Combe made the short trip to our former landlords Sidcup RFC on the back of that last minute defeat to Havant. The two clubs have a long history with Sidcup having provided Westcombe Park with a home after the Great War for several years. There was a bit of history, some would say ancient history, out on the park with the two assistant referees clocking up more than 162 years between them.

As the headline would suggest, the visitors left it rather late to seal the win and the home team had led the match all the way through to the 76th minute. The two sides offer a contract in styles with Sidcup using the bludgeon of their heavyweight pack whereas Combe looked to spin the ball quick and wide when in possession.

The bludgeon was more to the fore in the first period as Sidcup dominated possession and territory. They opened the scoring with a try on ten minutes after being camped in the Combe 22. From first phase ball the backs moved it out to the right, were held up and then battered over the line for the try which was unconverted. Four minutes later Combe infringed in front of the posts and the penalty was kicked to extend the lead.

Westcombe Park were struggling to make any inroads into Sidcup territory but when they did the almost scored their opening try but were held up. However, advantage was being played and full back Cameron Hancock kicked an easy penalty to make it 8-3 after 20 minutes. The match continued in like vein with Combe seeking to make the most of their slickness in the backs and Sidcup using a bit of bish-bosh, but the second quarter remained scoreless.

The first 20 minutes of the second half saw a tit for tat exchange of penalties with both sides scoring a couple to make the score 14-9and it stayed that way until the last four minutes. Combe’s backs had always looked that tad more threatening than their opposite numbers. The visitors’ forwards had also negated the earlier strength and power of the Sidcup effort. The combined impact of this began to manifest itself in an increasingly tired Sidcup side and the question was if Combe could take advantage.

That question was emphatically answered with a three-try burst in four minute which saw Westcombe Park win 30-14 and deny Sidcup a bonus point. James Burton scored the first (in the snow) when finishing off from shortish multi-pass effort from his fellow backs. Dan Masters got the second when a crunching tackle in midfield forced a turnover for him to pick up and run in to touch down. The third came when Bryan Young picked off a speculative cross field punt form Sidcup and scored close to the posts. All three tries were converted by Hancock to make it a stirring end for the Goddington Dene side.
A result which went a long way to make up for the disappointment of the previous week’s last gasp defeat and the Combe fans can fully empathise with their Sidcup counterparts. Next Saturday sees Combe’s last home game of the season so let’s hope for a big crowd and some good Rugby.