Crowborough progressed into the semi-finals of the Papa Johns Community Cup with an impressive win at a resplendent Steel Cross yesterday. The Steel Cross boys were ahead after just 4 minutes when the powerful Crowborough pack drove Mavericks backwards. The ball quickly moved from James Hart to Bertie Boast who fed Rob Lester who came into the line at pace and at an acute angle for the score under posts. James Hart added the extras.
Mavericks finally got going after weathering the storm of Crowborough’s early pressure. They were pacy in attack with powerful runners out wide. Ten minutes gone and Crowborough knew they were now in a game. Mavericks could easily have levelled the score after some wonderful handling but were let down by a wayward final pass. This was to be a problem for them throughout the contest. Despite the visitors pressure it was Crowborough who got the scoreboard moving again. Following a series of long raking kicks ‘Borough found themselves deep in the Maverick half. Quick ruck ball was moved wide where the excellent Will Creasy latched on to the ball and powered over for the try. James Hart was again sure with the boot. 14-0.
The game now was ebbing and flowing with both sides showing a positive intent on a pitch perfect for fast, open rugby. The large crowd were being thoroughly entertained. It was the home side who were more accurate and extended their lead after a penalty found touch near the corner. The ball was moved wide where a ruck was formed from which the quick thinking Harry Slatter picked up and powered over. With another success kick by James Hart - 21-0.
Crowborough continued to edge the 50/50 encounters using the ball well. Youngsters Josh Radford and George Boynton were playing their part with Crowborough going close on several occasions. The pressure final told when elder statesman Dave Bennett finishing off an excellent passage of play that split Maverick’s defence wide open. James Hart sadly missed the extra points.
Mavericks were not playing badly and the scoreboard did not reflect the quality of their play. Their fire power wasn’t quite good enough to get past the ‘Borough defence and those wayward final passes were hurting. However, on the stroke of half-time after an unusual period of sloppy play by Crowborough, Mavericks secured the ball some 60 metres out from the try line. Slick inter-passing, outstanding support lines and deceptive running freed up the visitors powerful No.8 who outstripped the home defence to score from 40 metres out under the posts. Half-time 26-7.
The opening exchanges of the first half definitely went the way of the visitors. Sniping runs from the half backs and powerful support from mid-field kept the ‘Borough defence on their toes. Sadly that final pass with the try line begging to be crossed let the Mavericks down. The pressure exerted by the visitors was forcing the home side into uncharacteristic errors and poor decision making but it wasn’t enough to get the scoreboard moving.
In fact it was Crowborough who extended their lead after 25 minutes of the second half. A kick to touch and a powerful drive from the lineout followed by some good pick and drives freed up Bertie Boast who again found Rob Lester coming at pace on the angle for the try under the posts. With the extra points from James Hart 33-7.
Mavericks to their credit weren’t giving up. With about 8 minutes to go they pounced on an overly ambitious offload by ‘Borough to get the ball moving out wide. Slick passing, and excellent support lines found the big No.8 charging down the wing. A short sharp pass found the winger in support who crashed over in the corner. The conversion was missed. 33-12.
Crowborough weren’t done yet and with the seconds ticking down to full time closed the game off with another well taken try. A quick tap penalty taken by Harry Slatter was offloaded to skipper Alex Purnell. A couple of further offloads found Dave Bennett in space with him going over for his second of the day. An excellent way to finish for Crowborough, and for Dave Bennett who was magnificent from start to finish.
This was an outstanding team performance that if replicated tomorrow against Falmouth could see Crowborough contesting the final. Steel Cross with kick off at 15.00pm, (TBC).