Cobham 20 vs Teddington 10
1st November 2009
This report opens with an apology from me, for the delay in producing it. I lost my trusty notebook and only recovered it after a week, so it’s only now that my memory is sufficiently refreshed to write the match report
Before the match started the day had everything – lashing rain, strong winds – but (proving that the Good Lord is not only an Englishman but lives in Surrey) the weather calmed down for the game
The game started in lively manner, with Cobham attacking strongly only to be penalised letting Teddington off the hook. Next, it was Teddington’s turn to attack which led to another penalty against Cobham, which they chose to run even though it was from a kickable position in front of the Cobham posts. This was a mistake, because a scrum followed which Cobham won
This set the scene – it was helter-skelter stuff. Cobham’s kicking and following up led to a Teddington lineout 5 metres out. After possession changes hands a couple of times, Gareth Powlson scored a try from close range. The conversion was unsuccessful – 5-0 to Cobham
Cobham attacked from the restart, and continued in this vein. Barnaby Brien took an excellent line following an inside pass, to get Cobham up to the try-line, but were held up, winning a penalty. Several drives later, Cobham were again held up but were awarded the scrum. However, the Cobham backs got a little over-ambitious and knocked on in their attack. Teddington won the scrum and were able to clear their line.
Set-piece play, particularly lineouts, worked well for Cobham as they had in their previous game. From a Teddington lineout, Cobham won the ball, Henry Swindell drove very strongly and passed the ball wide for Matthew Cragg to score in the corner. Again the conversion was unsuccessful – 10-0 to Cobham
Cobham’s next try came from a high, hanging kick from George Gazzard. Gareth Poulson again drove over to make the score 15-0 to Cobham
Teddington, who had made several promising attacks, were unable to break through the Cobham defence and finish them off. They were also frustrated by the energy in Cobham’s pressure and when the Teddington fullback had a kick charged down, Gareth Powlson almost drove over for his third try.
However, towards the end of the first half Teddington started to show the strength of their backline, helped by a string of penalties against Cobham. They were unable to score, but showed promise of what they were capable of.
The first half ended 15 – 0 to Cobham with a flurry of activity and an excellent up-and-under from Peter Saunders
The second half continued in the same lively style, and, after winning their own lineout, Teddington’s backs broke through to score a try under the posts. They converted this to make the score Cobham 15, Teddington 7 – interesting!
Cobham’s restart did not go 10 metres and Teddington had a scrum on half-way. They started to string phases together and the game became very exciting.
After a particularly lively passage of play emotions overflowed, but a calming word from Chris Dean, the referee, sorted it out.
Teddington dropped a goal (that even their coach and supporters were astonished by) to make the score 15 – 10 to Cobham, but a try from Max Peacock restored a two-score lead at 20-10.
This was how it ended. The last 15 minutes was typically free-flowing, with a great deal of endeavour ... and a few mistakes as well. All in all, a good result and a good workout for the players on both sides
