A frustrating trip to North Walsham the previous week needed some level of exorcism and a goodly number of Westcombe park supporters were dotted around the pitch with a combination of hope and expectation that said exorcism would be successful.

Whereas it took all of 78 minutes last week for Combe to trouble the scorers, on Saturday they were put to work after only a couple of minutes into the game. A well-won lineout had provided the platform for Matt Harrison to swerve through the Wells defence to score close to the posts making the conversion as easy as possible for Jacob Buckley in the swirling wind.

The visitors went down to 14 men on the half hour mark for a high tackle, the first of a series of cautions which would end up with them playing half the game a man down. Almost immediately Nick Cook made a storming run before he was hauled down in the 22 and the chance came to naught. Wells responded with gusto, with number 8 Nick Doherty leading their efforts. Following a Combe charge-down, Wells took full advantage to sprint into the Combe half. Despite a last-ditch tackle from Bradley Bateup on his 50th Combe appearance, the home side offloaded for a score out wide. The conversion was not successful as Jacob Buckley put on the afterburners to charge down the kick.

Combe had only a 2 point lead which didn’t seem nearly enough given the conditions. Wing James Burton put a modicum of gloss on that score on the cusp of half time when an attack down the right released him to score in the corner despite a strong suspicion of a knock on in the lead up. 5-12 to Combe at the whistle.

Seven minutes into the second period and flanker Dave Pohlen made the most of a cheeky Matt Harrison dummy and swerve to dot down over the line for a score that Buckley converted. Then a Buckley penalty for a Wells offside offence increased the lead to 22-5. It seemed that Combe had done enough but a further 3 yellow cards hampered any efforts to get that bonus point try. Scrums were also uncontested removing one of Combe’s first half weapons of choice.

In addition Wells also had to forfeit a player and this seemed to sap any spirit or energy from the game. It was not until the last moment that Cook sparked bit of life, turning the ball over and running in for the bonus point score. Final score 5-22 for the visitors.

A good win on the road for Westcombe Park against an injury challenged Tunbridge Wells side that struggled manfully to restrict Combe for most of the game. On the road again next week for Combe when they visit CS Stags.