Kingswood Secure Gloucester 1 Status With Domineering Bonus Point Away Victory

5 weeks ago, Kingswood sat in the relegation zone of Gloucester 1, 6 points behind Bishopston and staring relegation square in the face. Fast forward to this weekend and victory over Chipping Sodbury would see Kingswood secure an incredible 5th league victory in a row, but more importantly, give them a huge shot of staying in the league and staving off what had seemed to be inevitable relegation from the league.

With Dan Hawkins failing an early morning fitness test, 2nd team Vice Captain, Stan Bailey, was called up as cover, presumably as they are both of equal size and weight. An incredibly strong Kingswood team took to a blustery, rain sodden field, watched on by Bristol's Bryan Rennie.

Playing into the wind and rain, Kingswood knew that keeping the ball in hand was going to be their key to success, so they started out playing simple, forwards rugby. In contrast, with a strong wind behind them, Chipping Sodbury failed to use the conditions wisely and opted to try clever backs moves in order to pin Kingswood back. However, the ball was just as slick as their moves and with a Kingswood defence flying up at every chance, the home team suffered numerous handling errors in the opening exchanges.

It only took Kingswood 9 minutes to get their first points of the game and it came from some beautiful forwards play. A well executed line-out from the away team led to a now trademark rolling maul that sliced through Sodbury like a hot knife through butter. The maul crashed over the line and it was Paul Ford who rose victorious with the ball. Chris Rhodes struggled to find the uprights due to the strong winds and was unable to add the extras. 0-5.

With Kingswood now not having conceded a try in over 160 minutes of rugby, Sodbury understandably found it difficult to open the Kingswood defence. With 24 minutes on the clock, the home team had prodded and probed, but in the end had to settle for 3 points from a lovely long range penalty kick. 3-5.

With Kingswood now back in control of the ball and holding some good field territory, they notched up a 2nd try with just half an hour of the game gone. Again, Kingswood stuck with keeping it tight in the Forwards due to the conditions and it was the always impressive strength from Ryan England who managed to smash his way over the line. Chris Rhodes added a simple conversion and Kingswood had the bit between their teeth.

Just before half time, the inevitable happened and both teams saw a player sent to the sin bin for an altercation, Paul Ford was the recipient for the away team. Chipping Sodbury had an opportunity to pull 3 more points back with the last kick of the half with another long range effort, but despite the assistance from the strong wind, the ball failed to make the posts and the referee brought an impressive 1st half for Kingswood to an end.

Half Time: Chipping Sodbury 3-12 Kingswood

With Kingswood now playing with the wind behind them, what followed was 40 minutes of dominating rugby. Chris Rhodes' trusty right foot kept Kingswood pinned in Sodbury's 22 and it was only a matter of time before more points came. With just over an hour gone, Kingswood were pressurising the Sodbury defence and forced a mistake from which they turned over the ball. Kingswood crashed the ball up into the defence and recycled the ball quickly and eventually Paul Ford managed to set up a try scoring chance for Josh Smith, who capped off a stunning Man of the Match performance with Kingswood's 3rd try (Video on the 'Overview' tab). 3-17

Kingswood then suffered another yellow card when Captain Nick Coe was sin-binned when he reacted to being taken out in the air at an attacking line-out.

Any attempted clearance's from Sodbury were being run back with interest from the likes of Joe Jones-Griffiths, Fatheur Rahman, Lewis Voisey and Jake Saunders, and it was clear the home team's heads were beginning to drop and the away team took the opportunity of grabbing a league securing bonus point.

With 72 minutes gone, Chipping Sodbury managed to disrupt an attack from Kingswood and the ball was grubber kicked into the hands and thighs of Ryan England. England, who had terrorised the Sodbury defence all afternoon with line break runs, snarled as he powered his way towards the defence. Amazingly, despite having England lined up a treat, the Sodbury Winger took a step to the left and tried to tackle England from the side, which did not work well at all. England powered through the limp arm and took the ball to within feet of the 5 point line. Quick recycling and fast ball from Scrum Half Andy Watts eventually led to the ball being in the hands of Paul Ford, who skipped through some soft challenges before slamming the ball over the line for his 2nd and Kingswood's 4th try of the game. 3-22.

A huge wave of relief flowed through the team and rain soaked sideline as Kingswood knew that the extra league point could make all the difference at the final whistle.

It was an easy run in for the final few moments of the game as Kingswood continued to dominate the game and the final whistle was greeted with huge cheers from the happy Kingswood followers.

Now 240 minutes since Kingswood last conceded a try, it's been an incredible last few weeks for the team, but with other results in the league going their way, it means that Kingswood's great escape has been completed. 5 victories in the last 5 weeks has only been matched by two other teams in the league, Gloucester Old Boys and undefeated Newent, so for a team fighting relegation, this is one hell of a result.

A big thank you to everyone who supported the guys in the horrible weather and a bigger thank you to the Kingswood players who put on one hell of a show despite the conditions.

It's a week off for the 1st XV now before the head up to Brockworth on the 27th for the final game of the season. Can they make it 6 in a row.....only time will tell.

Final Score: Chipping Sodbury 3-22 Kingswood.