Senior Match reports 2012-13
Saturday 30th March
Kingston 2ndXV 16, Guildfordians 10 (M) 3pm KO
After a 2 week break due to bad weather, Kingston returned to action by completing the double over their merit table rivals.
Despite conceding the first score, a penalty, Kingston soon asserted their authority and moved into a comfortable 13 -3 lead by half time, with a penalty by Alan Ockenden, followed by a well-finished try by Ross McTear, converted along with a second penalty by Ockenden.
After another penalty by fly half Ockenden, Kingston appeared to be in almost complete control. Instead of cruising to victory , however, they had to endure a nervous ten minutes after conceding a soft try. Guildfordians took a tap penalty on the Kingston 22, and the opposition hooker was allowed to barrel over almost untouched by any tackles. Despite this familiar lapse, Kingston were more than worth their six point victory.
Saturday 23rd March
O’Tiffinians v Kingston 1stXV (League) – **CANCELLED **
Kingston 2ndXV v Guildfordians 2ndXV (Merit) **CANCELLED***
Saturday 16th March
Kingston 1stXV v Chipstead (Surrey Shield) – Postponed – water-logged pitch
O’Paulines 3rdXV v Kingston 2ndXV (F)
Saturday 9th March
Kingston 1stXV 30, Croydon 7 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Streatham & Croydon 22, Kingston 2ndXV 19 (Merit)
Streatham exacted painful revenge for Kingston’s second half comeback win in the pre-xmas fixture by scoring in the last couple of minutes to snatch victory.
Ray Barclay drove over from a maul to score the first unconverted try., but Streatham responded with two unconverted tries of their own. Kieron Green levelled the scores with a try and Billy Tattum’s conversion inched Kingston into the lead. Kimgston’s best period was topped off with a try by substitute winger Joe Wright, again converted by Billy Tattum.
The 19 -10 lead should have been sufficient, but two things combined to take the game away from them. First, several substitutions by Streatham changed the momentum, with the one of these players clearly having just finished playing for Streatham’s first team. This lead to a try to close the gap to four points. However, the crucial final score was, once again, down to poor defence by Kingston, with the opposition right winger allowed to run 40 metres up the touchline through three weak tackles, when he should have easily have been knocked off the field of play. For this reason , we can have no cause for complaint.
Saturday 2nd March
Farnham 26, Kingston 1stXV 13 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 32, Dorking Vets 10 (F)
A rearranged fixture led to Kingston playing their first genuine Vets side of the season, and it was Kingston’s youth and speed, rather than controlled rugby that allowed a comfortable victory by six tries to two. Kingston’s scorers were Ben Hamer, Chris Akerman, Connor Ashwin (twice), Ross McTear and Billy Tattum. Just one conversion was added by fly half Hamer. The visitors replied with the last two scores, both unconverted tries, as Kingston’s lack of control was finally exposed.
Saturday 23rd February
Kingston 1stXV v O’Emanuel (F) 2pm KO
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 8, Weybridge Vandals 3rdXV 15 (F) 2pm KO
A try by Paul Symonds and a penalty by Bobby McEvoy gave Kingston an 8 -0 lead, but this was more than cancelled out by conceding 3 unconverted tries.
Saturday 16th February
Kingston 1stXV v O’Wimbledonians (League)
Awaiting match report…
Merton 2ndXV 20, Kingston 2ndXV 17 (Merit)
Kingston lost their second close merit table game against Merton, a game they could have won, outscoring their opponents by three tries to two, had not defence let them down. Having said that, this was a vast improvement on their poor performance a week earlier.
After a decent pre-match warm-up, Kingston started the brighter of the two sides, and deservedly scored after their first real attack of the game. Winger Ross McTeer, given some room on his 22, made good ground up the middle of the park before being tackled. Second row Rob Simmonds did well to get the breakdown to secure possession, and the ball was spun to the wing again for Roger Lawal to show his strength and speed to score from just over halfway. The try was unconverted. The second quarter of the game was Kingston’s poorest period, conceding an easy try when the Merton inside centre trotted through non-existent tackles to score near the posts. Merton showed respect for the visitors by choosing to kick two penalties, one of which was conceded after several failed attempts by Kingston’s backs to clear the ball from their 22. Half time score was 5-13.
