Kingswood took the 40 minute journey north this weekend as they visited bottom of the league Cainscross. Cainscross should be congratulated though that despite their league position, they have fielded a side every single week, both away and at home and are unlucky to find themselves in the position they do, especially when you consider ‘other’ teams playing records in the league this season.

Kingswood travelled without Forward’s Vince Murrell and Alex Green but did welcome back Matthew Perriman to the pack. The Backs were the same as last weeks win over St. Brendan’s. Club Captain Neil Ward and Dave Tomlin started on the bench.

Kingswood were out early to warm up but it was fair to say that the pre-match hands were less than impressive. Nonetheless, playing down the slope in the first half, Kingswood were looking to try and have the game out of reach by half time and they made a great start when with just 4 minutes on the clock, Ben Phillips slotted home and easy penalty kick to make the score 0-3.

2 minutes later and Kingswood had secured the restart and almost instantly the ball fell into the hands of Paul Allen in the centre who combined his trademark sidestep with a dummy pass and was clear through the Cainscross defence from within his own half. Much sprinting and weaving later and Allen dived over the line for the score. A great kick from Ben Phillips saw the ball sail through the uprights and with 6 minutes gone, Kingswood were already 0-10 up.

13 minutes had now passed and once again Kingswood found themselves pressuring the Cainscross defence who were struggling to contain the onslaught. So much so that Kingswood were awarded another penalty and deciding to keep the score board ticking over, Ben Phillips slotted home another kick and Kingswood had a point a minute average. 0-13.

17 minutes and there was no end in sight for the barrage of Kingswood attacks. A lineout to Cainscross just inside the Kingswood half was stolen in the air and a maul formed. There then followed a passage of simple hands in the Backs and this time Full-Back Ian Kirley dived over the line. Ben Phillips added the extras and Kingswood were now 0-20 in front.

As I was making notes on Kirley’s try, I looked up to see that from the restart, the ball had landed with Anthony Davies on the wing and I looked on in amazement as he ran with the ball through a deluge of attempted tackles, over the half way line, sidestepped the Full-Back and ran clear for his 1st of the game. Ben Phillips again added the 2 points and Kingswood were 0-27 up with only 20 minutes of the game gone.

Kingswood were then caught off-guard as they were suddenly pinned in their 22. Some sloppy and unnecessary penalties were given away and the Cainscross Forwards visibly grew with confidence as they continued to pick and drive at Kingswood’s defence. Despite this surprise attack, Kingswood’s defence was solid and finally they turned over possession and cleared their lines.

With half an hour of the game gone, Kingswood were forced into an early substitution as Robert Lamb came off with a bad back and was replaced by Neil Ward.

With 4 minutes, plus injury time, remaining of the first half, Kingswood showed their awesome counter attacking prowess once again as they turned over possession on the halfway line and with just simple ball through the hands, Gareth Pond was sent clear to grab another try for Kingswood. Ben Phillips’ fine kicking form continued as he sent over another excellent kick to make the scores 0-34.

Into injury time and incredibly there was time for one more try and it proved to be the best of the half. A Kingswood lineout just in the Cainscross half was plucked from the air by Matthew Perriman who sent it from the top straight into Ben Phillips’ hands. Phillips spun the ball out to Dean Stephens at 10 and the Backs were underway. A lovely flowing move brought Full-Back Ian Kirley into the line and by now Kingswood were entering the Cainscross 22 at speed. Ian Kirley was halted but right on his shoulder in support with Paul Allen and a simple offload in the tackle by Kirley sent Allen away in space and he dived over the line to claim his 2nd and Kingswood’s 5th. Ben Phillips was unable to add the extras from the touchline, but Kingswood finished the half well on top. 0-39.

