After last weeks disappointing defeat to Old Richians, the blue-touch paper was lit and some serious conversations had within the club. The end result was winter training numbers of 35 on a cold, Tuesday night. A unified squad of players from throughout the club spent the evening in full contact mode and left absolutely buzzing about the weekend’s matches.

For the 1st XV, the challenge could not have been any greater. A visit from top of the table, currently undefeated, Longlevens. If Kingswood are to achieve their goal of an undefeated home season, then surely this would prove to be their biggest obstacle.

Thankfully, Kingswood were able to put out one of their strongest line-ups of the season.

Jordan Wood, Paul Ford, Matthew Stone, Dave Tomlin, Alex Green, Josh Smith, Roland Gabriel and Captain Nick Coe made up the starting pack. In the Backs, Andy Watts, Chris Rhodes, Dan Colton, Dean Stephens, Rob Ford, Jake Saunders and Joe Jones-Griffiths completed the set. On the bench were Ryan England, David Jones & Fatheur Rahman.

With nervous excitement filling the air, Kingswood made a cracking start to the game when they secured a lineout in Longlevens 22 with just 3 minutes on the clock. Dave Tomlin rose like a salmon to secure the ball. When the maul eventually set, it proceeded to tear through Longlevens’ lean pack like a hot knife through butter. Paul Ford crashed over the line and Kingswood had secured an early try. Chris Rhodes slotted the extras for a 7-0 lead.

Longlevens responded almost instantly with 3 points from the impressive boot of their Fly Half. 7-3.

It was then Kingswood’s turn to try from the boot, when on 14 minutes they were awarded a penalty in the away sides 22. Chris Rhodes calmly slotted the ball over and Kingswood had their 7 point lead back. 10-3.

However, the frantic start continued, when just 2 minutes later, Longlevens secured another 3 points from the boot and Kingswood’s lead was reduced back to 4 points. 10-6.

With Kingswood doing well to control the majority of proceedings, they then fell behind on 24 minutes to an unexpected interception. There was nothing the home-side could do as the ball was calmly jogged under the posts. The conversion was simple and, in the blink of an eye, Kingswood trailed 10-13.

Despite the setback, Kingswood continued to push forward in search of a response, and in the 3 minutes of 1st half injury, they done just that….twice.

With 42 minutes of the 1st half played, there was a repeat of the opening try as the huge Kingswood pack tore through the Longlevens defence with a rolling maul. This time, it was Ryan England who smashed over the line. The conversion added by Chris Rhodes 17-13.

Incredibly, from the restart, Kingswood managed to gain control of the ball and pressed forward again. With a bit of handbags going on in the middle of the park, play continued and Dan Colton exploited the gaps in the Longlevens defence to grab Kingswood an incredible 2nd try in as many minutes. Chris Rhodes missed the extras, but Kingswood held a brilliant 22-13 lead as the half time whilst blew.

Half Time: Kingswood 22 – 13 Longlevens

Kingswood started the 2nd half feeling confident and in control, but what followed was undoubtedly the strangest 40 minutes (well 52 minutes) of rugby you will see this season.

With the noticeable absence of any lumps in the Longlevens pack, Kingswood were able to snuff out any oppositions scrums by blasting them off the ball and turning over possession. This alone was helping the home-side stay on the front foot. That said, on 55 minutes, Longlevens reduced the deficit once again with a long range penalty kick. 22-16.

Suddenly, with 10 minutes of the game remaining, Kingswood made their day even better when Josh Smith managed to wriggle free after some great Kingswood play to grab an impressive bonus point try. Chris Rhodes had a simple conversion attempt and Kingswood led 29-16 with little under 10 minutes remaining.

Despite their lack of girth up front causing them issues, there was no denying that when Longlevens got the ball into the hands of their Backs, they could counter with devastating effect. With the full 80 minutes of the game now gone, a faced paced Backs move from the away side eventually led to the ball landing in the hands of their lightning winger, who made light work of running the ball up the wing and under the posts. Longlevens didn’t really celebrate the try, believing that the whistle would sound after the successful conversion. However, it didn’t. 29-23.

Now into 8 minutes of injury time, and with the scrums now conveniently being uncontested, Longlevens pushed forward in search of a dramatic winner. The lack of defensive driving at the scrums gave the opposition a worryingly good opportunity at running at the Kingswood defence, and this is exactly what they done. With the Kingswood defence defending their line, Longlevens managed to find an overlap out wide and the ball made it out to their winger, who ran towards the line unopposed, however, inexplicably, he attempted a superman dive, and knocked the ball forward in the process.

Kingswood were awarded a scrum on their own 5 metre line, and with the last play warning given by the referee, Kingswood assumed they had seen the last of the drama. But they were wrong. With the danger of a turnover eliminated by the uncontested scrums, the ball made its way through the 8 channel and into the hands of the experience Chris Rhodes at Fly Half. Rhodes must have been dreaming of the headlines as he ran the ball into touch. The referee blew the final whistle and Kingswood celebrated a famous victory. It was then pointed out to the referee that this was in fact illegal. Kingswood waited with baited breath for a decision. The referee ‘unblew’ his final whistle, a penalty was awarded to Longlevens, and Kingswood faced a scrum on their own 5, with no chance of driving the opposition off the ball.

It was the epitome of ‘squeaky bum time’ as Longlevens No. 8 picked up the ball and charged at the Kingswood line. The Kingswood defence was awesome though, and the ball was slowed up. Sensing there was no way through the determined home defence, the Longlevens Fly Half went for a dramatic cross-field kick. The ball appeared to be flying straight over the deadball line, so much so the home crowd gave a cheer, but then the flight path changed and the ball hung in the air before bouncing down in the try area. There was a dramatic pause as through the crowd of players, the sideline saw a Longlevens player dive towards the ball and get his hand to it. Some thought it had gone over the deadball line, some say it was knocked on and some say it was grounded, however, the man with the power said the ball had gone forward, and to the relief of everyone, the final whistle sounded for a 2nd and final time.

Kingswood had claimed a major scalp. Not only did they inflict the first league defeat of the season on the table-toppers, but they also secured their first try scoring bonus point of the season as well.

The relief was obvious (as was later shown by the bar takings). However, it was testament to the hard-work and determination shown at training in the week leading up to this game. If we can continue to get the same numbers, and there is no reason we shouldn’t, then results like this will become a regular thing.

This Saturday, Kingswood have a chance to secure a place in final of the Gloucester Junior Vase competition. Standing in their way are Chipping Sodbury. Kick off 3pm at Kingswood RFC. A packed sideline is essential to cheer the guys on.

See you there.

Final Score: Kingswood 29 – 23 Longlevens