Kingston renewed their efforts and Rob Simmonds confirmed himself as one of Kingston’s better players when he did well again to take a high pass and still get the ball down over the line. This try was also unconverted, but the third try was, after James White capped Kingston’s best period by scoring on the post after picking up at the base of a scrum some ten yards out.
Unfortunately, Kingston’s three point lead lasted only a few minutes after Merton applied pressure and scored a converted try from the penultimate move of the game. After the restart, Merton were able to secure the game by kicking the ball out on the full.
Saturday 9th February
Cranleigh 39, Kingston 1stXV 0 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 7, Economicals 2ndXV 90 (Merit)
Not a lot to say about this match except the performance was possibly worse than the 0 -80 drubbing against the same opposition earlier in the season. Most of the players put some effort in, but the tackling at times was non-existent. The gloom was at least relieved momentarily when skipper Neil Anderson ploughed over for a short range try, converted by fly half Tom Ridpath.
Saturday 2nd February
Kingston ClubXV v O’Reigatians (F)
Awaiting match report…
Saturday 26th January
Kingston 1stXV 33, Freemans 27 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 17 London Media 2ndXV 24 (Merit) **Now playing at home due to away pitch not playable**
Awaiting match report…
Saturday 12th January
O’Walcountian 6, Kingston 1stXV 19 (League)
In arguably their best performance of the season, Kingston beat a determined and spirited Old Walcountian side with Nathan Brown and Kevin Phillips scoring a try a-piece and Harry Bettinson adding the points with the boot.
The home side opened the scoring when Kingston gifted them a soft penalty a matter of minutes into the game. From then on it was one-way traffic and the visitors never looked like losing this one, even when centre Will Cobley knocked on over the try line – butchering a golden opportunity to take an early lead. Perhaps the team’s respective early reaction to that mishap was a sign of things to come as Old Walcountian celebrated the knock on as if they had scored themselves. In contrast Kingston dusted themselves off and prepared for the resulting scrum.
The spirit and gulf in quality between the sides was typified by winger Nathan Brown chasing down his opposite man when he was seemingly through in a foot race to the line. Soon afterwards Brown popped up again to score the first try of the match with some fleeting footwork following a perfectly executed pass from prop Chi Kavindele. Full back Harry Bettinson added the extra points to take the score to 3-7.
As the game wore on Kingston upped the tempo and Old Walcountian struggled to handle the pressure. With the visiting forwards working hard to ensure quick ball, the half back partnership of Joe Best and Mark Chatting kept Old Walcountian guessing with quick passing and accurate kicks pinning them into the corners. Nowhere was this hard work more evident than in open-side Stewart Hill’s work rate in attack and defence, earning him a well deserved Man of the Match award. Consequently Old Walcountian found every avenue blocked by the visitors dogged defence and were forced to live of scraps. Highlighted by the fact they only managed to score another 3 points in 75 minutes of rugby, a very poor return by anyone’s standards.
Kingston might have closed the game out sooner had their traditionally strong scrum not been misfiring. Perhaps due to the referee’s colourful interpretation which very nearly got prop Kavindele sin binned for uncharacteristically persistent fouling. Once the scrums were no longer the focus, Prop Kevin Phillips got back to his scoring ways and put the game to bed with a well worked try after a catch and drive from a lineout.
Credit to Old Walcountian as they never stopped coming at Kingston, desperate to add to their six points. As their frustration grew however, so did the number of off the ball incidents and bad tempered exchanges which threatened to ruin the game. In one such moment, lock Graeme Maisey, was taken out while in the air by a very dangerous tackle. The offending player was sin binned leaving the home side with 14 men for ten minutes. In a game with a so many heroes, villains and trash talk, it was perhaps surprising that there weren’t more cards.
Kingston 2ndXV 5, O’Caterhamian 2ndXV 14 (Merit)
The score in this merit table game was almost a duplicate of the same fixture before Christmas and Kingston were again narrowly second best. The visitors were generally the stronger and more aggressive in the first half, and were rewarded with two unconverted tries.
