Kingswood vs Bishopston

A dark, wet and cold night saw Kingswood play Bishopston in the quarter final of the Charles Saunders Combination Vase. After trying several times to arrange the fixture it was decided to play up at Cleve RFC under floodlit lights so neither side had the advantage of being at home.

Fielding a side short of Vince Murrell, Paul Allen and Rob Lamb. Kingswood saw Dave Tomlin revert to his favoured position of No. 8, a solid centre partnership of Gareth Pond and Ben Lambert and Dave Vince bravely stepping up into the unusual role of prop - one across from his usual hooker spot.

With supporters aplenty on either side of the pitch the game kicked off and straight away Bishopston put Kingswood on the back foot. Playing the majority of the first 20 minutes in the Kingswood half. Attack after attack after attack hit the Kingswood line but it held firm. With some lovely tackling from Matthew Perriman and Liam Stinchcombe doing well on his wing to shackle his opposite number, Sammy, who seemed to be the man to get the ball to as far as the Bish supporters were concerned.

After relieving the pressure from the first 20mins by forcing Bish to concede a penalty, with plenty more to come, Kingswood ended up in the Bish half and were awarded with another penatly which Ben Philips duly converted. 3-0 to Kingswood.

Neither side were really making any in roads and you felt both sides at a bit of a stalemate. Some nice footwork from Ben Lambert saw him through the centre but Kingswood were unable to convert this into points. Shortly after Muttley took a knock to the head with some nice defensive work, ending with a lovely cut above his eye, and was sub'd for Matt Hay.

The next score came from Bish who worked their way to the line with a series of pick and go's. However, each time they spread it wide they saw the attack falter whether by Bish's own shortcomings or some defensive work from Kingswood, notably Ian Kirley. As it was they did power their way over for a try under the posts which their 10 converted. 7-3 to Bish.

With renewed vigour Kingswood forced their way into the came. Matt Hay was making an impression taking up the tackling effort from Muttley. A team effort of defending in the Bish 22 saw Bish concede a penalty which Ben duly converted to make it 7-6 to Bish.

At half time Liam was sub'd for Joe O'Leary and Kingswood were eager to put this one to bed, feeling that Bish were not the better side and certainly beat-able despite being one league above.

The second half started and Kinsgwood started well and were awarded with another penalty, unfortunatley Ben was unable to convert. Bish replied with a well worked try into the corner. It was unconverted. 12-6 to Bish.

The most notable event thereafter was the floodlights turning off. Apparently they were on a timer. After an age we were told to move over the 1sts pitch whose game would finish in 8-10 minutes and we could continue there. So we all moved, supporters and all, only for the lights to come back on and so we all move back again. I can see someone having a chat with Cleve about that one.

Whether it was the break whilst the lights were off or not Kingswood didn't really switch themsleves back on and a spell of 15 minutes saw them concede three, opportunist, tries.

I apologise if I have these in the wrong order but from what I remember.... the first try saw the Bish winger take it up, shortly before being tackled into touch he flung it overhead, to be caught by another Bish who did the same, with the 'pass' being fortunate enough to land with another Bish player who ran into score. It was unconverted. 17-6 to Bish.

Ben Philips then missed a second penalty kick. The second try was an overzealous ruck by Kingswood who cleared out well past the ball. A Bish player was then on hand to scoop up and outrun the defense to score under the posts. This was converted, 24-6 to Bish.

Around this time Neil Ward entered the fray for Matt Hay, who was injured. Kingswood then hit back with an effective rolling maul from a lineout for Steve Trev to score. It was unconverted. 24-11 to Bish.

Bish's third and final opportunist try was from a little overhead chip from Dean which everyone went to chase, however it landed plumly in the Bish Hookers hands, he then ran into score under the posts. 31-11 to Bish.

In the final ten minutes of the game the Bish Second Row was finally sin binned. I feel this was more for the REPEATED penalty infringements Bish were givng away, should have been sooner really. Lewis Voisey then made his way onto the pitch for Ben Lambert.

Both sides continued to plug away at each other in the final ten minutes, ended up being the final 15 mins, and much to our amusement the Ref wouldn't allow the Bish Sin Bin back on despite much grievance from the sideline.

And so the came ended 31-11 to Bishopston. Obviously the mood afterwards was suicidal, with all players hoping to go up this season and play them in a league scenario, as it would be interesting to see the result.