Match report: Kingswood beats Graeme 27-26

Kingswood broke their derby day hoodoo with a determined victory over Graeme College, in a pulsating fixture on Somerset Field. Kingswood came back from a 19-8 deficit to clinch the game at the death.

Kingswood started brightly. They help onto possession and ran the ball with determination. The found space out wide, but were unable to capitalise fully on the overlaps that were created. They took the lead, however, with a penalty from Cameron Hertz. Graeme were barely in the game when Kingswood found space down the left. The inside pass went wild, and Graeme broke superbly on the counter from their own line to score a converted try against the run of play. The crowd had barely settled when Graeme broke again from their 22m area. They overloaded the Kingswood defence out wide and scored another converted try to put them 14-3 up. Graeme cleared the resulting kick off, but Kingswood collected at the lineout, and set up the driving maul. Jeff Theron was on hand to dot down the Kingswood forwards responded well to the challenge. Kingswood were looking to get back into the game, but were perhaps a little loose in possession. Graeme forced a turnover, and made good ground up to the Kingswood 22m. The Kingswood defence was at sixes and sevens, and Graeme found space through the middle to score their third try. Kingswood regrouped well after the setback, and came close through Amadi and Barnard. The latter break saw Barnard offload to Fred Burchell, who dotted down. With the last move of the half Hertz lined up a penalty from wide on the halfway line. The kick was accurate, but hit the crossbar, and Graeme cleared to end the half.

The second half started in a scrappy fashion. Both sides were tigerish in defence, which resulted in a number of handling errors. The game boiled over after Graeme were penalised, with both sets of players squaring up to each other. The break while the referee restored calm seemed to help Kingswood regain their composure. Hertz found a good touch, and Kingswood mauled it up from the lineout. The ball came back to Josh Shelley, who broke through the middle. He found an excellent inside pass to Hertz, who bullocked his way over for a well-worked try. The conversion meant that Kingswood were back within striking distance of Graeme. Graeme applied pressure from the kickoff, and Kingswood were camped in their own half for a period of play. Kingswood were eventually given the opportunity to clear their lines, but the kick to touch was missed. Graeme countered strongly and were rewarded with a try in the corner. The conversion was excellent, and put Graeme into the lead going into the final quarter of the match. Kingswood, however, have shown through the season that they do not give up easily. After a period of territorial dominance, Hertz broke through the midfield and offloaded to Shelley. Shelley was caught, but managed to get the return pass away, and Hertz went over for his second try of the match. The conversion was wide, which meant that Kingswood held a slender 1-point lead. They were able to hang on though, and finally managed to turn the ball over and clear into touch to end the game.

For Kingswood the forwards were excellent. Although they were soundly beaten in the scrum, their mauling from the lineout was a constant threat, and the competed well in the loose. Amongst the backs Nicklon Cannon had a good game behind a retreating pack. Shelley was again elusive and Hertz ran strongly with the ball. Overall, though, it was a fantastic team performance by Kingswood, who were determined throughout, and held their nerve when it counted at the end of the match.