Cobham maintain home record...
Cobham 25 Old Colfeians 0
It is a whole year since Cobham last lost a league match at Fairmile lane, and on a sunny and rather warm afternoon, better suited to rather more leisurely physical pursuits than the gladatorial nature of a rugby match, they never really looked threatened on Saturday.
A solid rather than exciting performance saw them eventually run out comfortable winners by 4 tries to none, against a competent but limited Colfeians side hampered no doubt by the loss of a couple of players to a wedding.
After the somewhat disappointing opening league match away at Chichester, this was a much more encouraging display. Opening the scoring after only 5 minutes with a simple penalty by Tim Green, Cobham further extended their lead a few minutes later when winger Tim Green blasted down the touchline to score a well taken try in the corner.
The remainder of the first half, whilst at times a little unstructured, saw Cobham gradually take control. In the set piece props Will Mealin and Paddy Seymour constantly had their opposite numbers under pressure, and with Bill Davison and Ollie Sadler generally comfortable on their own ball at the line out, it was difficult for Colfeians to build any sort of momentum; whilst Cobham’s back row of Matt Johnson, Neil Smitherman and captain Jack Davison gave them little room to manouevre in the loose.
In the backs, Kevin Fisher made several telling breaks, Nick Sutton, too, from full back was back to his elusive running form of last season, and winger and man of the match Tim Green was always a threat, frequently making ground whilst taking several defenders out in the process, and regularly coming off his wing to look for work. Debutant scrum half Will Avery, too had a solid first game.
Eventually, something had to give, and when quick ball from a line out gave open side Matt Johnson the chance to blast through the middle of Colfeians static backline defence to score, converted by Tim Green, the home supporters were able to breathe easier.
As Colfeians tired, the Cobham backs crisp handling and sharp running started to open gaps; from a scrum taken against the head just inside their own half, centre Fisher made a searing break to put right wing Rob Smedley in for the first of his two tries; and when he went looking for work, as Cobham broke down the left, a typical touchline charge from Tim Green saw Smedley running a great support line to take an excellent second score.
In the last few minutes, the loss of Sadler to the sin bin after an infringement in a line out, followed immediately by fellow second row Davison after a brief dust up between the two packs of forwards close to the end, saw no return for Colfes, as the depleted Cobham pack, effectively two men down, were still able to outscrummage their opposition and clear their lines to keep a clean sheet.
All in all a much improved performance, although the penalty count, and in particular, the collection of four yellow cards in two matches, will no doubt be troubling the coaching staff. Next week sees Cobham visit old rivals Chobham; always an intriguing encounter, Cobham will need to build off this weeks performance if they are to take a rare away win in this exciting local derby.
