Injury & Error Strewn Kingswood Scrape Draw With Basement Bishopston

With their minds on next weeks historic cup final against Longlevens, Kingswood’s injury hit side put on a below par performance to come away from bottom side Bishopston with a disappointing 16-16 draw.

Despite Mark Oakley, Alex Green, Josh Smith, Roland Gabriel, Jake Saunders, Dan Colton, Conor Lambert & Dave Jones all being unavailable, Kingswood still held enough firepower to get them the win, but a high penalty count and countless handling errors meant they struggled to get any real attacking opportunities.

The 2 sides exchanged penalties before Kingswood fell behind to a wonderful dummy switch move from Bishopston. Soon after, the home side slotted over another penalty and Kingswood trailed 10-3 with half time rapidly approaching.

Kingswood then lost Hooker Paul Ford to an injury, but were able to bring on Ryan England in his place. England made an instant impact to proceedings when he powered over the line to bring Kingswood within 2 points. 10-8.

After half time, Bishopston increased their lead further with another penalty kick. Thankfully though, Kingswood were able to make good ground with some strong forward running, before the ball was spread to Winger Rob Ford, who ran in over in the far corner to draw Kingswood level. 13-13.

The final 10 minutes of the game were a tense affair, and this was made worse for the away fans when Bishopston put over another penalty kick to take a slender 16-13 lead.

Kingswood rallied back, and with the final seconds of the game ticking away, they were awarded a penalty right in front the posts. Chris Rhodes made the kick and the referee sounded the final whistle to bring the game to an end.

This game wasn’t the best preparation for a cup final, but both finalists go into the game on the back of disappointing results. Kingswood have a 57 seater coach taking players and supporters up to the game. If you wish to book a seat then please get in contact with Captain Coe.

Final Score: Bishopston 16-16 Kingswood