30th March 2008

Result: Cobham 24 London Irish 0

Surrey League One

We have been trying for months to get this fixture changed, because we knew many of our regular line-up would be away. Shame on us and thanks to London Irish for refusing to agree to the change. We thought they would want to test themselves against our best, as it was they pretty much did so and came off second best.

The first fifteen minutes were pretty even, as both teams battled to cope with the conditions, which were bright and sunny following on from 24 hours of continuous rain, leaving the pitch slippy and the ball, greasy. Initially, there was a sustained period of pressure from Irish in the Cobham half, from several kicks over the top and free kicks finding touch, but Peacock and Watkins continually disrupted the Irish throw in, so they were never able to capitalise on the field postion and any incursion into the Cobham 22 was always shortlived. Then, Cobham began a period of pressure, which saw try attempts by both forwards and backs just fall short. Alex Stout was brought down a foot from the line and Rory Morrison also went close.

It took an early substitution to break the deadlock. Matt Koep came on and Matthew Cragg went to the wing to replace Jack Westmoreland-Burns, who was struggling a little bit after some good work on his return from injury. When play restarted, a maul developed on the London Irish 22, from which Koep suddenly burst out and ran the ball in passed stunned Irish players. Hickman converted and Cobham were in business.

Irish restarted and tried to bring their backs more into the game. Another reason Irish were keen to play this match was they had a registered player, who plays for Blackrock College in Dublin, back for half term playing at centre. This player was tackled consistently by Bliss, Hickman and Swindell in close succession, twice with such ferocity he lost the ball in contact. These three tackled outstandingly well all day, along with Stout and Clifford.

Just before half time, Irish had a chance to kick for touch and close out the half only 7-0 down but opted to run it, were tackled and were turned over in the resulting ruck. Cobham charged up the field with great interplay between the forwards and the backs and Bliss keeping the whole show moving rapidly forward. Once inside the Irish 22, a series of forward surges took place, an Irish clearance kick was charged down, finally resulting in Max Peacock taking the ball over.

In the second half, Irish came back strongly although they kept on making mistakes and basic handling errors at crucial points. Cobham needed another score to begin to close this match out, but it was the Irish who had a penalty attempt to draw first blood in this half. The kick went wide and although Irish never gave up, they never really looked like scoring again.

Cragg, meanwhile, was enjoying an increasing amount of space on the left wing. Chasing a good kick forward from Bliss, a rushed Irish throw saw Cragg gain possession and then sidestep, shimmy, juggle and then finally roll with the ball over the line. This was right in front of Mum too, nice one.

The game now ebbed and flowed and as players tired, Irish got a few runs in, but the Cobham defence was never less than superb. Seb Sharpe made some excellent covering tackles, but all the backs did well, in some instances catching players and tackling from behind, which is never easy. Finally, Ollie Hickman picking the ball up almost on his own 22, sidestepped his way past half a dozen players, to run the ball the length of the pitch to score under the posts.

This was a battling performance in the best Cobham tradition. At times it was not pretty, but the commitment from all the players was never less than excellent and everybody played their part. Thanks must go especially to Richard Thurston and Matt Koep, who only became available in the last week before the game and made immense contributions. (Surely they are the two most improved players this season?) All the Development Squad players did themselves credit and can take much pride in their performance. The strength in depth of this club must have others wringing their hands in despair.

The other highlights were Alex Stout played the Captain's game we have to come to expect and whether moving the ball forward from the base of the scrum, or turning up all over the pitch in defence, he was immense. Tom Bliss looked self-assured, cool and distributed and kicked well. The two centres, Hickman and Swindell looked rock solid in attack or defence.

Finally, thanks to London Irish for stretching us and making us work hard. A few silly mistakes cost them dearly, when a closer score might have been more reflective of the overall game. See you next year, any time, any place.