Injuries Finally Take Their Toll On Travelling Kingswood

Nice and simple this week, not only because we didn’t score any points, but because, despite the score line, this encounter offered very little to entertain the crowd at Longlevens.

A record level of absenteeism for Kingswood saw them travel to Gloucester with no less than 6 missing Backs and 2 Forwards. With the Backs in disarray, it meant that Ashley Honeywell was forced to play on the Wing and for their first time ever of watching rugby, I saw a Hooker playing in the Centre, as Mark Oakley stepped in to fill the void. Oh, and to top it off, we were away to top of the league Longlevens!

To sum things up nice and simply, Kingswood were more than competitive in the Forwards, even stealing a couple of scrums on occasions. Kingswood’s troubles though, came from quick hands rugby. As soon as Longlevens got in behind Kingswood, the unfamiliarity of the defence led to the conceding of points.

Kingswood trailed 8-0 at half time but their troubles really started in the 2nd half. With Dave Vince taking a knock, it meant Mark Oakley had to return to Hooker and Steve Trevelyan moved from No. 8 to No. 13. Having Forwards playing in the Backs obviously limited Kingswood’s moves and they struggled to make any ground.

After Kingswood had made all their substitutions, they were then forced to see out the final 10 minutes with 13 men, as Dean Stephens and Alastair Lewis left the field with injuries. Longlevens capitalised on this, running in a few late points. Final score 23-0.

So, a day to forget for Kingswood. Unsurprisingly, the Longlevens Full-Back was heard to comment during the game that he couldn’t believe we were 6th, due to how we played. This is hardly surprising given the circumstances and I’m sure for the return fixture, they will get to see the real Kingswood in action.

A DVD is available, but I’m not pre-empting a lot of sales of this one!

Onward and upward guys!