It is striking to note that when Combe went behind 12-10 in the 45th minute it was only the second time this season that they were in this position and the first time at home. It is also evidence of how far the Peacocks pushed the home side in their first visit to Goddington Dene since October 2017.

The first 25 minutes saw a tough contest with most of the play in midfield. Both defences were solid with the vast majority of first-time tackles being executed and a couple of likely breaks by Combe thwarted by tap tackles. It took a pirouette in midfield from unlikely candidate Harry Hudson to prise open the Shelford defence. Hudson made ground and centre James Burton was on his shoulder to deliver the coup de grace with a sprint to the try line. Jacob Buckley added the conversion.

10 minutes later Combe kept the visitors pinned in their own 22 and, when Shelford were penalised for not rolling away at a ruck, the home side opted for the kick which was slotted by Buckley. The 10-point lead was cut to 5 on the stroke of half-time when the Peacocks took advantage of good scrum ball deep in Combe territory to break the defensive line for an unconverted try.

The visitors built on this early in the second half. Again, they established good position near the Westcombe Park line and, after some heavy duty carrying scored near the posts with the conversion giving them the lead. Combe thought they had regained the lead 5 minutes later, but the referee had spotted a forward pass in the build-up. But Combe were not to be thwarted and a line out catch and drive ate up 25 metres of Shelford territory. Stand-off Rob Whyte then took control and his well-timed pass put full-back Toby Wallace through for the try. Buckley converted to make it 17-12.

Combe extended their lead with a second Buckley penalty when the Combe front row, with player of the match and debutant Jack Cowman earning his Combe spurs, forcing a scrum collapse. The score then moved to 25-12 when a slick line-out move saw flanker Hudson break clear and this time he provided the pass to a galloping Sam Fombo to notch Combe’s third try which was converted.

The visitors weren’t finished and in the final move of the match secured a well-deserved losing bonus point after breaking the Combe line and scoring under the posts.
Combe’s winning run continues and the consensus on the touchline was that this match was at the top end of that run in terms of toughness and the quality of Rugby on display from both teams. Combe are on the road next week visiting old friends Hertford RFC.