Dartfordians RFC 10-27 Westcombe Park RFC

The game was relocated to Goddington Dene following the positively Biblical weather of recent times which rendered Dartfordians ground unplayable. Even then the match was in doubt on Saturday with Combe's 1st team pitch out of action. A fortuitous break in the deluge and a gleam of sunshine came to the rescue and the game went ahead on the old 1st team pitch in Goddington Park.

The goodly crowd which turned up for the encounter weren't served up with a huge amount of Christmas cheer during the first period with defences dominating and only the occasional glint of attacking play. Combe winger Dan Hamilton showed one of those glints as early as the first minute but a good run and kick came to naught. The homeside's dominance in the scrum was equalled by Darts effective lineout which,combined with some great driven linouts, resulted in stalemate.

It took 35 minutes for that stalemate to be broken. Combe were forced to kill the ball at a ruck just outside their 22 and there was no doubt that Darts would take the points which they duly did with a well struck penalty. Darts defence maintained its solidity as they prevented a couple of positive thrusts from Westcombe Park. Bang on the half time whistle Combe were in Darts territory and when the visitors were penalised at the scrum Harvey Young kicked the equalising penalty.

Half time Darts 3-3 Combe

As is traditional Combe had kicked up the slope in the 1st half and the challenge was whether they could make it tell against the dogged Darts defence. A crunching Dave Pohlen tackle confirmed that the intent was there and Combe had upped the pressure right from the restart. This pressure told when prop Tom Simmons charged down a box kick for an alert Bradley Saffrey to run in the 1st try of the game. Young kicked the conversion.

Saffrey and fellow centre Max Wilkins were combining well, thriving on good 1st phase ball the forwards were delivering. Those forwards were giving their opposite numbers a torrid time in the scrum and with the final quarter beckoning the visitors were down to 13 players after a succession of scrum technical offences were penalised.

Combe took advantage with 63 minutes on the clock. The forwards trucked the ball up through numerous phases and then Harvey Young and Wilkins combined to release replacement winger Bryan Young to power through the Darts defence for the score out wide. 3-15 to Westcombe.

5 minutes later Combe extended that lead to 3-22. Again the homeside built up a number of phases and released first Hamilton and then Harvey Young whose runs were halted. But Combe recycled quickly and prop James Simmons charged through the defence for the try which was converted.

Darts fighting spirit had not been quenched by these setbacks and, on 72 minutes score a well worked try of their own. They had made inroads into Combe territory and, from a lineout, their driving maul came to the fore making good ground. As the maul shuffled wide it opened a gap in the home defence and the try was scored under the posts making the conversion a formality.

There were 8 minutes left and Combe went all out to secure the bonus point. The ball was being kept in hand with Combe veterans on the touchline calling for the ball to be banged down to the left hand corner. The clock was ticking down when Combe dominated a midfield scrum and, when Bryan Young made a great gainline break, Darts defence was struggling. Fellow winger Hamilton was on hand to collect the pass and aquaplaned the final metres to score the bonus point try and seal the win at 27-10 to Combe.

So the last game of the year ends with Westcombe Park top of the league with both Camberley and Havant faltering. A big thanks to Darts and their supporters for the flexibility in allowing this game to take place and, while the match was not a classic, both sides belied the underfoot conditions with both flair and effort. A special thanks to the Darts physio who rushed on to tend to a stricken Combe lock.

See you in 2020. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Match Report: John Vallely