Excellent Forward Play In Gales Earns Kings The Points

Kingswood took the long journey north this week to face bottom of the league Smiths Industries. The weather was absolutely shocking with near gale force winds and heavy persistent rain. Kingswood were without Mike Oakley, Brad Whiston and Ian Kirley but still fielded a strong team. Lewis Voisey was also called up for his first team debut.

With Kingswood playing with the wind in the first half, they started the stronger of the two teams and within minutes they were controlling possession within Smiths 22. Kingswood's penalty count in the last few phases was restricting them from scoring some early points but fortunately for Kingswood, Smiths were unable to clear the ball due to the wind which allowed Kingswood to hold on to the territory.

Kingswood then appeared to have grabbed their first try as Mark Oakley dived for the line following a rolling maul. Despite clear grounding, the referee said the ball was held up and a scrum was awarded 5 metres out, more bizarrely though, the put-in was awarded to Smiths.

Kingswood continued to dominate proceedings though and finally on the half hour mark they made their breakthrough. A Kingswood scrum 8 metres out led to Mark McGarrigle picking the ball up and taking it into the Smiths defence. A rolling maul was formed and it eased towards the line and it was 2nd time lucky for Mark Oakley as he stretched downwards with the ball to give Kingswood their first points. The wind made the conversion attempt difficult and Ben Phillips could not add the extra two points. 0-5.

Kingswood then suffered two injuries in key positions as first Derek James at outside centre hobbled off with a knee injury and shortly after, Captain Paul Allen at inside centre also came off with a leg injury. Forwards Neil Ward and James Thorne came on as replacements and Kingswood had to move Hooker and try scorer, Mark Oakley, into the centre along with Flanker Gareth Pond.

The injury to Paul Allen stopped the game for a few minutes and before the game restarted, Smiths No. 21 was sin binned. Kingswood were awarded a penalty for the incident and Ben Phillips slotted home the kick to increase Kingswood's lead to 0-8.

With the injuries and constant stops in play, the game was creeping in to the 10th minute of injury time. A Smiths scrum 5 metres from their try-line was played back to their Fly Half to be cleared. Knowing that kicking into the wind wasn't an option, he elected to try and run the ball clear, however Alex Green and Damien Crosswell were on hand to put in excellent tackles that resulted in Kingswood being awarded a scrum 5 metres out.

From the resulting scrum, Mark McGarrigle secured the ball in his No. 8 position and ran the ball blind before drawing in the winger and passing the ball out wide to Adam Morris who dived over the line in the corner to score with the last move of the first half. Ben Phillips couldn't make the tricky conversion but Kingswood now led 0-13.

Half Time: Smiths (Ind) 0-13 Kingswood

With the wind very much against them in the 2nd half, Kingswood's game tactics changed as they knew that any lost possession would result in a kick downfield from Smiths, placing them under a lot of pressure, so it was decided that a 10 man game of rugby was the best option. It was one thing having a plan, but the way it was implemented by Kingswood showed their professional attitude towards the game. Kingswood controlled the opening 10 minutes but progress was slow due to the conditions. Scrum Half Ben Phillips was extremely regimental in his control of the breakdowns and at each ruck selected the next forward to crash into the Smiths defence. Neil Ward stunned the sideline on a couple of occasions as he used his hand off and power to great effect and gain Kingswood much needed ground.

It wasn't about points scoring in the 2nd half for Kingswood but merely about ball retention, so as not to allow Smiths the chance of a quick counter attack. On the odd occasion that Smiths did manage to get the ball in hand, the kicks downfield were carried by the wind and across the dead ball line, allowing Kingswood to retain possession from the resulting scrums.

It wasn't until the 70th minute that the game saw more points. With Kingswood retaining the ball well, Smiths frustration grew and this resulted in No. 8 receiving a yellow card and 10 minutes off the pitch. The resulting kick in front the posts only highlighted how strong the wind was as the ball sailed towards the posts from the boot of Ben Phillips before being taken straight into the air and back towards Phillips. Luckily the ball fell the right side of the bar and Kingswood had extended their lead to 0-16.

It was an impressive display by Kingswood that despite the wind, they were managing to play the majority of the 2nd half in the Smiths half of the pitch. The forwards continued their assault on the Smiths defence, drawing in more defenders each time and on 77 minutes and after several crash balls, Mark Oakley received the ball in the backs and cut a beautiful line through the Smiths defence which took him deep into the 22 and left him with a one on one. Oakley broke right before sending the ball back in field to Steve Trevelyan who at full pace was never going to be stopped and he placed the ball under the posts for Kingswood's 3rd try of the game to cap off an excellent Kingswood performance. Ben Phillips added the extra two points from in front the posts and give Kingswood a 0-23 lead.

Kingswood then made another change as Anthony Davies came on for Alex Green.

Kingswood continued to control the remainder of the game and eventually the referee blew his whistle to secure an excellent victory for Kingswood. They now look forward to a home fixture against BAC next weekend.

Full Time: Smiths (Ind) 0-23 Kingswood