Crowborough v Guernsey

Crowborough Colts, formed over the summer by merging the U17s & 18s, played their first eagerly awaited game of the season on Saturday 6th September.

The team now coached by Tom Ireland, had been invited to play the Guernsey Colts in a curtain raiser for a charity match between Wasps Legends & Guernsey Siam.

Warming up, the boys seemed unperturbed that they were playing together for the first time and in front of a large crowd, including several international players (one such player, Andy Gomershall, even came onto the pitch to help scrum half, Zeb Kisbee, with his passing technique)

Despite Guernsey seemingly having a weight advantage over Crowborough, the teams were evenly matched in the first quarter and it was Crowborough who were first onto the scoreboard. Guernsey were penalised on the edge of their 22 and with no tee forthcoming, Sam Kisbee drop kicked the ball through the posts.

However, with the Crowborough defence holding firm, Guernsey resorted to kicking. It was Crowboroughs failure to deal with these kicks that led to the first two tries, which left Crowborough 12-3 down at half time.

In the second half, the heat, the lack of match practise and not doubt the early start, began to tire the boys and one or two defensive errors started to creep in, allowing Guernsey to score two more tries, to finish 24-3 up. As would be expected some areas will require work, but Tom, their coach, was very pleased with their overall performance.

Thanks must go to Collas Crill, whose generous sponsorship enabled the team to fly over and also thanks to members and supporters of Guernsey RFC, who looked after the squad for the weekend. A great time was had by all and what better way to bond the two age groups together for the coming season.