It was a carnival atmosphere in South East London on Saturday, when third placed Bromley met fourth placed Crowborough, on a pitch that was as flat and dry as the adjacent cricket square, giving no excuse for anything less that fast flowing rugby.
A large boisterous crowd, buoyed by their trade mark, and raucous Ibiza theatre music, anticipated another healthy win to aid their promotion hopes.
Although ‘Boro were first on the score sheet with a Jared Hermann penalty, it was the home side that moved into the lead with a well taken try in the corner following a period camped on the visitors 5 metre line. But with the defence over-committed, the ball was whipped to the right, and although the attack seemed to be covered, two defenders were sucked in to one attacker, leaving the winger unguarded as he swept over the line for an unconverted try.3-5 Cue music ( you had to be there)!
Crowborough were not fazed by this set back, and proceeded to commit their own attack deep in the home sides 22. Attempts by Will Pitman; which was held up short; Adam King who was held up over the line; and Gus Weir who was accused of not releasing the man with the line begging, kept the home side guessing.
Until this point it was to be anyone’s game, and indeed Crowborough could, and perhaps should have won this contest, but as the game unfolded the visitors started to “ lose the official” and many of those 50/50 decisions. It would be churlish to blame the eventual outcome solely on the official, who officiated the same fixture a season or so ago, as ‘Boro’s anxiousness and frustration manifested itself in a series of uncharacteristic mis-directed passes; fumbled catches; un-forced knock-ons; and crucially missed tackles, as they desperately tried to take back the initiative.
To make matters worse, with Adam King breaking through and on the charge to the line, the game was halted as Will Creasy was poleaxed by a haymaker to the nose and right eye socket, and had to leave the field.
As is often the case, the harder one tries the worse it gets, and before Crowborough could take a breather and reset, Bromley were to make ‘Boro’s dilemma worse, with two debatable scores just before half time.
The first try came as Bromley were attacking in the ‘Boro 22, when the fly half crossed behind his centre, to then cut in under the posts for a converted try, with the second being allegedly dropped and then grounded short of the line, whilst the official was blindsided. 24-3. Cue more music!
Most sides would have capitulated at this point, having gone four tries down before half time, but ‘Boro’s never say die attitude prevailed, and as the half drew to a close, Sam Marchesi broke through two attempted tackles, and as he was held up Will Pitman appeared on his shoulder to take the off-load, avoided two more defenders and crashed over for a Hermann converted score 24-10 HT
As the sides turned around, the ‘Boro coaching team had just a few moments to press “ Factory Reset”.
Whatever was said appeared to work. A calmer approach, with less frenetic handling, saw ‘Boro attack up the hill and with the pack forcing their opposite numbers backwards, the ‘Boro backs got back into their groove, with Sam Skinner passing inside to Josh Jarvis, who arrived on the charge sliding between the centres to score between the sticks for another Jared Hermann converted try. 24-17. The crowd on the touchline and the raucous music theatre was eerily silent!
Playing up the steep Bromley slope is not what any visiting team wish to do in the second half, particularly chasing a score, but although visibly tiring, Crowborough could sniff an upset, and braved the climb once more.
Not for the first time, from a scrum in the Bromley 22, the ‘Boro front row popped their opponents into the air as they back peddled. As the ruck formed several pick and drives were met by the immovable force, until Dave Bennett channelled all his pent up frustration into one more drive and forced his way under the cover, for the score which Jared Hermann converted. 24-24 Cue music????
With the game now in the fourth quarter, the home side were to take advantage of the slope, and of a quickly tiring ‘Boro side, who all afternoon had had difficulty closing down the space between the back lines, and stemming the Bromley backs momentum. Crowborough put in a further attack down the left touchline, with Errol Munoz, who with space ahead was cynically taken out with a no-arms tackle that resulted in a Bromley lineout , rather than the yellow it deserved.
However, it was not to be Crowborough’s day as the home side took advantage of their good luck with two converted tries in quick succession, the best of which came from their excellent #15 who cut an exquisite line to score next to the post. 38-24 Cue more music!!!
With three minutes left, and Bromley looking to rub more salt into the wounds of the visitors, a loose pass in the ‘Boro 22 was scooped up by Andrew Kidd, who looked up the hill that had suddenly become a mountain 70 metres away, and saw that Bromley had committed everyone into attack. Unfortunately for him Crowborough had similarly committed everyone into defence and therefore had no immediate support.
Showing a turn of pace that would not disgrace a winger, he set off up the hill outstripping the covering defence and with one final effort staggered over the line for a final Hermann converted bonus point try, and with the end of the match at 38-31 Crowborough received a losing bonus point. Music Maestro !! Are there any neighbours nearby??
This result keeps Crowborough in fourth place with Bromley moving into second place ahead of Sevenoaks who lost at Deal & Betteshanger.
Next week is the final weekend of the Six nations so there are no league fixtures. However Crowborough 2nd XV are playing their postponed fixture against Hellingly with promotion in the offering . KO 2:30pm