Westcombe Park RFC 24-18 Beckenham RFC

The comment back in the clubhouse that this hadn't looked like second from top in the table against second from bottom wasn't too far wide of the mark. Beckenham came to Goddington Dene with confidence high following a rare but welcome victory against Chichester the previous Saturday. For Combe the challenge was to overcome the disappointment of a last minute loss away to Camberley.

The home team started brightly with a quick break from stand off Harvey Young resulting in a strike for the line by winger Dan Hamilton which was chalked off for a forward pass. On 12 minutes Beckenham centre Sam Brooke broke the defensive line and Westcombe Park could only halt the move illegally. Reagan Tarbie stepped up to slot a coolly taken kick to take the lead. Tarbie added another 5 minutes later when Combe were spotted loitering offside.

A certain nervousness was evident among the home support, but a slick passing move involving Hamilton, Max Wilkins and Matt Harrison put No. 8 Piers Johnson in the clear to run round to dot under the posts, provided a gleam of relief. Harrison added the conversion.

The rest of the half was pretty scrappy with Combe struggling to get their hands on the ball against a gritty Beckenham pack with hooker Forest and locks Smith and Blackmore to the fore. Combe did have a chance right at the close of the half following a string of penalties but the ball was dropped close to the line after Harrison had created the chance with a slippery run.

Half time Westcombe Park 7-6 Beckenham

The Goddington Dene side increased that lead right at the start of the second period. Young distributed effectively to newcomer Sal Mboge who offloaded to fellow centre Wilkins who was in for the score. The kick was missed. Young was continuing to pull the strings and fed Johnson who made good yards before being halted.

Combe's third try came shortly thereafter on 52 minutes. Sean Beckett got over the gain line, made good ground and fed prop James Simmons to touch down for a try which Harrison converted. At 19-6 Combe were in the ascendancy but there was scant room for complacency as Combe went down to 14 men after a string of indiscretions. Beckenham were still clearly in the fight, a fact underlined by a score on 60 minutes by prop Baker following good line out work. 19-11 to Combe. Lock Smith nearly added to this a couple of minutes later as he battled his way into the Combe 22 with a couple of home players dragging him to ground 10 metres out.

With 15 minutes to go, Combe got some traction in the game with Beckett and scrum half Headland combining to get good field position. Then the home team won a penalty at the scrum and with the ball fed quickly to winger George Perkins, he scored a fine try with curving run outflanking the defence. The kick was missed and Combe led 24-11 with just over 10 minutes left to play.

Beckenham were in no mood to let things settle down and to the joy of their support and the consternation of the home fans, blind side Liam Markey notched another try for Beckenham. With the conversion successful the gap was down to 6 points ensuring a nervous final 10 minutes for the Goddington Dene support.

There was no further scoring and Combe had done just enough for the win and the bonus point. The visitors had pushed Combe all the way and contributed a fair measure to the excitement of the contest. Both sets of fans trooped back to the clubhouse and the buzz about the place was a testament to the efforts of both teams.

Combe Man of the Match: Piers Johnson

Report: John Vallely