It's Good But It's Not The One

Report from Sam Richards:-

King’s could barely have asked for a more local away trip, as they made the short hop across the A3 to play an in form Old Emanuel side. OE have come to life in the last few rounds and came into the game on the back of 3 wins in succession. Look behind the bare tally of wins and losses, and you can see that the newly promoted Emanuel side have been in the contest in all of their games, even during their tough start to the season. King’s were in search of a 9th straight win and have been in free scoring form in the last two fixtures notching up 105 points in the previous 160 minutes of rugby.

This game fell between two fallow weeks, and like many clubs around the league the side from Dornan Fields showed a side with a number of changes. Whilst the pack was relatively settled, with just Barry Williams coming in to start at open side, the backs were reshuffled once again. Kristian Cook returned at 10, which pushed George Jones to 12. Chris Du Toit also returned having missed the Twickenham victory, this time wearing the number 13. Finally, Will Kibblewhite returned from university to fill the full back role in his first appearance since Round 3’s Friday night lights fixture with Old Tonbridgian. One the bench saw a first appearance for the club from Charlie Pascoe to cover the back 5, Jonny Kiddle front row and finally Neil Williams was the unused substitute to cover the backs having arrived at the ground just before kick off having played the full 80mins in the 2XV’s victory away at Battersea Ironsides in the early kick off!

At 2.32pm, with the sun shining, a gentle cross wind and a perfect playing surface, referee James Robson blew his whistle to start the contest. A less than positive start as Kristian Cook’s kick off didn’t travel the required 10 metres and so Old Emanuel had the centre field scrum to launch their first attack. It was the home side that had the better of the opening exchanges, whilst with the little ball that King’s had they showed what they were capable of with powerful carries being combined with offloading and using the full width of the pitch, inaccuracies and ill-discipline cost the league leaders meant that Emanuel were soon putting pressure on in the red zone. 5 metre line out to the home side, repelled by King’s but once again they infringed. The simple 3 points were taken, it seemed to spur King’s into life though. They were soon piling the pressure on and upping the tempo with ball in hand. A strong carry through the middle from Ed Forshaw, offloaded and it was a simple 2 on 1 executed by Kristian Cook to put former 1XV captain Patrick Smith over in the corner. Although the conversion was missed, King’s were soon back down in Emanuel territory. Rob Parker was taken out in the air from the restart and the ball nudged downfield and King’s had an attacking line out. A catch and drive took the team close, a few more phases later and Ed Forshaw powered over from close range. This time George Jones converted to extend the lead to 3-12.

Once again it wasn’t long until King’s were back into the home side’s 22. An impressive break from Chris Du Toit caused havoc with the defence, then George Jones, Kristian Cook and Patrick Smith all offloading the ball before the Emanuel scramble defence managed to get hold of the ball before being bundled into touch. King’s smelt blood and tried to force the rolling maul over the line. Two infringements in quick succession on their own line meant an OE's player was sent to the sin bin. As has been their want this season, the attack turned down the simple 3 points in favour of a scrum and a third try. It was not to be, a rare strike against the head and Emanuel relieved the pressure. It wasn’t long until the home side were camped in the King’s 22. A scrum 15 metres out on the right hand side, a solid platform and fly half Whiteley took the ball to the line before fizzing the ball into Headington who cut a superb line and ran in under the posts unopposed. The conversion cut the lead to 2 points and it was clear that Emanuel were never going to go away in this game.

The rest of the half, in honesty, was scrappy and lacked rhythm. Brett Williams had left the field for treatment after, somehow, managing to punch himself in the eye to be replaced by Jonny Kiddle. Charlie Pascoe also entered the fray when the impressive Matt Young clashed heads with his own teammate making a cover tackle. Half chances for either side weren’t taken and a good 50 minutes after the first whistle went, Mr Robson blew for half time.

HT: 10-12

King’s knew if they could keep hold of the ball for longer periods in the second half they would be able to control the game as they often have done this season, but improvements in defence and ball retention were needed. This wasn’t to be as the second half began. King’s continued to be wasteful with ball in hand under good pressure from a fired up home side. OE were growing in confidence and the discipline from the King’s side started to slip. Headington was starting to make inroads at will and King’s were under the pump, the defence was creaking and eventually it broke and King’s found themselves behind 17-12.

This was the first time King’s had found themselves behind in the second half this season and a response was needed. Probing kicks from Kristian Cook forced the play into the Emanuel 22. King’s started to ramp up the intensity, Rob Parker carried hard and with defenders hanging off him, and with a helping hand from Ali Cooper, the second row dotted down to bring the scores level. Once again George Jones chipped over the simple conversion, 17-19. As in the first half, King’s struck again almost immediately. A scrum inside the 22 and George Jones, playing his 4th position in 4 weeks, was sent up on the crash ball found a hole in the defence and sauntered in untouched for the 5 pointer, which he duly converted to take King’s 9 points clear with 20 minutes left, 17-26.

In previous weeks, this would have been the catalyst for King’s to take the game away from the opposition. But Old Emanuel had other ideas. They started to dictate the tempo of the game, King’s were now getting on the wrong side of the referee. Offsides and high tackles were the order of the day, the penalty count started to spiral out of control and in truth King’s were fortunate not to have a man sent to the bin. Two penalties from fly half Whiteley brought Emanuel to within 3 points (23-26) with 5 minutes to go.

Still King’s could not control the ball or the penalty count. Emanuel were starting to find holes in the King’s defence with far too much regularity. Although their frontline defence was not at their best, the scramble defence from King’s couldn’t be questioned and somehow managed to hold OE’s out, just! The game finished with King’s looking to counter-attack, only for Will Slater to shank his kick straight into touch. Those not in the know may have thought that the skipper was aware it was last play of the game, the truth may well have been different!

King’s escaped from this game with 5 points. Old Emanuel will quite rightly feel this was a game they could have won. King’s know that they have to continue to improve their performance as the target on their backs gets bigger with every game. Results elsewhere mean that the lead at the top of the league is now 9 points, with Old Alleynian’s impressive win down Eastleigh, but not picking up a bonus point. Next up for King’s, another rest week, is a trip to familiar rivals Old Reigatian. Luckily, Tom Moore will be back in the saddle with pen in hand to report on that game!