary was staring down the barrel of the advancing ball carrier. O’Leary lined up the challenge and smashed in at full speed and caused the Sodbury player to spill the ball forward. An absolutely crunching tackle that had just saved the game for Kingswood.

That wasn’t the end of the action though, Sodbury regained possession and were awarded a penalty in Kingswood’s 22. Knowing that 3 points wasn’t enough, Sodbury took the quick tap penalty but very little ground was made as either Stan Bailey or Nick Coe (how people on the sideline could mix up the clubs oldest player with the youngest is beyond me) lept forward to end the attack in an instant with a tackle that wouldn’t look out of place in a wrestling ring. The ball was turned over by Kingswood, and before you know it, the ball was sent flying towards the sideline before the beautiful sound of the referee’s whistle echoed around the pitch to signal an excellent win for Kingswood.

Great tactical play, 80 minutes of commitment and well drilled positioning, had given Kingswood their 6th win of the season and claimed a higher league scalp in the process.

Well done to all those involved in the game, it was a pleasure to watch.

Final Score: Chipping Sodbury 10 – 15 Kingswood

Man Of The Match: Everyone

Ass Of The Match: Nick Coe