After an unprecedented two league defeats on the bounce, Kingswood faced fellow Gloucester 1 strugglers, Cotham Park, in a must win game this weekend. Thankfully, after all the injuries of recent weeks, Kingswood welcomed back Dave Tomlin and Alex Green into the Forwards, and, despite missing Ian Kirley and Joe Jones-Griffiths, Kingswood Back’s were looking the strongest they have all season, with Tom Jones-Griffiths and Paul Allen in the Centre, Lewis Voisey and James Willmott taking care of the Wings, and Ashley Honeywell starting at Full-Back. Ben Phillips and Dean Stephens completed the 9/10 line-up. With Coach Mike Jones stuck somewhere in the UK, the injured Ian Kirley gladly took up the sideline duties, including linesman.

Kingswood knew that if they had any chance of staying in Gloucester 1 this season, then securing a home win against a much changed Cotham Park was a must. Both sides started the game as the only teams in the league with zero points, but Kingswood were set to fly out the traps and put this right.

Thankfully, Kingswood grabbed an early score to settle the nerves. After some great territory kicking from Dean Stephens, Kingswood found themselves in Cotham Park’s 22 right from the outset. It wasn’t long before Kingswood had ball in hand, and after a quick ruck, the ball was spun out to the Backs and after a lovely bit of quick hands, James Willmott ran over out wide before sticking the ball under the posts. Ben Phillips added the extras and Kingswood led 7-0 after only 4 minutes on the clock.

Straight from the restart, Kingswood managed to recoup the ball thanks to some excellent work by Tom Jones-Griffiths, who in turn offloaded to Paul Allen, who then broke downfield. It looked like Allen was going to grab the try, but he was excellently scythed down in a double tackle. However, Kingswood were now once again in Cotham Park’s 22 and playing with a lot more intensity than last week. Kingswood held possession well and from a resulting ruck, Tom Jones-Griffiths was fed the ball before breaking through no less than 5 Cotham Park tackles before diving over the line for an excellent score. Ben Phillips added the conversion again and with 8 minutes gone, Kingswood were now 14-0 up.

The remainder of the half continued in the same ilk (that’s posh for ‘manner’), with Kingswood on the front foot, but they were not able to stretch their lead any further. Ben Phillips missed a penalty kick and numerous other Kingswood attacks were either excellently defended or Kingswood’s last passes were not reaching their attended targets.

Cotham Park then suffered another setback as their Flanker was sin-binned by the referee, despite Park being on the attack, after he was deemed to have ‘made contact with the face’ of a Kingswood player. Kingswood were unable to make the extra man count though.

The half finished with Kingswood 14-0 up, but they knew what needed to be done in order to finish the game off.

Half Time: Kingswood 14-0 Cotham Park.

With a slightly revised game plan in place, Kingswood set out to put this game to bed early. The restart from Cotham Park did not go the required 10 metres and Kingswood were awarded the scrum on the halfway line. The scrum was secured and Ben Phillips released Paul Allen who used his sidestep™ to great use before releasing James Willmott on the Wing. Willmott made excellent ground before offloading back to Allen who then fed Ashley Honeywell with an audacious pop pass which bamboozled the Cotham Park Full-Back, allowing Honeywell to get the ball down over the line. Ben Phillips added an excellent long range conversion and with just 1 2nd half minute gone, Kingswood were now 21-0 up.

Kingswood Full-Back, Ashley Honeywell, who was making some excellent return runs from Cotham Park clearances, then earned Kingswood a penalty. After catching a high clearance from within his own half, Honeywell slalomed through several attempted tackles before being stopped just short of the opposing 22. The penalty was awarded to Kingswood and Ben Phillips added the 3 points for a 24-0 lead with only 9 minutes played in the 2nd half.

With Kingswood now believing the victory was now in the bag, they turned their attention to the prospective try scoring bonus point. But first, some fresh blood was brought on. Nick Coe made way for Steve Trevelyan and a few minutes later, an injured Ashley Honeywell made way for Shaun Carey. James Willmott moved to Full-Back and Carey took over on the Wing. A 3rd substitution followed shortly after with Alex Green being replaced by the energetic youngster, Alex Evans.

There then followed the most excellent Forward run we have seen in many a season. Kingswood secured a ruck just inside their half and the ball was popped out to Damien Crosswell, who must have assumed he was just going to smash the ball up into the Cotham Park defence. However, Crosswell broke through the attempted tackles and suddenly found himself with a clear running track. The Kingswood Prop then put in an excellent turn of pace, reminiscent of a Mike Oakley run from years gone by, before executing a Stan Bailey dummy pass special. With only two tackles left, Crosswell attempted a pass out wide, but the ball was spilt and the potential try of the season went begging.

Spirits were raised by this attack though and Kingswood continued to search for their first ever bonus point. With just over an hour of the game gone, their long wait was finally over. An attempted clearance from Park was excellently caught by Carey on the Wing, who returned the ball with interest before offloading to Fly-Half, Dean Stephens, who instantly popped the ball out to Paul Allen. Allen tried to find a gap in the Park defence but was halted, but then amazingly pirouetted out of the tackle before running back for another go. Allen then popped the ball out to Tom Jones-Griffiths, who broke through a half hearted challenge before powering over the line and eventually under the posts to grab Kingswood a bonus point. Ben Phillips added another conversion and Kingswood were cruising at 31-0.

Sadly, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Kingswood. Cotham Park then put together an excellent attacking spell which continued to develop off the back of some Kingswood ill-discipline and quick-tap penalties. Park made it to deep within Kingswood’s 22 before being awarded another penalty. Park’s No. 9 took the quick tap and ran for the line. Alex Evans made a last gasp tackle, but Parks Scrum half had the momentum to drive over the line for the score. Park’s conversion was charged down by a very determined looking Dean Stephens and it was just enough to put the Cotham Park Fly-Half off and the kick dropped just short. 31-5.

From the restart, Cotham had the wind in their sails and began to attack once again. The ball was quickly spread through the hands and it appeared that they were going to grab another late try, that was until Full-Back James Willmott ran across and almost cut the Park Centre in two with an excellent cover tackle to produce the knock-on. The referee then ended the game and despite the slight wobble at the end, Kingswood finished comfortable winners to earn their first victory of the season, and with it, a well deserved bonus point.

A video of the match highlights is available to watch online. Again, its members only, so make sure you’ve registered.

Don’t forget, match reports also appear in Bristol Sunday Independent on a Sunday (Duh!) and the Bristol Evening Post on a Tuesday.

Final Score: Kingswood 31-5 Cotham Park.