Charlie who?

It was a long game coming with the previous match called off by the Cobham side due to frozen ground. The pitch was in a great condition for the game this weekend so there could be no excuses for a good performance and an eagerly awaited contest between two sides in good form.

A particular mention goes to richard day on his 100th cap for the first XV, a fine effort for a man still only in his twenties, despite his hair line.

Cup got off to a strong start, getting a chance at the posts in the first 5 minuets. Josh Twyford unsuccessful, with the Sidcup faithful hoping he hadn't left his kicking boots in Chobham. This strong start was not to last, Cobham came back with some concerning running lines for the Sidcup defence. A couple of soft penalties in the defensive line and Sidcup found themselves 6 points down after being duly punished by the cobham kicker.

With some sensational thrown ball to the line out, from the debut hooker Nick Agbo, Sidcup found the platform they were looking for in the game and started to break down the Cobham defence. With strings of phase play to be rewarded with a score under the posts for the forever scrapping Sonny Bill Williams. Converted. In this new found strength the cup pack continued to dominate with receiving penalties from the scrum as Sam Carman manipulated his opposite man, as a consequence the team found themselves on the front foot playing at a high tempo with lead to them grounding a second try out wide for Max O' Leary. Also Converted. It followed by a succession of penalties 2 for Cobham and 1 for Sidcup, both teams making mistakes which had been costly for them.

As the game continued in the second half both teams found it hard to find an edge on their opponent. Tension was high in both teams leading to a small scrap between the 9's and both receiving a yellow, this was a great loss for the sidcup team as ben Ibrahim had been key to a large amount of their breaks and counter attack.

After some more Sidcup pressure a small handling error from new centurion led to Cobham stretching their legs and countering with a try from their own 22. Game on.

Score was now 17-19 but Sidcup showed no panic and a great deal of patience in order to stay calm and not to throw the game away, even when substitute Dan Evans, recent graduate of the Sam Carmen catching school, fumbled inside the cobham 22 with the whitewash in front of him.

They narrowed in on the Cobham defence with some direct running, causing them to splinter. They had now found themselves stuck on the 5m line facing with a penalty in hand. Sidcup braking their powerful pack opted for a scum, a brave choice for the skipper but some good work from his front 5 throughout the game gave him the confidence. His judgement was not let down, in a tense moment the pack gifted the team with a penalty try, the ref surging under the posts and in the same
moment getting the last laugh in his ongoing fallout with Jon west by denying him his 19th try of the season. Sidcup
were back in the game and 3 points ahead, but they needed another score to break away from the Cobham side.

This came moments later with some more strong work from the sidcup forwards in the tight, lead all day by Agbo, and yet again Ben Ibrahim, fresh from his 10 minute rest, sniped over from short range to secure the game and his hero status.

The points remain till the end of the game, the undefeated season continues. A gusts effort against at talented cobham side and Sidcup will come away with some massive lessons learned and something I'm sure we'll see in the upcoming games.

Written by George Cave

Sidcup Rugby Football Club

Match details

Match date

Kickoff

Competition

League position

Team Sponsors

Login