Sat 16 Nov 2019
After the disappointment of last weeks match succumbing to the weather, the A XV travelled to Plymouth to play the second string of the OPMs. Not having played them for a number of years it was going to be interesting to see what sort of team they would be. As the score might suggest this was an exciting match which could have been won by either side, but the truth is, that although the match was exciting, Kingsbridge returned home frustrated, knowing that they could have won the game.
The match started well for Kingsbridge keeping the home side in their own half which eventually saw (Kingsbridges') man of the match Ian Macey crossing over for the first try of the game, this was converted by Charlie Scott. However from the resulting kick off Kingsbridge found themselves pinned in their own 22 and decided to try and run the ball out, unfortunately a mis-timed pass was intercepted by an OPM back and he ran in the try unopposed this was converted to make the score 7 - 7 halfway through the first half. OPMs then failed to take the lead when the missed a penalty, and from the resulting 22 drop out Kingsbridge made their way down the pitch and after a number of phases Luke Flower managed to break a couple of tackles to touch down and put Kingsbridge back in the lead 7-12. Again Kingsbridge found themselves under pressure, in their own 22 from the kick off, after a handling error that gave the home side a scrum 6 metres out, the scrum was the one area where OPMs were dominant, and after penalising Kingsbridge's scrummaging twice, the home side elected for another scrum and again Kingsbride were penalised and the ref awarded a penalty try to the home side. Kingsbridge had a chance of going into halftime in the lead but the penalty was missed and they turned around 14-12 down.
The second half saw 20 minutes of stalemate, with both sides make a number of handling errors in the midway area of the pitch. This stalemate was eventually broken when, Captain for the day, James Lake ran a good line and broke through the home sides defence he ran in to the 22 and then with back up runners taking the ball on Alex Canevali scored the try to put Kingsbridge back in the lead 14-17. For the third time Kingsbridge found themselves under pressure due to a handling error in their own 22 and this resulted in OPMs scoring their third converted try and regaining the lead 21-17. The last five minutes saw Kingsbridge camped in the home sides 22 and despite having a man advantage, due to an OPM player being yellow carded, they couldn't cross the line, the afternoon (for Kingsbridge) could be summed up in the final phase of the game which resulted in the away side having an overlap but there was another handling error and the opportunity to win the game had gone.
So Kingsbridge left Plymouth with only the losing bonus point and wondering what could have been. One positive is that for the last two weeks the A XV have been able to field a squad of more than 15 so hopefully this will be a continuing trend for the rest of the season. On Saturday, if the A XV want to win, they will have to try to cut down on their errors as the welcome top of the merit table,and unbeaten, Tavistock II's to High House
Team selected from: Joey Gloyn, Nick Bidwell, Will Haddy, Brecon Trigger, James Lake, Dale Jefferies, Joe Dixon, Alex Canevali, Joe Hannon, John Tucker, William Oram, Sam Canning, Ben Jarvis, Zac Bromhead, + 3 others from Lakeys work.
