Crowborough welcomed 11th placed Ashford to Steel Cross last Saturday, anxious to reverse the result earlier in the season, when, having underestimated their opponents, Crowborough were comprehensively beaten in almost every aspect of the game.
Crowborough were slow to get out of the blocks allowing the visitors to take the early initiative, showing their intent to win the 50;50 balls and deny the home side any meaningful possession. Boro’s initial frustration led to a series of penalties early on, with Ashford taking a 0-6 lead.
It was some 20 minutes before Crowborough’s dogged defence resulted in the turnover of Ashford possession, and with Bertie Boast moving the point of attack away from the big Ashford pack the ‘Boro backs made impressive ground to within 15 metres of the Ashford line. From the scrum, ‘Boro piled on the pressure forcing the visitors back row to stay bound in, and as the pack inched forward Ollie Clinch picked up the ball skipping around his opposite number to score to the right of the posts. The kick was amazingly missed. 5-6
Tom Burgess had to leave the field, requiring a re-organisation in the back division with Bertie Boast moving to the wing, and debutant Tom Simmonds moving to a roaming #9 / #10 axis with Ollie Clinch.
The returning Tom Kent, who had been absent for several months, made an instant impact at #3 with several crunching tackles and wrecking ball runs that saw the defence scatter.
As Ashford started to emulate ‘Boro’s penchant for giving away penalties, Andy Kidd took a quick tap penalty 10 metres out only to have the ball stripped as he approached the line. But this act showed Boro to be picking up the pace, and moments later the ball, having been moved left, was quickly reversed to the left with Tom Boddy and Alex Purnell in support. As Tom Boddy took a suspected head shot he off loaded to centre Alex Purnell who crashed over for a Tom Simmonds converted try. 12-6.
Belying their league possession, instead of heads dropping, Ashford immediately regrouped with their impressive centre taking advantage of a rare lapse in concentration in the ‘Boro back division, to exploit a gap in the defence and score between the sticks. With the kick being successful the half time whistle went with Crowborough on the wrong side of the score sheet once more. 12-13 HT.
From the restart, Ashford continued to transgress, offering two penalty attempts to Tom Simmonds, both gratefully accepted, with one impressively from around 45 meters out ! 18-13.
With first prop Tom Kent leaving the field, captain Alex Purnell moved from centre to #3, and then to show his versatility, was moved to #2 as Sam Edwards had to leave the field. Ollie Clinch at #9 viewed all this with amused suspicion, holding firmly onto his shirt!
Crowborough, having cast off their earlier lethargy, started to play more expansive and sensible rugby, cutting out the speculative for the certain, typified by a play by Tom Simmonds, who switched play to the right with an expansive pass that missed out both centres to the unmarked Andy Kidd standing out wide on the right touchline. Covering the fifteen metres at pace he had the presence of mind to make the Tom Simmonds conversion easier, touching down between the posts. 25-13. FT
There were to be no more scores in a game that was played in and excellent spirit, by two sides who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying this continued return to competitive rugby, which was well refereed by the exchange referee Nick Edmonds.
This week Crowborough have another home fixture against Top of the Table, Gravesend following the game’s postponement before Christmas.