Combe beat Beckenham in local derby

Westcombe Park v Beckenham
5 January 2013 – Match Report

Saturday 5 January bought us the first game of the new calendar year and the return bout between local rivals Beckenham 2’s. Beckenham were obviously keen to come out the blocks having been defeated 17-19 at their place earlier in the season.

A good warm up lead the team out on the pitch in good spirits and confident, however Westcombe Park were soon bought back to reality in the opening minutes when a Beckenham try was disallowed due to a forward pass. It seems to be a regular occurrence it taking 15 minutes for Combe to realise we are playing a game of rugby.

The deadlock was broken with a superb finish from Ross McEwan who got in, in the corner. Ryan Hackett using no unnecessary effort scraping the cross bar with his successful conversion attempt. Ryan added a penalty to his points tally for the day a few minutes later and Combe were getting into the swing of things.

A good half if rugby saw Combe go into the break 10-0 up but would it be enough having enjoyed the benefits of the slope of the park pitch.

The second half saw some super rugby being played up the hill and Combe started to dominate the match. A try in the corner from Tom Barnes started it off in fine style with a move that had seen the ball go through many pairs of hands, quick recycling and superb support play. Ryan missed the conversion, Combe lead 15-0

The supporters were not left waiting long before a fine try from Matt Swann who was trying his luck in the 10 shirt. Dave Stevens had been disrupting the Beckenham line out all day and this was no exception on their own 22m line. The ball was slapped back and cleared up by Steve Rawlins. The ball moved out to Matt who saw the gap in the defensive line, put on the afterburners and scored without being touched. Ryan duly converted making the score 22-0

Beckenham where sprung into life with a well finished try from their winger in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful and Beckenham were on the score board.

Combe took control of the game once more after this and after building phases and working their way up the pitch a try was scored by Christian Weald after strong forward play and simple handling moving the ball to the wing from him to finish. The conversion was unsuccessful and the score 27-5.

Combe’s strong defence was a feature of the game and with the game getting a bit heated, the referee to a disliking to a tackle made by Ryan in the midfield and with less than 10 minutes to play, Ryan’s day had ended earlier than expected. To Beckenham’s credit they exploited this and finished strong scoring a converted try a few minutes from the whistle to make the score 27-12.

The final minutes were hard fought, Beckenham feeling another score was achievable and 14 man Combe working hard to make sure it wasn’t. A penalty against Beckenham for holding on proved the referee had had enough and the final whistle was blown.

A super performance from Westcombe Park and an encouraging win over local rivals.

Man of the Match – Matt Swann

Squad

Alex Lord
Steve Rawlins
Alan Robins
Rob Surgenor
Dave Stevens
Chris Bright
Nick Pace ©
Andrew Tew
Ben Faurie
Matt Swann (1 try)
Craig Clark
Adam Clarke
Ryan Hackett (2 con, 1 pen)
Tom Barnes (1 try)
Ross McEwan (1 try)
Christian Weald (1 try)