Evesham 2nd Away

A hard day at the office for Kings Norton 2nd XV as they travelled away to Evesham 2nd XV. Whilst respective first teams are in the same league, Evesham 2s play their rugby two leagues above Kings 2s. But with the Kings men having designs on promotion, it will be games like this that provide a benchmark for where Kings want to be.

Evesham began with the wind to their backs and knew how to make full use of it, but it was their hard running and the visitors' missed tackles that saw them gain the early advantage. With barely a few minutes on the clock, Kings found themselves on the wrong end of the referee's whistle and rapidly found themselves on their goal line and under the cosh. Another shrill blast from the referee's whistle and Evesham had a penalty on the five yard line. It was no surprise that the ball went to Evesham's biggest player (and by jove was he a big lad), and neither was it a surprise that he barged his way over the line for the game's opening try. Kings got momentary territory from the kick off, but Evesham took it straight back to them, and before they knew it, Kings were again on their goal line, again on the wrong end of the referee's whistle, again not having to think too hard about which Evesham player would get the ball, and again conceding the try to Evesham. It was 10-0 after not very long, against what was clearly a better and stronger team, but Kings had a very stark choice: cave in, or grow a pair.

From the restart Kings were able to put the pressure on to force an Evesham mistake. For the first time in the game, the visitors had a bit of possession and were able to get a bit of go forward. That's not to say the tries started coming for Kings, but they had picked themselves up and showed that they weren't Evesham's whipping boys. They were playing with a bit more structure, a bit more composure, and a lot more discipline, meaning the penalty count came down.

Kings were able to mix up their game too. As has been the case all season, the scrum was a thing of beauty, with young Ellis Wilts in particular punching above his weight in the front row. The line-out too was in good order, with the ever-present, ever-dependable, Graham Garrett dominating the front of the line-out like a swaggering peacock courting his peahens. From these platforms, Kings were able to using the midfield runners, with Paul Cacker attacking the tighter spaces, and Pete Crumpet hurtling into the wider channels. Ultimately though, Evesham's defence was able to hold tight and once they had possession, the wind meant they could easily clear their lines. That was not necessarily a get out of jail free card though. Every time the Kings back three picked up the ball deep and in space, they were determined to run it back with venom, using their full array of tricks. Ant Ginster would hit the afterburners to scorch upfield. Rob Why would take a deep breathe in to make himself 42.8% slimmer, meaning he had a 17.4% better chance of slipping through any given tackle. And Cor E Allen… well, it's anyone's guess what goes through his mind when he has ball in hand, but cor blimey those lithe gangly legs ate up the pitch as he went charging into the fray like a beserker of old.

Whilst Kings were getting themselves back into the match, it was still Evesham's game. They were having to work a lot harder than they did in those early exchanges, but still had the ability to capitalise on any loose play from the visitors, adding another two tries to those two early scores. Kings though did have just reward for their endeavours. Sammy Jones, soft silky hair flowing behind him as he went on the rampage, set up the field position with a strong bullocking run into the heart of the Evesham defernce. Half backs James Luc Pri'chard and Patrick Swayze were then pulling the strings like master puppeteers. First they sent the ball right, with Smurph and Bully ensuring the ball was quickly recycled, and then they switched it left, with Swayze's flat pass sending Pete Crumpet through a gap, over the lines and under the Evesham posts. Swayze added the conversion, and Kings finished the first half 24-7 down – down but not out.

The second half provided different challenges for Kings. Somewhat surprisingly given the scoreline, Evesham felt the need to get niggly and throw in a few cheap shots on the Kings players. Thus far, the game had been hard but fair, but this was uncalled for and it took a number of shrill blasts from the referee’s whistle to bring order to the proceedings. The off-the-ball stuff had disrputed Kings’ rhythm though. Where the try-line had been beckoning for them on a number of occasions during this period, composure was lost at crucial moments and hard won territory and possession came to nothing. Despite this though, Kings were playing with endless heart and making sure that nothing was easy for Evesham. Three tries were conceded in the second half, but still the Kings men battled on to the end.

As the referee’s whistle went one last time, the visitors could finally pause for breath and reflect on the game. Yes, losing by 30 point always hurts, but heads could be held high as this was against opposition two leagues above the 2nds. It’s a mark of the progress this team has made this season under Captain Smurph; in seasons gone by the team would have conceded a cricket score against similar calibre opposition. Today, whilst the Kings men might not have beaten the big guns, they showed that they can nevertheless run with them.