Kingswood Move Clear Of Relegation Zone With Win Over Broad Plain.

Saturday 22nd January 2011. Kingswood 23-22 Ashley Down.

It might come as a shock ladies and gentleman, but this was the last time that Kingswood RFC won 3 games on the bounce, in all competitions! Actually, that 1 point victory over Ashley Down was Kingswood’s 4th victory in a row back in 2011, something that hasn’t been achieved since. So who would have thought then that with Kingswood languishing near the foot of Gloucester 1, this would be the season that Kingswood finally achieved that elusive feet once again.

After impressive victories over Old Colstonians and Bishopston, Kingswood knew they had a great chance of moving out of the bottom 2 if they could secure a victory over bottom side, Broad Plain. An incredibly strong starting 15 and bench took to the field on a chilly day in March.

The first scrum of the game went to Broad Plain, but the Kingswood pack sent them flying backwards in an early display of their forward domination. With barely 10 minutes on the clock, Kingswood grabbed their first try. A lineout deep in Broad Plains 22 was secured and a rolling maul powered its way towards the line. The away team defence was helpless as Dan Hawkins’ ample frame crashed over the line for a 5-0 lead.

With Kingswood desperate for a bonus point victory, they stuck with this tactic as their winning formula. Scrum, after scrum, after scrum took place in Broad Plain’s 22, but on numerous occasions, Mark Oakley was unable to get the ball down over the line from his No. 8 position. Screams of “Jug Avoidance” rang out from a disbelieving sideline as another scrum was setup. This time, Mark Oakley decided to feed the ball to Steve Ridgway, who in turn sent a looping pass out to an unmarked Lewis Voisey on the wing. Voisey had the simple task of dabbing the ball down over the line for Kingswood’s 2nd try.

With half time approaching, Broad Plain made a hard task even harder when they were reduced to 14 men after an infringement at a ruck. Sensing victory was already on the cards, Kingswood opted for territory rather than points.

Much like the 1st try, a lineout was secured and a rolling maul formed. This one took a few seconds longer to get moving, but once everyone was in place, the effects were devastating. Paul Ford was the lucky recipient of the ball as the maul crashed over the line to secure a 3rd try for Kingswood.

Kingswood finished the half on top and Broad Plain were yet to venture over the half way line. A worrying omen for the approaching 2nd half.

Into the 2nd half and the domination continued right from the outset. Although hardly called upon in the 1st half, when the Kingswood’s backs were asked to do something, they did it with awesome style. Kingswood’s 4th try came from a set piece move that started from the back of a scrum on the halfway line. Scrum Half Steve Ridgway fed the ball to Chris Rhodes at Fly Half who sent Fatheur Rahman racing downfield. A simple little pass to Paul Allen saw him find a gap in the Broad Plain defence which he exploited in his trademark way. Allen teased the defence and found space before popping a simple ball back in field to Mark Oakley, who himself would have struggled to squander this opportunity. Oakley tapped the ball down over the line and this meant Kingswood had secured their much needed bonus point victory.

With Oakley now having a deserved rest on the sideline, Nick Coe slotted in at No. 8, and he instantly showed the correct way to score from the back of a scrum. A powerful scrum 5 metres out, dead centre, was easing its way to the try-line, but not wanting to wait, Coe picked the ball up and ran at the line, crashing over it with a defender in tow.

With the away team now struggling to keep up, the tries started to come thick and fast. Dan Hawkins was next on the score sheet when a lovely flowing move from Kingswood, combining forwards and backs, took them deep into Broad Plain territory. Hawkins waited patiently to receive the ball before using brute strength to crash through the defence for Kingswood’s 6th and his 2nd try (This isn’t on the video yet due an oversight on my part, but should be online soon)

After both sides received yellow cards (Steve Ridgway on the receiving end for Kingswood) it was time for the 7th and final try of the game, and Kingswood certainly saved the best ‘till last. Kingswood took the ball to the away team and had them running backwards, not giving them any time for their defence to realign. Damien Crosswell set Joe Jones-Griffiths away who quickly fed the ball to Fatheur Rahman. Rahman was tackled but managed to offload the ball to Lewis Voisey on the wing. Voisey appeared to have been tackled, but a lovely pirouette saw him break free and leg it downfield. Now in a one on one situation, Voisey passed the ball outside him to Paul Ford, who sprinted clear before diving over the line for his 2nd try of the game.

In credit to Broad Plain, they never gave up, and with a series of penalties near the end of the game, they put Kingswood under a lot of pressure and it did seem that a try was inevitable. However, Kingswood’s defence remained solid and they saw out the game with a clean sheet for the 2nd time over Broad Plain this season.

Lest we forget that Chris Rhodes played his part in this victory, banging over 4 conversions.

So a solid win for Kingswood, and one that saw them move clear of the relegation zone for the first time in months, but it certainly wasn’t an archetypal performance by any means. With clinical execution of chances, this win could well have been into the 60+ region, but the writer realises that for a team that is still gelling with one another, a bonus point victory was more than we could have hoped for at this critical stage of the season. We have a friendly fixture this Saturday away at Cleve 2’s and we need everyone to be available in order to have more match time together and secure another win going into an important game with Brockworth. This will be a tough fixture but its one we shall learn a lot from.

A forum conversation is available detailing our, and others, relegation fixture run-in. Take a look and lets us know your thoughts:

Final Score: Kingswood 43-0 Broad Plain