Kilburn Cosmos got their Herts Middlesex 2 campaign back on track with a satisfying 24-12 win over Royston on Saturday. After establishing a lead early on, the Cosmos thwarted the visitors’ attempts at a comeback.
Kilburn opened the scoring seven minutes into the match with a spectacular length of the field try. The home forwards stole an opposition lineout close to their own tryline. The ball was moved quickly through the backline to right winger Niall Coghlan who ran the ball from his own 22 into the Royston 22. The ball was passed back inside for fly half George Brooke to touch down under the posts. Brooke converted his own score to make it 7-0.
Minutes later Kilburn conceded a try that was as comical as the previous try had been sensational. The home side got mixed up dealing with a routine kick and gifted possession to the visitors close to the try line for them to score in the right hand corner. The missed conversion meant that the Cosmos remained in the lead at 7-5.
The home side extended their lead before halftime with two further tries. On 26 minutes, the Cosmos forwards drove an attacking lineout on the left deep into the Royston 22 and the ball was spun wide for Coghlan to score in the opposite corner. The difficult conversion was missed. Two minutes before half time, centre Darren Littlewood somehow emerged from a tackle with the ball to score from 22 metres just left of the posts. Brooke added the extras to give the home side a 19-5 lead at the break.
5 minutes into the second half, the visitors got themselves back in the game with a well worked move from a shortened line out. Two forward phases created a gap in the centre for a score under the posts. The conversion was added to make it 19-12.
In increasing gloom, Royston proceeded to dominate territory and possession for much of the second half but came up against a resolute Kilburn defence.
It was Kilburn that would have the final say with a try in last five minutes. A Royston put in close to their own try line was shoved back by the Cosmos pack. Under pressure, Royston failed to clean up and Cosmos prop Kane Edgworth pounced on the loose ball for a try to make the result certain. The missed conversion proved immaterial for a delighted home side who were pleased to return to winning ways.