The home side then showed their usual grit in the second half and eventually managed an unconverted try wide out, well finished by Ross Mcteer, following on from his debut try the previous week.
Further pressure led to the award of two penalties, both from difficult positions. Unfortunately both attempts failed; one hitting the woodwork. The misses were crucial, meaning Kingston still had to score twice. Kingston’s efforts were again hampered by a number of injuries, including a dislocated shoulder for Rob Muat. The disruptions led to Kingston’s offensive fading away, and the visitors survived reasonably comfortably .
Saturday 5th January
Kingston 1stXV 15, O’Whitgiftians 19 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Purley John Fisher 2ndXV 29, Kingston 2ndXV 7 (Merit)
Purley ultimately won this game because they handled the conditions better, though the score was probably unfair to Kingston.
The home side were quicker into the game and scored two unconverted tries by midway through the first half, one from a dropped catch and poor clearing up of the loose ball.
However, Kingston struck back before half time with the best constructed move of the game. The ball was moved efficiently down the backline for Ross McTeer to score his debut try for the club, converted by Alan Ockenden.
After second half comebacks in their previous two games, Kingston had reason to be optimistic at 7 -10, but this time, they never really played in the second half. Decisively, they conceded another try due to poor fielding of an opposition kick. Shortly after this, Kingston suffered injuries that ended games for two players, and In an increasingly disjointed half, Kingston conceded another two converted tries.
Saturday 15th December
Kingston 1stXV 21, O’Tiffinians 7 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Guildfordians 10, Kingston 2ndXV 12 (Merit)
In a repeat of last week’s merit table game, Kingston 2nd XV fought back after scoring no points in the first half to win the game.
The first period was a hard slog, with the heavy Guildford pack relentlessly pushing the smaller Kingston pack down the pronounced slope.
However, Kingston managed to restrict their opponents to two unconverted tries, and started the second half like a side that knew the game was eminently winnable.
Kingston applied unrelenting pressure and were eventually rewarded when Man-of-the-match Callum O’Donnell charged down the fly half’s clearance and recovered the ball to score. The try was unconverted.
The second try came unexpectedly after Guildfordians had finally managed to relieve the pressure up to half way, but conceded a penalty. No.8 Ryan Seymour took a quick tap and left four defenders in his wake, finally swerving around the full back to score under the posts, making a for an easy conversion by Alan Ockenden.
Kingston continued to win territory and should have gone on to win the game comfortably, but some poor decision making in the opponents 22 gave the home side to escape. In fact, there was a nervous ten minutes when the home side applied pressure of their own, which included declining what looked like a kickable penalty to win the game. However, Kingston’s defence held out for a thoroughly deserved win.
Saturday 8th December
Croydon 15, Kingston 1stXV 20 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 17, Streatham & Croydon 2ndXV 14 (Merit)
A gutsy comeback from a 0 -14 half time deficit gave Kingston 2nds a fully deserved win over their higher placed merit rivals. Playing uphill in the first half, Kingston matched their rival in the first quarter before conceding a converted try to sustained pressure after 20 mins. This was followed 5 minutes later a much softer try, conceded after one of Streatham’s centres easily avoided five tackles.
However, the home side seemed to realise the game was still within their grasp, and proceeded to dominate the 2nd half. Ross McTeer went close, but was unable to ground the ball, and then at 50 minutes, after patient build up, Alan Ockenden found an enthusiastic runner on his shoulder in the shape of prop Jake Kent who ploughed over from 10 metres, taking 3 opposition players with him. Alan converted the try, and followed this with a judicious penalty 15 minutes later, meaning that a try would win Kingston the game. The winning score came with 10 minutes remaining ; a penalty try awarded after a quick tap by Chris Akerman was illegally halted by Streatham with the line beckoning.
Belatedly, the visitors applied some pressure, but Kingston’s defence stiffened notably from the first half, with Richard Warwick and Callum O’Donnell prominent amongst a whole hearted team effort.
Kingston 3rdXV 12, Raynes Park 3rdXV 3 (F)
Kingston 3rd XV’s second outing of the season and a first deserved win, led by Capa. Tries by centre Alex Worsley and wing Matt Sanderson and a conversion by fly haf Matt Parry saw the home side comfortable home.
