Match Report by Rick Howe.

Crowborough, and their Travelling Faithful, braved the Charlton Athletic match day traffic , for what had to be a “must win” encounter with tenth placed Charlton Park, if their season was to have any positive meaning!
Against the top sides in the league, Crowborough may not have won, but have acquitted themselves admirably , and may have been understandably confident in coming away from south London with those all important four or five points.
Perhaps it was that over confidence that was to be their undoing, or the presence of several of the Woolwich Barrack contingent that was to influence the outcome of this contest.
Although not at full strength, ‘Boro had fielded a team that boasted players of undoubted individual quality, albeit with several playing in strangely unfamiliar positions. But the outcome was to prove that a well organised team of committed players will always win out against a team of fifteen excellent players, playing individually..
Within five minutes Park were five points up, when a clearance kick failed to find touch. Will Pitman got under the ball and palmed it backwards but the support was not there. But Park were. Collecting the errant ball the wing passed inside to the centre who strolled through three half hearted tackles, before being brought down short of the line ,only for the follow up, to dot the ball over for the unconverted try. 5-0
This score had the effect of both buoying up the home side and causing consternation in the visitors.
From the restart, and following an unnecessary penalty, ‘Boro found themselves in the Park 22, 15 metres from the Park Line. Andrew Kidd took the lineout and the pack piled on the pressure and marched the heavier park eight, back over their line where the ball was adjudged , for what was to be the first of three separate attempts during this match, to have been held up.
Crowborough sniffed an opportunity when the restart fell to Josh Jarvis, who fed Andrew Kidd on the charge. With the backs lined up in waiting, the ball was taken into contact with the resultant maul going the way of the home side and the threat was nullified.
A penalty to ‘Boro on the Park 10 was put into touch on the Park 22, where Sam Edwards threw to the front and receiving the return pass approached the Park line only to be taken out by a high tackle.
A second penalty was kept tight as the forwards trundled once more towards the line only for the pick and drive to be stemmed, whilst the backs could only look on in frustration, as “white line fever” took over before the inevitable relieving penalty was awarded.
The kick was fielded by Gus Weir on the halfway line who proceeded to feed his under utilised backs, and with Josh Jarvis on the wing taking the ball at full pace ,rounded his opposite number and side stepped two covering defenders. But the third caught up and caused the inside pass to go to ground. A park defender got a boot to it which rebounded off Sam Marchesi ‘s leg over the line where both he and Gus Weirs competed to the touch down ,with Gus Weir claiming the score which Jared Herman converted .5-7
As the half ran down Jared Herman added another penalty to take the score to 5-10, with the half about to end. However the official indicated there was still time for the kick off, which went to Adam King, who in anticipation of putting the ball into touch ,unfortunately knocked the ball on, which the following Park pack piled onto, to set up a final move. As the ball was passed along the back line and approaching within 10 metres of the line, ‘Boro transgressed. From the resulting quick penalty the scrum half scampered across the line for a converted score that took the half time score to 12-10 HT
Where Park had been showing intent, Crowborough had shown a lack of cohesion or vision on how to break down the resilience of the excellent Park defence, being content with simply running into the large defenders and going to ground then contesting the 50-50 ball.
Whenever Park won ball they used it constructively linking forwards and backs in “all out attack”. With support on either side of the ball carrier, their backs were able to exploit the yawning gaps and put the ‘Boro defence on the back foot.
For a fleeting moment after the restart ‘Boro gave a glimpse of what may be, when at last forwards and backs combined. With the ball being passed quickly to the wing Will Pitman crossed over in the corner to demonstrate how easy the game can be when played simply! The kick was pulled 12-15
Crowborough pressured again moments later, and went over the line only for the official to once more rule the ball to be held up.
After this it was just not going to be ‘Boro’s day ,and a 3 point margin was never going to be enough. Duly Park went ahead midway through the half, exploiting the defensive chaos that faced them and going a clear four points up 19-15 .
With a losing bonus point looking as though that was all ‘Boro were going to get for their afternoons work, and the referee looking at his watch, Ed Croft attempted a break on the Park 10 metre line, that could snatch victory, only to run into the Park centre who simply mugged him, snaffled the ball and ran away with forlorn defenders trailing in his wake, watching the four point win, or that important losing bonus point disappear. 26-15 FT
On a positive note, Crowborough’s 2nd XV came through their match against Worthing 3rd XV with a resounding 50-0 victory.