King’s 2XV do enough.

Vandal’s have enthusiasm to spare. Their 2XV are clearly training and using a simple and at times effective game plan. The pitch was muddy and in places difficult to play on. This limited both teams ambition but ultimately the more ambitious rugby from King’s saw them through.

Early exchanges were even but Vandals had a potential weapon in a large scrum which caused the King’s scrum problems. Eventually establishing field position Vandals forced a penalty from King’s and kicked an easy penalty. King’s then played 5 minutes of good rugby with forceful breaks from George Lane, Yohan Tesfai, Ali Woods and Robin Cumming all running well. Eventually a slick bit of quick passing with Ed O’Callaghan linking well saw ever young Ryan Bayman dive into the corner. The usual King’s lethargy after a score let Vandals get another good position but the scrum was won and Matt Smith made a good break from No 8 forcing his way from behind our line to 20 meters out in the middle of the pitch. Sadly the rest of the team watched him rather than supporting him and the vigilant Jean Bergesen, our referee for the day, had a simple decision to award a penalty for holding on. An easy kick gave Vandals a 6 points to 5 lead at half time.

With all four replacements used at half time the second half saw a dominant performance form the King’s. The scrum benefited from vandals tiring and the introduction of Ronan Kelly gave us some more bulk. With Andy Cooke improving the midfield distribution King’s worked their way upfield and from an attacking lineout the King’s pack had their moment. A good throw from Darren Boswava saw Henry Binnian win the ball and after a fine driving maul, Matt Smith refused to give the ball up until he’d crossed the line. Neil Williams succeeded with the conversion. Toby Pheasant and Mike Hill turned the screw and fine tactical kicking pinned the Vandals back. Paul Calaminus made several important turnovers and then one especially fine grubber from Toby saw him rob the Vandals full back and feed the ball out for Adam Meadus to score in the corner.

At 17 to 6 up King’s relaxed and bolstered by a few of their now finished Vets team Vandals came back for the last 10 minutes. Some good tackling from Rob Fairbrother kept Vandals at bay but eventually they moved the ball wide and scored in the corner. A fine conversion made the last 4 minutes tenser than it should have been but captain Lorcan O’Duffy lead from the front to make sure Vandals never came close to another score.

Lorcan was delighted by the win but stressed to the team how much better they could be with a small amount of training. The strong Esher team come to Motspur Park next weekend and King’s will need to play well to win.