ANOTHER AWAY WIN FOR WESTCOMBE PARK

Following Combe, especially away, can be an occupation encompassing the range of human emotion. Bitter and depressing (O.E.'s and Basingstoke) stressful, happy and satisfying (Bury St. E. and now CS Rugby) so Saturday was rich reward for the many travelling supporters which was not unnoticed by the players!

Aided by a strongish wind Combe were soon deep in CS Rugby's territory and were rewarded with a penalty after just four minutes. Ben Hough took the chance well.

More was to follow. A period of forward pressure gave Tim Kavanagh a try at the base of a ruck/maul and Combe were soon into an 8-point lead after ten minutes.

CS Rugby closed the gap almost immediately with a Scott Hadden penalty from the restart but most of the remainder of the half saw Combe exerting a lot of pressure but were frustrated by a series of errors and getting caught offside which only briefly relieved a hard pressed defence.

One of those periods of relief resulted in another CS Rugby penalty, before the end of the half, that Scott Hadden again took well.
Given the nature of the conditions a two point lead at the interval looked too small to maintain and would have been frustrating to Combe given their dominance.

So it was no real surprise but disappointing for the Combe camp when centre Stuart Peel rounded off good work by his forwards and speed from the backs for a try after just four minutes. Scott Hadden added the points and CS Rugby led 13—8.

There followed the best part of thirty minutes of almost consistent attack from CS Rugby in which Combe barely got out of their half and it speaks volumes for the discipline and defensive skills of the players that to a man they tackled their socks off.

It may be invidious to name anyone in such an all-round display but some had occasional moments worthy of note. Reece Conlon, maturing fast, Chris Lewis, returning having made way, and taking up like he hadn't been off, Hamish Barton as ever, Ben Hough before injury, Trent Nattrass inventive as usual, Bryan Young as powerful as he is fast, Graham Purdy and Dave Watkins.

With ten minutes left on the clock (it seemed ten times longer) Dylan Flashman plucked the ball from the air on his 22 and set off with no-one in front of him, despite a comfortable start three of the home sides backs were soon in pursuit and one closing fast but so was Omar Dixon and when the pass was shipped to him there are few in this League that can outrun him. This was Dylan Flashman's try but I don't recall a game when Omar Dixon has played when he hasn't scored! Iain Gordan converted the easy chance to put Combe in front by two points.

Despite Combe being all over CS Rugby for the last ten minutes plus injury it was still inevitably a tense affair for all concerned. The wind, as usual, dropped with the onset of dusk and Iain Gordan made life a lot easier with a penalty that would have been ambitious indeed in the first half. He repeated the exercise after 40 minutes to put Combe a score and more away from the home side. Both, on reflection, were so calmly taken it shows the mind set of this rejuvenated squad, and sealed a fine performance from all the players.

Squad: Tim Kavanagh, Reece Conlon, Matt Poole; Tom Clarke, Dylan Flashman; Chris Lewis, Hamish Barton, Tibo Calohard; Ben Fourie, Johnny O'Hehir; Omar Dixon, Ben Hough, Trent Nattrass, Bryan Young; Alex Smith. Graham Purdy, Dave Watkins, Iain Gordan.

Match Reporter: Mike Attewell.