Kingswood fall at final hurdle in search of unbeaten league season.

What’s the one fixture you don’t want for your final league game of the season when you desperately want a win? Yep, an away trip to Old Elizabethans.

This has always proven to be Kingswood’s banana skin fixture in previous meetings, in fact, back in September, Kingswood just scrapped past Old E’s at home with a 19-18 victory.

It’s fair to say that the unbeaten league season challenge had clearly got in the way of Kingswood remembering what progress they had made this year. Were we going up? Yes, we were. Were we going up as Champions? Yes, we were. Yet, the pressure of trying to do it undefeated meant that rather than trying to enjoy their final league game of the season, there was an air of tension and nerves to the pre-match build up.

The game kicked off on time on a gloriously hot and sunny day and within two minutes, Kingswood already had their first chance of points when they were awarded a penalty just outside the Old E’s 22. Ben Phillips conversion attempt however missed its target by a matter of inches.

Once they finally got there hands on the ball, the young, studenty looking Backs of Old E’s (some of whom didn’t know each others names by all accounts) proved quick and dangerous, displaying some quick hands and good offloads to keep the ball alive in the tackle area and applying real pressure to the Kingswood defence.

With 12 minutes on the clock, Kingswood found themselves in their own 22 but with the put-in at the scrum. However, Kingswood were twice warned about failed engages and eventually the referee had enough and awarded Old E’s a free kick which was quickly tapped and No. 8 dived over the line for the score. The conversion was missed. 5-0.

This early score added to the pressure as Kingswood struggled to get a foot hold in the game. Then was then a major setback for Kingswood when Vince Murrell was punished for an off the ball incident and was sent to the sin-bin. Old E’s were awarded the penalty and No. 10 slotted home to give them a healthy 8-0 lead.

Kingswood finally got some points on the board just 4 minutes later, when Ben Phillips slotted home a penalty to make the scores 8-3.

Despite the score, Kingswood were still not showing the form that had seen them cruise to the league title. Numerous attacks from the Kingswood’s Backs were being stifled, due in part to constant offside infringements by Old E’s that were not being punished by the referee.

With 2 minutes of injury time on the clock, Kingswood pulled another 3 points back from the boot of Ben Phillips to bring the scores to 8-6.

5 minutes of injury time gone and Old E’s were given the opportunity to increase their lead once again after another penalty was awarded. Thankfully the kick was missed and the referee sounded the half time whistle as Kingswood trailed going into the break.

Half Time: Old Elizabethans 8-6 Kingswood

Kingswood made one change at half time with Club Captain Neil Ward coming off and Damien Crosswell coming on.

The 2nd half restarted with Ben Phillips floating a lovely cross field kick into the arms of an Old E’s player. Dave Tomlin was the first Kingswood player on the scene and he dragged the ball carrier to the ground and with less than 15 seconds gone, Kingswood were awarded a penalty for Old E’s holding on. The conversion attempt from Ben Phillips looked for all the world that it was going over, but the ball struck the cross bar and bounced back into play. Kingswood nearly capitalised on the situation as the ball bounced towards an advancing Dean Stephens, but the arch of the ball just took it over his head and Old E’s managed to gather the ball and clear the danger.

Kingswood desperately needed a break in this game, on almost every lineout they were penalised for not being straight and on 3 consecutive attacks they had passes given as forward despite the referee being an age away from play.

With 50 minutes of the game gone, there was then a disastrous moment for Kingswood when Old E’s put together a flowing Backs move in which Kingswood were guilty of missing their tackles and No. 12 managed to get the ball down over the line. No. 10 also added the conversion which meant Kingswood had an uphill battle to get back in the game, especially as things were now going against them in the decisions department. 15-6

Kingswood then made their 2nd change with Nick Coe coming on for Steve Trevelyan.

With the hour mark rapidly approaching, Kingswood were dealt yet another cruel blow as scrum half Ben Phillips was forced to leave the game with an elbow injury. Matthew Perriman came on and took Mark Oakley’s position on the Flank. Dave Vince was moved from Hooker to No. 9 and Mark Oakley moved from Flanker to Hooker.

