Kings Come Out On Top In Close Friendly Battle

Kingswood had a break from league action this week as they faced Bristol Harlequins 2nd's away from home. Bristol Harlequins 1st XV didn't have a fixture so Kingswood didn't know what sort of side they would face, but after last weeks excellent victory against Cheltenham Civil Service in the league, they were ready for anything.

The game was surprisingly quiet for the first 25 minutes as neither side created any real chances and it was hard to see where a try was going to come from. That was until Harlequins found a little hole in the Kingswood defence and a break away attack was finished off by No. 7. No. 10 added the conversion and Kingswood found themselves 0-7 down.

This seemed to be what the game needed and from the restart Kingswood hit back with some excellent rugby. A kick downfield was secured by Harlequins No. 13 but he was instantly tackled and some strong rucking meant the ball arrived on Kingswood's side and the ball was quickly released whilst the Harlequins defence was still trying to reorganise itself. Paul Allen broke with the ball then fed it to Gareth Pond who then released Anthony Davies and the young winger sprinted into the opposition try area to grab Kingswood their first try. Dean Stephens was unable to add the conversion but Kingswood were now back to 7-5

These two tries proved to be the only action of the first half as both defences ultimately controlled the game.

Half Time: Bristol Harlequins 2's 7-5 Kingswood

Kingswood were awarded an early penalty at the start of the 2nd half for over use of the boot in the rucks, but Dean Stephens was unable to add the 3 points.

A minute later and Kingswood were attacking well in the Harlequins half and were awarded with a penalty advantage. Kingswood continued to press and a lovely cross-field kick caught the Harlequins defence off guard and an equally impressive bounce saw the ball fall right into the hands of Adam Morris with just metres left to the line. However the referee for some unknown reason deemed this to be of no advantage and handed Kingswood a penalty from the earlier infringement.

The annoyance at the decision was short lived though as from the resulting penalty lineout, Kingswood put together a lovely lineout move that saw Mike Oakley break for the line unchallenged to go over for his 3rd try in 2 games and grab Kingswood the lead 7-10

8 minutes later and Kingswood were now in control of the game and were striving forward with real purpose. The Kingswood forwards were dominating in the scrums and turned over the Harlequins put-in before Steve Trevelyan broke with the ball towards the line. Trevelyan was tackled, but a lovely pop from the floor to the advancing Mark Oakley saw him get within inches of the line. I'm now supposed to write that Mark Oakley then went over the line after a strong and forceful shove from Scrum Half, Dave Vince (although this is widely refuted throughout the team). 7-15.

Kingswood then made a substitution as Mark Oakley came off (No doubt injured from Dave Vince's helpful shove) and Derek James came on.

Bristol Harlequins then started to fight back and had Kingswood pinned deep in their 22 for the next 10 minutes, but Kingswood were solid and managed to escape without conceding any more points.

The referee ended the game and Kingswood had secured their first back to back victories for the first time since November last year. Kingswood now face BAC away next weekend, which is their first meeting this season.

Full Time: Bristol Harlequins 2's 7-15 Kingswood