With 40 minutes played Westcombe Park were still in with a shout of
avoiding the drop as they led 9-6. But any hopes were shattered in a 15
minute period at the start of the second half as Tring showed why they
are at the top end of the League with a controlled display of precision
Rugby. Tring came away with points every time they breached Combe's 22
while the home side failed to do likewise when they engineered
territorial advantage.

Tring opened the scoring on 4 minutes with a penalty in front of the
posts when Combe were caught offside. The score remained at 0-3 for the
next 18 minutes despite four Combe incursions into the Tring 22 but
ultimately the visitors were forced to infringe and James Cameron
slotted the penalty to bring the scores level.

Combe were dominant in the scrum but Tring managed to evade sanction
with clever play by captain Ridley at the base of the scrum. The
visitors upped the pressure and Combe conceded a couple of penalties
close to their try line. The second for off feet at the ruck resulted in
a yellow card and the concession of 3 points giving Tring the advantage
at 3-6. The lead lasted all of 2 minutes when Combe slotted their own
penalty on 32 minutes for a high tackle. A couple of promising Tring
attacks were halted by textbook tackles on either wing by Sema and
Hamilton. Combe then took the lead bang on half time with a Cameron
penalty following another Tring high tackle.

Halftime Westcombe Park RFC 9-6 Tring RFC

Combe's largest crowd of the season were full of hope that relegation
could be avoided as news filtered through that Guildford were trailing
at Hertford. Confidence increased when Combe won their first scrum
penalty and shortly after when prop Forsyth rumbled over the gain line
with a trio of Tring bodies clinging to him. But these hopes were dashed
when Tring crossed for tries on 47, 50 and 55 minutes to take the score
to 9-25 and give Combe a mountain to climb.

Combe tried valiantly to scale that mountain but their efforts were
hampered by a series of turnovers caused by over anxious attempts to
pierce a resolute Tring defence. The atmosphere around the pitch became
quieter as the Combe faithful realised there were 20 minutes left to
save the season. Tring were calmer with more structure to their
attacking play and with 10 minutes to go went further ahead with a
converted try.

As ever this season, Combe heads didn't drop. On 79 minutes, prop
Saunders bustled and bundled to 10 metres short, providing space wide
on the right for winger Hamilton to cross and run under the posts to
make the score 16-32.

The Combe section of the crowd would have wanted the match to end with a
home team score but even this was denied when, in the final minute,
Tring were awarded a penalty which they kicked to hammer a final nail in
Combe's season.

So a league season ends in disappointment but the club can take hope
from the brighter performances in the second half of the year. There is
also the Kent plate final next Sunday at Footscray for Combe to win
silverware.

Finally after the match Combe bid a fond farewell to some stalwarts who
are hanging up their boots. DoR Rob Lawrence said a big thank you on
behalf of all Combe supporters to Captain Joe Bonner, his brother Dave
and to Jamie Forsyth. They will be missed. James Lindfield was also
announced as retiring but whether he has or not remains to be seen.

Westcombe Park RFC: Robinson, Hamilton, Saffrey, Bonner, Sema, Cameron,
Durkin, Porter, Onwuka, Forsyth, Clarke, Milligan, Pohlen, Lindfield
Replacements: Saunders, Springer, O'Sullivan

Match Reporter: John Vallely