December 9th  2007

Rosslyn Park 5 pts            Cobham 51 pts

League One

Another cold wet day, this time in Richmond Park. The warm up was the most important part of the day because conditions before the game were particularly severe.

The side showed a few changes from selected due to injuries picked up at school games and one lost player (!), including 5 in the backs.

Cobham started fast, winning the ball back from the kick-off, passing cleanly and rucking well before the overlap was created for Williams to score the first try and Burns the second. At this stage Park had not touched the ball. Too easy? Well the side got its just desserts in the next phase of the game where a collective slackening off allowed Park to get some ball and pressure our half-backs. In the end a charged down kick resulted in a deserved Park try.

Cobham got back to work with Stout driving well and creating space for others, and a couple of line-out drives gaining 10 metres. A couple of chances were missed before Clifford was freed by Hickman on the blind side for a try, and after a good ruck by Markham and Williams we scored our fourth try before half-time.

The second half ended up fine but the forwards were still not as committed as they should have been with too many wanting to stand out, however Bliss was having a good game at scrum half and dealing with the slippery ball well. The centres, Hickman and Mathews, were also combining well and the wings were receiving plenty of ball. Burns made the most of this by dancing around his man for another couple of tries, and Conor Jones also scored a good try in the corner.

After a storming run by Mays, Bliss made ground and passed to Powlson who sprinted clear from 50 metres to score a fine individual effort. Finally Harty was put away to score the final and ninth try in the corner.

Overall this was a good performance in tricky conditions. The forwards driving was good on occasions and the rucking was good when enough players were committed to the break down. Stout was particularly effective at driving over the gain line. In the backs the passing was very good on a difficult day. Some mistakes were made but overall the intentions of the lads and the execution was good.

The wingers ran well with Burns in good form for his hat trick, and Hickman and Mathews being the unsung stars of the day for creating space for others. MOM is Bliss who came in late at scrum half, made good decisions and passed well in difficult conditions.

Many thanks to Rosslyn Park for the game.

Neil McCallum