Bromley RFC VS Crowborough RFC

CROWBOROUGH PUSH BROMLEY TO THE LIMIT

On Saturday Bromley entertained Crowborough in a highly anticipated match up. The pitch was in great condition, the sun was out and a large crowd was in attendance so all was set fair. Preceding the game there was a curtain raiser with Bromley under 15’s playing against their counterparts from Crowborough with the home side coming out on top. A few changes to the Bromley squad with Withers into the front row, Devane replacing Brown and a late call up for Richardson on the wing for Pillow. There was a very experienced bench of Tommy Scott, Dan Caroll and James Powell.

It soon became very evident that the away side had come to play as they dominated the early stages and Bromley were on high alert defensively. On four minutes, after slick back play, Crowborough broke through on the right hand side and looked certain to score but a super tackle at the death led to a knock on but one minute late Bromley conceded a penalty in front of the posts and were 0-3 down. From the kick off Crowborough again knocked on leading to a scrum which Bromley comfortably won and the ball was whizzed along the line, recycled, allowing Richardson to squeeze in at the corner. Difficult conversion missed in the swirling wind. Bromley were now getting into their stride and on sixteen minutes after great work by full back George Hawkins the home side were awarded a penalty which was kicked to the corner. From the resultant lineout, Crowborough were deemed to have knocked on. Number nine Friday was sharply away from the resultant scrum creating a gap for Richardson to again slide over in the right hand corner. Conversion went the same way as the first. 10-3 Bromley.

Both teams looked very threatening with ball in hand but it was Bromley who looked most likely to score in the twenty seventh minute when Friday carved his way through the middle of the pitch and fired out a long pass to the onrushing Richardson. He pinned back his ears and set off for his favourite hiding hole the far right hand corner. However, Crowborough had a couple of speedsters too and the Bromley flyer was hauled down fifteen metres short. Three minutes later after sustained attacks by Bromley the away side leaked penalties which led to their undoing and another try for the black and ambers duly converted by Johnny Griffiths. Four minutes later Hawkins made a great catch and set off on a mazy run which led Bromley into prime position in front of the posts where they went through the phases and young prop Withers rumbled over and with the conversion the home side were in a commanding position at 24-3.

With half time approaching Bromley gave away a penalty near their twenty two which was taken sharply and in the blink of an eye the opposition crashed over near the posts for a simple conversion 24-10. The first fifteen minutes or so of the second half Bromley will probably want to forget as they conceded two converted tries, barely got out of their half, gave away a host of penalties and found it difficult to clear their lies properly. All credit to Crowborough for pressurising the home team and taking advantage of the opportunities given to them or they created with their fast attacking style. So from a healthy lead suddenly the scores were tied at 24-24 and the wind was well and truly in Crowborough’s sails and Bromley needed to wake up and respond and of course they did. On sixty minutes Hawkins again instigated an attack carried on by Richardson which culminated in a penalty to Bromley. This was crashed up by Devane and with a couple of quick recycles Johnny Griffiths was in and he converted his own score. Bromley were back to their free flowing best and again Hawkins ambled through the midfield passed to the supporting Powell who drove forward, attracted the cover and released the try scoring pass. Unfortunately, it was fumbled and the chance was gone. No matter as three minutes later from a Bromley scrum the ball was intricately passed along the backline creating the space for Powell to run in unopposed to the line for another converted try.

For the second time, Bromley had created a substantial lead and just had to manage the last ten minutes to get the win. They were doing this pretty well keeping Crowborough mainly in their half and in their desperation to get up the field they gave away two penalties. Both were in kicking range and in terms of game management,t the sensible option would usually be kick at goal. Not the Bromley way. They decided to run both which did not pay off and two minutes from the end after a furious scrap for the ball one of the Crowborough forwards burst through a gap and headed off up the pitch. As he had about seventy metres to go there did not seem to be too much danger. However, there was nobody home for Bromley as they were all committed to full out attack. So the initial trot turned into a gallop and he was away to score under the posts for a converted try. 38-31. Fortunately for the home side, there was little time left and the award of a penalty gave Johnny Griffiths the opportunity to blast the ball off the park and Bromley had their five point bonus win – just.

This was a thrilling game played between two fine sides with the result in doubt right to the end. Congratulations to the referee who was excellent. Communicated all his decisions clearly so the players and spectators understood and he showed great fitness as this game was played at a rare old pace. I would like to mention two players for Bromley who stood out on the day. Mike Haisell at number eight was super constantly running straight and hard and showing no little skill in other aspects of his play. Then there is George Hawkins who on winning his 100^th cap was at the heart of a lot of Bromley’s attacking play but also delivered a couple of crunching defensive tackles. 

Elsewhere the seconds travelled to Medway which has been a bit of a graveyard for Bromley sides in the past. Not this time as they recorded an excellent 17-30 victory. The thirds travelled to another potentially awkward fixture at Beckenham. They also did the club proud with a convincing 0-38 win. On Sunday the Academy team played Blackheath and in a closely contested game, they just lost by the odd score. As yet I am unaware of any games arranged for this coming Saturday 15^th March but this may change during the week. The next game for the firsts is away at Sevenoaks on the 22nd.