Yet again Combe came close against good opposition, and yet again they made progress, but it is all so slow. Thoroughly entertaining, eight tries and only a penalty and a conversion separating the sides, with mostly good, sound rugby filling an afternoon when Combe again came second.
Combe’s progress, and make no mistake, they do progress each week, sees them often running out of time and I’m afraid that may be the story of the season, too!
On Saturday, against an Old Albanian side who lie fourth in National League Two (S) and, by and large, look big, fit and fast were matched by Combe most of the way in all departments and in some were the better. The pack, for instance, pushed the O.A.’s all over the park most of the afternoon.
It’s the minutiae that make the difference in rugby and although on the face of it Combe were in the mix for the first fifteen minutes the scoreboard looked a bit lopsided with the O.A.’s leading 14 points to nil.
Combe had been pushing near the line, but it was the Old Albanian’s tight-head, James Ellershaw that crossed, Combe had had some good passing moves and some good running but it was right-wing, Chris May, who made it to the line. Two competent kicks from Ben Patston and Old Albanian’s had a healthy lead that they were never to relinquish.
Ten or eleven minutes later, having seen some pretty exciting end-to-end stuff, Kieron Leeper was on the end of a very slick, and complicated, Westcombe Park move that got them right back in touch, after Luke Giles had converted impressively, despite being down to fourteen.
The next fifteen minutes or so saw some pretty adventurous rugby from Combe but O.A.’s were very solid in defence, when it mattered, and the break came with the score at 7—14.
Seasoned watchers spent the interval wondering if Combe would make their customary sluggish start to the second-half so it came as some surprise when Combe dominated possession for the first six minutes.
Once given a chance, Old Albanians wasted little time in extending their lead. This time through another front-row forward, Wesley Cope, this time converted by full-back Richard Gregg after Ben Patston had gone off injured halfway through the first half.
Ten minutes elapsed and, on the hour, Combe had exerted so much pressure that the referee wasted little time in awarding a penalty try.
Old Albanian’s were now so mindful of the weakness in their pack that they called on the reliable boot of Richard Gregg to restore their lead to ten points 14—24. Three minutes later Ben McKinnell was at the back of the wedge that drove to the line on the left but, without the conversion, the gap remained five points.
Danger still lurked in the loose for Combe and Chris May had ghosted over for O.A.’s fourth try, again converted by Richard Gregg to give O.A.’s the biggest gap they had enjoyed since early in the first-half.
From their point of view the gap was very necessary as they were reduced in numbers twice in the later stages with two substitutes managing to last no more than eight minutes between them.
Nonetheless it was the last move of the match against a fast disintegrating pack that Combe were awarded their second penalty try and with it secured two more bonus points.
Combe’s Team: Tom Hockedy: Kieron Leeper, John Coleman, Niki Davies, Mike Adeniya; Luke Giles, Mike McDonough; Ben McKinnell, David Brooks, Jordan Mitchell, David Watkins, Jon Wright, Reid Bradford, Zane Winslade, Gavin Wallis. Replacements: Hamish Barton, Tim Kavanagh, James Catlin, Kieron Fitzgerald, Russell Tumath.
Match Reporter: Mike Attewell. .