X-Men too strong for Esher Academy

A very good result against a very strong and determined Esher Academy side, I'm not going to single any players out for praise this week as the entire 20 man squad were superb

Electing to kick off up the slope, Combe for once started in the manner expected and actually competed from the 1st whistle, in fact the play was predominantly in the Esher half interspersed with sporadic breaks by the opposition forwards towards the Combe line. Surprisingly and certainly against the run of play, Esher opened the scoring on 13 minutes with a well worked converted try which was followed by a couple of penalties for Combe and another for Esher taking the score to 6-10 in the visitors favour.
6 points were scant rewards for the endeavors of the 1st half but with only a 4 point deficit going into the 2nd period, we were still very much in the game.

The second half saw Combe up the ante and despite an early try by Esher as a result of an intercepted pass on their own 5 metre line, the Combe lads stuck to the game plan, combinations were working well and every player was doing his job with the majority winning their individual battles, the half time replacements fitted in well and there was a cohesion from 1 to 15 that has rarely been seen this season. Combe ultimately dominated throughout the second half and left our opponent feeding off scraps and half chances resulting from any rare Combe mistakes.

4 tries, 3 of which were converted saw Combe move into an unassailable 32-15 lead as the game came to an end and a very well deserved victory for the X-Men, the most pleasing aspect from the coaches perspective was the overall team performance and a game plan that was followed.

Special mention for the referee who allowed the game to flow and provided consistency throughout this encounter.

London Scottish away next weekend were we will be looking to avenge the result at Goddington Dene earlier in the season but most importantly, we will be looking to continue with our improvement. The bar has now been raised!!

Scorers
Try's
Chatley
Simpson
Crosby
Purdy

Conversions
Simpson (2)
Moore

Penalties
Loyden (2)