The supporters who made their way to Goddington Dene on Saturday probably didn’t expect that they would witness such an explosion of tries. Nor would those amongst them following the team in Blue and White think that a lead of 52-7 would narrow to 17 points in a try laden final 10 minutes. But that was indeed what was served up.

Combe had secured the try bonus point in the first period and had kept their opponents scoreless into the bargain. Combe had struck 3 times through the backs, with wingers James Burton and Bradley Bateup scoring as well as fullback KK Orelaja. The other score coming from a penalty try which also resulted in a yellow card to Tring for a tackle off the ball. Scrum half Jacob Buckley had added a couple of conversions and Combe seemed to be cruising at 26-0.

The Combe advance continued in the second half with both Burton and Bateup adding a second try each. Nathan Thomas had provided the run for Burton’s second try as he had done for Bateup in the first half. Similarly, Orelaja had been involved twice in Bateup’s second score and had been the provider for Burton’s first. The game was 52 minutes old when Tring got on the scoreboard for the first time following a defensive mix up on the Combe 22. But the home-side took advantage of Tring going down to 14 men for a second time with Buckley scoring from clean line out ball and then lock Hugo MacPherson touching down after Nick Cook had caught the Tring re-start cleanly and galloped a good 40 metres before feeding his team-mate.

Then came that 4 try salvo from the visitors starting on the 70th minute with all tries being converted to give them a try bonus point. But Combe weren’t quite finished and Bateup scored on the stroke of full-time to complete his hat-trick, adding the conversion for good measure to make the final score 59-35 after a daft final 10 minutes.

It can sometimes be difficult in the heat of a game to pinpoint just why one side is dominating quite so much. In this match it was pretty evident that the Combe defensive organisation and intensity was that bit too much for the visitors for the majority of the game. That defensive pressure in turn provided quality front foot ball that allowed the home backs to show their paces. It also shows Combe's all round display when Bateup's hat-trick wasn't enough to secure the player of the match award, that honour going instead to the irrepressible KK Orelaja.

Next Saturday sees the visit of neighbours Sevenoaks and let’s hope for a similar display of open Rugby.