Nothing Much To Warm The Heart

This score-line has a rather familiar look to it considering now the last three of the Stags’ results and it was a rather familiar tale too : the Stags did not play badly by any means but the opposition dominated possession for lengthy periods and at fairly regular intervals were able to convert pressure into points.
Barnes most recent game had been a similarly comfortable win by 30-8 against the table leaders, London Irish Wild Geese and, measured against that, this result with three, but crucially not four tries scored, was certainly no disgrace. But that will cut no ice in the battle to avoid relegation and, with all their fellow strugglers picking up something at the very least on Saturday, the Stags know that they have a battle royal on their hands. CS are eleventh in the table, fourth from bottom with 23 points but only five points separate fourteenth and bottom club Guernsey ( 18 points) and tenth placed Amersham and Chiltern (also on 23)!
As ever the home team’s backs were often creative and the forwards now sometimes look dangerous when they get a rumble going themselves : it was simply that there was not enough good quick front foot ball to allow the team to really stretch their opponents on a regular basis.
Once Barnes had got themselves two scores clear there was never any serious doubt about the outcome and one was left to admire various individual acts by the protagonists from both the Surrey and Middlesex sides of the river and to be allowed a belly laugh at the occasional risible moment.
The midfield collisions were often thunderous and the centres on both sides were not taking a backward step; Barnes now seem to have found themselves a fly-half, or perhaps that should read found him again, and the comic moment of the match was undoubtedly the visitors making the biggest hash of an attempted kick at goal that one has seen since …. well, seen since…. James Houstoun lined up a much longer kick a few seasons ago now! Don’t worry James : this effort was probably even worse!
It had been a damp, cold, miserable and dark day weather-wise and really there had been precious little to warm a CS supporter’s heart. Gravesend away are next up. They currently lie ninth, eight points ahead of CS, in the table.

CS Rugby 1863 scorers :

Tries:
Forrester (2)
Clarke

Pen:

Killeen