Cents reached the top of the local rugby mountain today after a hard fought victory over near neighbours Coney Hill.For a long time Cents have been living within the shadow of two local rugby giants in the form of Coney Hill and Matson,however today proved that they have moved from within that shadow after a second half power show that had Coney Hill struggling to contain a free running away side.
Cents will have to go a long way to match the exploits of their near neighbours from Coney Hill and Matson but for the moment they can say that they have reached the summit of local rugby scene by playing a fast open style of play which has taken their league by storm.
Cents travelled the short distance to near Neighbours Coney Hill knowing that they would be in for a hard match against a side who had been in a good run of form lately.Derby games are always hard to predict as local pride comes into the equation and also the "Hill" had a point to prove as Cents had stopped their long run of Combination Senior cup success last season.
For long periods of the first half Coney Hill had the slight edge although the elements of a strong wind caused both sides to find it hard to find any fluency with their passing.The Cents defence was very strong stopping Coney Hill from taking advantage of their slight possession superiority.Cents scored the first try of the match on 8 mins when winger Alex Maton completed a swift handling movement by the away sides backs.The try was well conveted by Liam Hemming from wide out and the away side led 0-7 and this was to be Cents only attacking movement of the half as both sets of forwards gained the upper hand for long periods of the half.
Coney Hill replied with a penalty a few minutes later and this proved to be the last score of the half with Hill trailing 3-7 at the break.The first half was a half dominated by strong defence from both sides plus numerous handling mistakes through the eratic wind.
As in quite a few matches this season,Cents effectively won the match with a four try salvo in the first twenty minutes of the second half which left Coney Hill chasing shadows.They scored tries through Capt. Peter Willets,after a superb break by Liam Hemming from deep in his own half.Dave Knight scored a great solo try when he burst through the Hiil defence,Nathan Stroud scored when he followed up a great break by full back Lewis May and lastly a try by Rob Tucker when he supported another telling break by Liam Hemming.Liam Hemming converted two of the tries and going into the last 15 minutes Cents led 31-3 with a bonus point secured.
Cents would have been happy with a one point win,but to come away with a bonus try scoring point was the icing on the cake.However as all great clubs sides show,Coney grabbed a late converted try to prove that they still had plenty of fighting spirit and pride.
Coney Hill were missing a few players from today's match,however Cents were again missing five first team players who would have been in with a shout for first team selection if available and as stated previously this season has showed Cents have a lot of strength in depth to absorb these missing players.
Cents now look forward to the visit of High Wycombe at the stade de bridge and this match will present another set of challenges for their young side.