Today Is Not Your Day

For the first time in season 2019-20 King’s lined up on a Friday night, their opponents were Cobham who made a short trip of less than 10 miles up the A3. Champions of London 2SW in 2015-16 the Surrey side have remained ever present in London 1 South since finishing 6th, 5th and last season 10th. 2019-20 has been something of a mixed bag to date, three defeats tempered by two wins – the most recent of which an impressive 39-28 victory over Havant meant that the visitors would be coming into the contest with plenty of confidence. An away win had eluded Cobham thus far, but they would no doubt have been eager to see to it that they wouldn’t be waiting much if any longer.

After the churn of personnel in the opening month or so selection had settled a little with a dozen of last week’s team reappearing this Saturday, albeit not all in the same positions. Into the side came former skipper Jonny Kiddle who took the No.1 shirt, flanker Calum Barrett made his first start for the 1XV and Chris du Toit made a rare appearance at inside centre. One thing that has changed every week are the half-back combination and on this occasion it was Will Slater and James Houstoun who were tasked with dictating the tempo of the game. The bench was made up of Matt Scott, Harry Stevens and Ed O’Callaghan – the first and last making their season bow. Jonathan Priestley was the referee and at 1932 his wish was that play should begin.

Things started promisingly for King’s as they shaded the early exchanges including the first scrum at which Cobham immediately looked to be in trouble as their pack wilted under pressure. The visitor’s scrum-half did well to pluck the ball from a forest of reversing legs and with King’s defence too narrow the ball quickly found its way to the away side’s primary threat in the form of speedster Tiernan White who set off like a man possessed. Whilst the defence was able to catch and contain the winger the damage had been done and within a handful of phases Cobham had bundled over for a maximum seven pointer; 0-7. Within ten minutes that lead had been extended as King’s made a hash of an attacking lineout and then promptly found themselves pinged for offside in midfield, Cobham’s kicker making no mistake; 0-10.

With a mere 12mins played so the weather was to change, and not for the better as wind and rain lashed down on the spectators, many retreating if not into the clubhouse then certainly on to its lee side sheltering from the elements. The teams played on and soon after King’s were lining up a long-range penalty but, after some initial confusion as one flag went up but not the other, it seemed a rogue gust had indeed pushed it narrowly wide of its intended target. To rub salt in the wound 5mins later won an offside penalty of their own and Cobham’s strike was good; 0-13. Unfortunately Duncan Bucknell was lost to injury around this time, Harry Stevens his more than capable replacement joining the fray.

Just 20mins had gone and King’s supporters may have been forgiven for thinking it was going to be a long night if the trend wasn’t soon bucked. The side did not disappoint and for the duration of the second quarter outplayed their opponents in almost every facet of the game. Cobham’s scrum was a major cause of concern for the visitors and as King’s got to within 5m of the line when the referee indicated a penalty advantage and the home side sensibly opted for a set piece. Once more Cobham folded and Mr Priestley raised his arm, as indeed he did on 4 further occasions in the 5mins which followed, all in the shadow of the visitor’s posts, all for scrum and ruck offences. At the end of period few gathered could believe the official deemed the repeat offending did not pass the threshold for a yellow card and or a penalty try. Eventually King’s gave up hope themselves and, in the last play of the half, swung the ball wide and into the hands of Gareth Stoppani who crossed mid-way between the posts and the touchline for a score which he duly converted.

HT: 7-13

As the teams retreated from the elements at the break the game was delicately poised albeit the conditions were not conducive to either side playing an especially expansive game. Several times Cobham had sought to launch the ball in the direction of Tiernan White as they strived to release their danger man, but too often on the bounce and with little success. King’s had taken a more pragmatic approach but as the scoreboard was testament this had been no more productive. Coming out after the hiatus in proceedings King’s picked up where they had left off, squeezing Cobham across the pitch with Will Kibblewhite making one eye-catching break, supported by Jonny Kiddle but it was to come to naught.

As time ticked by King’s were showing plenty of promise, still comfortably on top in the scrum and beginning to make inroads elsewhere, but Cobham’s always stubborn and occasionally robust defence stood firm. If there were any doubt that it wasn’t going to be the hosts’ night then surely confirmation came moments later, as King’s cut through the midfield Dan Staunton charged for the line and eschewing the chance to dive he was all but home when Cobham centre Yannis Loizias (King’s MOM) came like an Exocet missile wrapping both arms and simultaneously not just punching the ball out but getting it 20ft ahead of the King’s player and over the dead-ball line. Mr Priestley determined that this was not enough to give King’s a 5m scrum and that the lock had knocked-on and instead gave the put in to Cobham with an exit duly orchestrated.

As resolute as the visitors’ rear-guard action had been their line was eventually to be breached as Will Onslow-Wyld, who enjoyed a fine night and was Cobham’s choice for MOM, burst from an advancing scrum and fed Will Slater to cross; 12-13. Now with any score good enough to put King’s ahead they exerted even more pressure than ever on the Cobham line. King’s frustration mounted as when a ball kicked through was touched down by a Cobham defender having placed one foot on the touch in-goal line. Anticipating a 22 dropout, King’s were taken aback as a scrum was awarded to the visitors where the ball was kicked from. One more prime field position had come and gone and King’s were now staring down the barrel.

Sure enough there was to be one more twist of the knife and having seen their pack retreat almost all evening, with 39mins of the second half gone Mr Priestley determined Cobham had earned a scrum penalty. The visitors indicted that they would have a shot at goal with their unerring kicker keeping up his perfect record; 12-16. Still time remained and once more King’s spun the wheel, but there was a feeling of inevitably about the outcome and lo and behold play finally ceased when King’s knocked on.

This will go down in the column marked ‘ones that got away’ and King’s must hope they don’t rue the 3pts dropped when April roles around. They were on top for 55mins of this game, the sides were level for 15 and Cobham ahead in the opening 10. The difference was that visitors were smart and sharp enough to take full advantage of King’s sleepy start and their kicker had his radar perfectly adjusted. On that basis it would be ungracious to say they did not deserve to win since they managed the conditions, defended ferociously and scored more points and ultimately that is all that matters. On another night they would surely have lost at least one to the bin before the interval and King’s would have had a crack at their depleted numbers whilst their tails were up. What may have happened is conjecture and the best thing King’s can do it put it down to experience. The old boys will look forward to the return leg at Fairmile Lane in January.

The next challenge as all clubs reach the penultimate hurdle in this opening 8 week fixture block is a stern one, an away day to Rochester to face a Medway side who have won 26 of their last 29 home games. After losing out in the play-off for promotion to London & SE Premier in 2017-18 they followed it up with a strong 4th place finish in 2018-19 and are already looking well placed for a podium place this time out with four wins so far. Last time out they went down 11-10 at fellow promotion candidates Havant and will doubtless be out to avenge that defeat and King’s will need to be at their very best to stop the Kent side doing just that.