The game was still being plagued by strange decisions and now, long injuries were creeping into the game. Maybe it was the nerves and pressure previously clouding their judgement, but Kingswood finally got a stranglehold on the game when they changed their style of play, opting instead for picking and driving their way up the field, rather than trying to run it and risk being penalised with another forward pass.

With an incredible 86 minutes on the clock, Kingswood started out from within their 22, picking and driving their way up the field, until they finally made it into Old E’s territory. Two quick penalties allowed Kingswood to secure a lineout 5 metres out and from this, a rolling maul powered its way over the line, for which Vince Murrell grabbed the try to give Kingswood a glimmer of hope. With Ben Phillips off the pitch, Ian Kirley took over the kicking duties but agonisingly put the kick wide, meaning Kingswood would require a try if they were to snatch victory in what was already proving to be a long 2nd half. 15-11.

With nearly 90 minutes on the clock, Kingswood were now flying as Old E’s struggled to contain a rampant Kingswood pack. Within minutes of the restart, Kingswood had fought to within touching distance of the Old E’s 22, where they were finally awarded a penalty, a lineout was secured 7 metres out and there was real belief that Kingswood could grab a dramatic winner. Kingswood pushed forward towards the line before being awarded a 2nd penalty. With the line in touching distance, the ball was quickly tapped and ran forward. Old E’s were not back the required 10 metres and Kingswood were awarded yet another penalty. Surely a penalty try was coming soon! The referee said there was enough time for the lineout, so Kingswood opted to take that option. The ball was secured but the maul was pulled down, yet another penalty for Kingswood, a quick tap and again another penalty for Kingswood, but incredibly, still no penalty try and no yellow card! With all the penalty infringements, Old E’s were able to defend their line, but with the Forwards sucked in, the ball was spun out to the Backs with a final Kingswood attack on the cards. The ball made its way out to Ian Kirley at Outside Centre who received a nice forearm tackle across the face as he charged towards the line. Kirley tried an offload to Joe Jones-Griffiths on the wing, who would have just needed to fall over the line for the score, but the ball fell forward and soul destroyingly, the referee instantly ended the game, much to the obvious delight of the Old E’s players and fans.

A terrible match from a Kingswood point of view, but credit must go to Old E’s, who stuck relentlessly to their game plan and fought tooth and nail for the victory.

So, a disappointing end to the season for Kingswood, which sounds incredible when you consider we are up into Gloucester 1 for the first time in our history after finishing as league champions, but there was obvious deflation at the final whistle as the undefeated dream was snatched from our hands. Despite the defeat however, it does mean that Kingswood racked up an impressive average score line of 32-7 this season.

For now, the players look forward to a well deserved break before the punishing training starts in preparation for next season, in what will be a hard, but exciting new era at the Big K as they finally leave the shackles of Gloucester 2 behind after 4 years of trying. We sadly say farewell, for now, to the old rivalries of BAC and Tetbury, but look forward to rekindling friendships with the likes of Cheltenham Civil Service and Ashley Down. There will of course be the relatively unknown territory of Spartans (Gloucester) and Hucclecote to look forward to, but there will also be the reassuring familiarity of our promotion partners, Cotham Park.

I would like to take this opportunity to say well done and thanks to Neil Ward, who as we all know is stepping down as Club Captain to allow himself more time with his new family. Well done for all your hard work this year.

Then of course there is our Head Coach, Mike Jones, who in his 1st season in charge has been instrumental in the club achieving a league title and the subsequent promotion. All this from a guy who is just 23 years of age, that’s half a Stan (nearly)! Thanks for all you’ve done for the club.

Mr Pennycook as well, thanks for all your help at training, I will endeavour to try and get at least one new Backs move named after you! And here’s hoping we see you gracing the top tier of English Rugby next season with Bristol.

So, for this season, I bid thee a fond farewell and look forward to keeping you informed of the clubs progress in Gloucester 1. One last thing, I realised the other week that Kingswood is an anagram of “Good Wins K”, how very apt!

Until next season...