First XV v Chichester

This season match reports continue to be authored by Paul Hickson who is a Partner at Seniors' sponsor Menzies, to whom we are as ever hugely endebted. If you like Paul's creative writing, you should also try his creative accounting...

Writing match reports for Cobham hasn't been a particularly hazardous pastime, avoiding a player bundled into touch, the odd sliced kick, emails from refs unhappy with reported comments, all pretty lightweight stuff but none of these was adequate preparation for what transpired at the Memorial Grounds last Saturday, read on…

Cobham (wearing their reverse red shirts) had three consecutive wins and five out of the last six before this match. They therefore went into this match with some confidence, although they had made a couple of changes:- Kevin Fisher wore the 12 shirt,  Chris Moreton, a rather too large number 18, (because the number 13 shirt has gone missing), Luke Flower was on County duty for Dorset & Wiltshire, Matt Johnson had an ankle injury and Nunny was now sporting a cast in respect of the arm he didn't know he had broken during the Portsmouth win two weeks ago !

Chichester (The Blues), unbeaten in their last 12 games, came to Cobham looking not just for another win, but also bonus points as they chase down London Irish for an opportunity to reach the Play Offs.  Their desire and passion was apparent in the first ten minutes as they threw everything they had at Cobham in looking to secure that all important first score. Simon Ackroyd and Adam Hanline showed the way for Cobham with some crunching tackles and after Chichester failed to convert a penalty, slowly but surely Cobham started to take the game into the Chichester half.

The Blues appeared to want the win too much and their determination was being penalised by the Ref, cue Captain Cowell to secure the first and what was to prove to be only points of the half, 3-0.

A re -analysis of the play would probably confirm a significant element resting with the forwards and the scrums were being hotly contested. It was from a turned scrum that Cobham gained the initiative to launch an assault on the Chichester line culminating in a disallowed try for Chris Gibbons adjudged to have been 'held up'  (which with his low centre of gravity was a pretty impressive feat.)

The Chichester frustration at not being able to boss the game was evident as they approached half time, without having scored and this resulted in a yellow card for number 11 Ed Armah. Just when you thought the half had finished the Ref blew for a Chichester penalty, however it was a penalty kick that was never to be taken because at that point 'it all kicked off'.

An altercation between two players on the wing transported itself into the supporter group off the pitch and before you could say “Kate Adie” your match reporter  became a war correspondent.  It wasn't pretty but once some calm had been restored the Ref took the decision to yellow card a player from each side and took the unusual but commendable decision to send both teams to their changing rooms to cool down.

When both sides returned  for the second half (Cobham had 14 players, Chichester 13) it was immediately apparent that the time out had benefited Chichester because, although a man down, they achieved the try they had been looking for and converted, the score line was 3-7.

However just to show that this wasn't going to be the pattern for the second half Cobham returned to the Clubhouse end. The Cobham line outs were a particularly strength all afternoon with Chris Gibbons always finding his men, Billy Davison and  Doug Rodman, and it was from  a line out that Cobham drove towards the try line ending in a push over try for Chris Moreton, (you don't expect to see a centre being the last one up with the ball).

Chichester came back again and having initially been floored by an immense tackle by Billy Davison, in the subsequent play fly half Smallman cross kicked for the Blue's substitute winger to feed Adam to go over in the corner 8-12.

There were passages of play at this time which left the Ref with no alternative, when they broke down, to stop his watch as players were littered across the pitch (it’s always been slightly worrying that Cobham play on the 'Memorial' grounds) and the next 10 minutes were all Cobham as they maintained pressure on the Chichester line. All due credit to Chichester for stopping them cross the line as that was to be the key passage of play that decided the game.

With the pressure removed the Blues were once again attacking the Cobham line and they succeeded in breaking through for their flanker Johnson to increase the lead to 8-17 and winning a rare scrum against the head Captain Moses Kasuija pounced on the ball to score in the corner 8-22 . Never has a bonus point been so well celebrated. Smallman (he is anything but) kicked the conversion 8-24 and that's how it finished.

Cobham made Chichester work very hard for this win who trail London Irish by one point with two games to go. Cobham remain safe on 50 points equal to their next opponents, Hove in two weeks time.