Feltham Scores As Kingswood Battle Bravely

This was a fixture that neither side really wanted to play. 2 weeks after the official end of the season, hosts Longlevens were looking to rest players ahead of their Cup Final next Saturday and Kingswood were severely depleted as players soaked up the sun on tour in Hamburg. Nonetheless, both teams were told the fixture had to be played, so Kingswood rallied around and asked for as many people to put on their boots for the final showdown of the 2014/15 season.

18 players proudly stepped out onto the pitch in the Kingswood shirt, knowing that it was going to be a tricky encounter. A well drilled Longlevens side were pushed all the way upfront, but in the loose they were just too much to handle and once the turnovers came in open play, their Backs found all the room they needed to score at will.

There was one try for Kingswood though, when a quick thinking Ben Feltham tapped a penalty to power over the line for Kingswood’s only score of the game.

Despite the scoreline, the players returned to the clubhouse full of pride and satisfaction of good team performance.

So a somewhat strange season for Kingswood has come to an end. Despite continuing on from their 7 straight victories at the end of last season, a fantastic pre-season saw huge victories over Old Sulians and Old Reds and 1 point defeat to Southmead. However, it was a shock away defeat on the opening game of the season that really shook the confidence. Despite this, Kingswood battled back to just 1 defeat in the next 7 fixtures. The 4 weeks off due to the winter weather was when Kingswood’s season faltered, as they failed to get back into the swing of things, picking up a few defeats in a row, the effectively end their promotion push.

In stark contrast, the 2013/14 season was when Kingswood tasted the excitement of their first ever cup final, away to Longlevens. Kingswood fought hard and were undeserving losers on the day, but it was a huge step in the progress of the club.

Finally, a huge thank you to Redford Pennycook from everyone at Kingswood for all your hard work over the last few years as Head Coach. It’s an end of an era. We cannot wait to see you back in action, hopefully as you take on the might of Saracens and Harlequins in the Premiership next season! (Fingers crossed) You are always welcome at the club for a beer, pop in any time.

On to 2014/15. Chris Leech will take over as Head Coach on July 1st when we all return to the hallowed Big K turf for pre-season training, but don’t forget, you can meet Chris and ask him any questions at the upcoming Players Meeting on Tuesday 6th May.

Then there is the club redevelopment. If you haven’t seen the plans, they are up on the noticeboard in the clubhouse. Take a look, they really are something to get excited about!

A big thank you to everyone who has helped the club this season. Your hard work and support is valuable to our growing club.

See you all on 6th May.

Viva K