Match Report by Rick Howe,
And our Referee today was Mr Richard Hanks

Two games played two games lost. That was what Crowborough, in 12th place, faced as they lined up to take on fourth placed Beckenham last Saturday.
After the drubbing the previous week, no one would have been too surprised if the losing habit, would be forefront in the player’s minds. However a change to the starting line up, seemed to remove much of the collective self doubt.
Earlier, the weather forecast threatened torrential rain and gale force winds, and right on Q, as the whistle went to start the match, rain of biblical proportions fell, and would continue unabated until well after the game was finished and all had gone home. Under the circumstances the ball handling by both sides was quite exceptional.
Crowborough reverted to their traditional defensive mode, frustrating the visitors who failed to cross the line and accepted just three points for their first ten minutes of attacking effort. 0-3
With the weather being a real leveller, neither side was able to force the ball over the line and seemed to adopt the waiting game playing for the inevitable penalty attempt.
With Crowborough preferring to set up their attacks from within their own 22, it was always going to be a risky strategy, as their rate of indiscretions has often been their undoing. Only once did Crowborough successfully test the new 50:20 law and gain substantial ground to set up a favourable attacking position in the visitors 22. Although the lineout was won, it was done so illegally and a promising attacking position was lost.
With Tom West levelling the score Beckenham pulled ahead with three more penalties that brought the half time score to 3-12, with Crowborough hanging in there and in taking the game to the visitors showed that a simple change in fortune could turn the game around.
Immediately from the restart the gap narrowed through a Tom West penalty, 6-12, and the dawning of a revival was palpable, although the crossing of the white line still seemed further than ever. Beckenham were also having doubts, unable to add to their first half score and realising like their opponents, that they were within one score of an upset. West added to that doubt with another penalty with 10 minutes to go 9-12, and although Beckenham restored the 6 points gap between the sides, ‘Boro failed to gasp the initiative, and engineer that converted try that would have recorded their first win of the season, rather than settling for the losing bonus point as the final whistle went 9-15, to allow Crowborough to scrape off the bottom of the table into 11th place.
On a positive note, the condition of the playing surface at the end of this match, after so much rain, was a testament to the hard work of the ground staff, and there are now hopes that the legendary Crowborough quagmire has finally been consigned to the annuls of CRFC history.
With no game next week, Crowborough have two weeks to regroup before travelling to their next opponents, 1st placed Charlton Park on 16th October, followed in the next five weeks, by what may arguably be the seasons defining fixtures against sides in their own half of the league.