Topsy Turvy afternoon for the Crow's !

Match Report by Rock Howe.

If Crowborough had played the whole 80 minutes of this contest, with the aggression, determination and purpose that they demonstrated in the final 10 minutes, then the outcome could have been so much different.
The reality was that ‘Boro lost this match in the first ten minutes, when they failed to adjust to the officiating style of the man in the middle, giving away several penalties and shipping two soft tries, that the travelling faithful feared would foretell a potential cricket score was in the offering.
The first score came from a simple expansive passing move that saw the wing take the ball at pace some 20 metres out, and although Stevens covered across and caught the wing just short of the line with a suspicion of a foot in touch, the momentum and “lack of TMO” allowed the score to stand. 5-0
The second came from a five metre scrum and as the #9 broke right he passed inside to the #8 who crashed over for the score. 10-0
However, Old Dunstonians failed to capitalise on the momentum that their two earlier tries should have generated, and failing to kick the extra points could have proved costly as the match progressed.
Having generously given OD’s a head start Crowborough proceeded to tighten up their game, starting with a quite astonishing maul on halfway that quickly progressed down the field before being illegally pulled down five metres out. Amazingly a penalty was the only reward for ‘Boro’s sterling effort which they kicked into touch in the hope of winning the lineout and repeating the drive. On a roll, Hill took the catch and set up the drive with Rob Horsfall-Turner looping around the back to secure the ball. The pack put on the drive once more, driving over the line for a well taken Robert Horsfall-Turner try that Chris Yates converted from the touchline. 7-10
Having done all the hard work, Crowborough then relaxed as OD’s scored 15 points, firstly with a soft penalty, then as Boro failed to shut down the space between the two back lines, allowing the right wing to cut an oblique line to the inside of the cover, to score untouched, then watched as the left wing matched his companions feat, putting further space between the two sides. 25-7
Seemingly, needing such an incentive to galvanise them into further action, Crowborough showed that they never know when to quit, and with a quite exceptional display of strong running through Gary Stevens, play advance to within ten metres of the OD line, and following several phases of support Bertie Boast popped up to take the final pass scoring to the left of the posts for Yates to convert. 25-14
With confidence returning, and half time approaching, Tom West made a break from a scrum on the half way line, and with support trailing behind he managed to stay on his feet long enough for the pack to arrive and engage a powerful drive once more, from which Ollie Jude-Trailor emerged with the score that Chris Yates converted to take the score to 25-21 at half time and still all to play for.
With just 4 points between the sides and Boro showing improved aptitude the next score would be crucial. Unfortunately Chris Yates was inexplicably shown “yellow” , and during his absence OD’s exploited the extra man by scoring two tries in quick succession down the left wing, and ‘Boro were lucky not to concede a further try when, incredibly with a three man overlap, the inside centre passed behind the support players directly into touch 35-21.
With Boro now two converted tries adrift, and out of losing bonus point territory, they set their sights on wresting something from this contest as a reward for their efforts, only requiring a converted try to gain a four try bonus point and a losing bonus point, but just seven minutes remaining.
Leading by example, captain Alex Purnell contested every loose ball, with a fearless young Teo Reed on the left wing, tackling everything that moved preventing a couple of dangerous attacks. Securing and then maintaining possession, ‘Boro advanced up the field forming a ruck two metres from the OD line. Several pick and drives were well defended by OD’s, before Richard Tasker squirmed his way over to touch down in the corner for the fourth bonus point try, although the swirling wind thwarted the losing bonus point kick taking the final score to 35-26.