Half Time: Cainscross 0 – 39 Kingswood

Kingswood now faced the trickier half of playing up the Cainscross slope and with the opposition’s No. 10 showing he had some distance with the boot, Kingswood were ready for a lot of running. The 2nd half started with Cainscross kicking to Kingswood. The ball was secured and taken in by Kingswood, some quick hands led to Ian Kirley being put clear on the wing and then some quick rucking allowed the ball to be spun through Paul Allen, Mark Oakley, Nicky Coe and finally James Willmott who bagged Kingswood their 6th try with less than 1 minute of the 2nd half on the clock. A brilliant conversion from out-wide by Ben Phillips meant Kingswood were now 0-46 to the good.

As expected though, Cainscross tried to keep Kingswood in their half by pinging the ball deep into corners. With 46 minutes of the game gone, Cainscross found themselves on the Kingswood 5 metre line with the put-in at the scrum. Kingswood were unable to drive Cainscross back up the slope and they were eased over the line before No. 9 got down on the ball to grab Cainscross’ first points of the game. 5-46.

Incredibly, a further 10 minutes then passed without any more points being scored, but this drought didn’t last too long as the Kingswood Forwards kept things tight and a series of pick and drives sucked in the Cainscross pack as the play went out to the right before the ball was spun out to the Backs, and with the whole pitch to run across, James Willmott dived over in the corner to grab his 2nd and Kingswood’s 7th. Ben Phillips was unable to make the conversion, however the score was now 5-51.

4 minutes later and Kingswood were awarded a penalty outside the Cainscross 22, but dead centre. The lure of the 3 points was too great so Ben Phillips slotted over the kick to increase Kingswood’s lead to 5-54.

3 minutes later Kingswood put together a devastating display of quick rugby that would have tore holes in teams even in the league above. An incredible display of quick ball at the breakdown meant even I was struggling to keep track of what was going on. The ball ebbed and flowed between the Kingswood Forwards and Backs before finally the ball fell to Paul Allen whose sidestep was the straw that broke the camels back and with the Cainscross defence all over the place, Allen ran over in the corner for his and Kingswood’s 1st hat-trick of the game. Ben Phillips missed the touchline conversion but Kingswood crept up to 5-59.

10 minutes of normal time remaining and once again Kingswood were pressing forward. Another good run from Ian Kirley and quickly recycled ball saw Gareth Pond start a flowing Backs move across field to the left, another quick ruck and the ball was then spun all the way back across to the right where the move originally started and Anthony Davies powered over in the corner for his 2nd of the game. The conversion was missed but Kingswood now led 5-64.

Then for the try of the match. The restart from Cainscross was sent deep downfield, finally bouncing into the arms of James Willmott less than 5 metres from Kingswood’s try-line. A quick flick of the hips and a burst of speed and Willmott soon found himself through some attempted tackles and clear of Kingswood’s 22. Willmott then popped the ball infield to Steve Trevelyan who instantly popped the ball out to release Paul Allen in the centre. Allen sent out a pass to the wing that bounced into the arms of Anthony Davies who, despite having ran half the pitch 30 seconds earlier, had the strength and stamina to run past 3 more attempted tackles and over the Cainscross line for his hat-trick and Kingswood’s 10th try. 5-69.

Somewhere in the midst of the 2nd half, James Willmott, um, also grabbed a 3rd try for his hat-trick and Kingswood’s 11th try, honestly, he did. 5 -74.

Amazingly, Kingswood had the chance to make it at least 79 points when Paul Allen burst clear and was left with a 5 on 2 situation. Allen made it 5 on 1 with a quick sidestep but when he passed infield to Dave Vince, the ball was knocked on and a glorious chance went begging.

Deep in to injury time and Cainscross were awarded a penalty which they decided to kick at goal, No. 9’s kick drifted wide though and the referee blew the final whistle to end what was a brilliant game for Kingswood. 11 tries and all to the Backs, but that does not mean that the Forwards didn’t play their part in the action. Nick Coe, Steve Trevelyan and Mark Oakley all got involved in some fine try scoring Backs moves and the pack as a whole worked hard to create the space and platform for the Backs to attack from.

Thank God that’s done, I’m off for a lie down.

Until next week………

MOM: Paul Allen & Ben Phillips
AOM: Ben Feltham