Saturday 1st December
Kingston ClubXV v Worth Old Boys (F) KO.12.30pm
Awaiting match report…
Saturday 24th November
Kingston 1stXV v Farnham (League)
Awaiting match report…
O’Haileyburian 2ndXV 36, Kingston 2ndXV 10 (Merit)
Kingston were well beaten because they failed to defend against a side with much greater potency in the backs. However, the home side were able to exploit their superiority in no small due because they failed to provide an adequate front row, and so the game was played with uncontested scrums ( and therefore we get the points !).
The first half belonged to Haileyburians , with 3 tries conceded, leading to a 0 – 22 scoreline at the break.
Capitulation would have been easy, but to Kingston’s credit, they dug in and matched the home side with a pick and drive game which restricted the opponents to 2 more tries. Kingston matched with 2 tries of their own, the second , a poachers try by James White at opposition lineout being the last score of the game.
Saturday 17th November
Kingston 1stXV (F)
Kingston 2ndXV v O’Paulines 3rdXV (F)
Saturday 10th November
Uxbridge 23, Kingston 1stXV 20 (Junior Vase, 2nd round)
With five regular 1stXV forwards injured or unavailable and a couple of missing backs, Kingston knew it could end up being a long afternoon. On top of this, the skipper turning up as the whistle went due to work commitments and some further late arrivals meant the side wasn’t as prepared as they could have been. For the majority of the first half, Kingston defended resolutely, with the pack stopping a number of driving mauls and some all round good tackling. Eventually the pressure was too much…Graeme Maisey was sin binned for being on the wrong side of a collapsed maul. whoops… Five minutes later, Uxbridge broke through for their first try. Within minutes, however, the 14 K’s men broke back after Nathan Brown ran on to a chip over the top to level the scores.
The front row of Neil Anderson, Matt Bolster and Stu Hill performed well all afternoon in the scrums, and the line-outs were equally as good. Kingston scored a second try from a driving maul from the lineout, allowing Neil Anderson at the rear of the maul to touch down.
The second half remained a tight affair with both sides scoring consecutively (Kingston’s try by Rilwan Lawal – ak. Roger) and at full-time the score was 20-20. Extra time came and Kingston continued to dominate, with some excellent driving play from the forwards and some great runs from Skipper Joe Morris and Rilwan Lawal. If some penalty decisions had gone our way, then the end result might have been different. Five minutes to go, Uxbridge were awarded a penalty, which they duly kicked for the game to finish 23-20.
Despite the loss, Kingston’s spirit and performance was superb, with many players stepping up to the 1stXV, including the youngsters.
Kingston 2ndXV 7, Old Suttonian 2ndXV 31 (F)
A game of two halves in which Kingston were competitive in the first half but let down by lack of concentration and indiscipline in the second half. After a penalty and try from the visitors, Kingston drew to within a point with a try by Elliott Newton and conversion by Harry Foskett. However, these were to be Kingston’s last points and their performance went inexorably downhill, conceding three more tries. In several of the tries, some Kingston players chose to carry on arguments with opposition players whilst their side was defending and the home side suffered as a result.
Saturday 3rd November
O’Wimbledonians 29, Kingston 1stXV 7 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 19, Merton 2ndXV 28 (Merit)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 3rdXV (TBA)
Awaiting match report…
Saturday 27th October
Kingston 1stXV 20, Cranleigh 10 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Economicals 2ndXV 80, Kingston 2ndXV 0 (Merit)
Awaiting match report…
Saturday 20th October
O’Freemans 0, Kingston 1stXV 27 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV 18, London Media 2ndXV 22 (Merit)
Another close merit table loss with parallels to the loss at Caterham two weeks ago.
Kingston were again the much better side in the first half ; probably their best forty minutes of the season, despite playing up the hill and deservedly led 15-0 at half time with a pushover try , scored by skipper Marin Rushmer, another by Paul Symonds and a conversion and penalty by Matt Parry. The second half was almost the complete reverse, with London Media the much more aggressive side, playing up the hill. Kingston managed just one penalty from fly half Parry.
Media whittled away at Kingston’s lead and scored the decisive, fourth try after nearly 75 minutes, leaving the home side with too little time to respond.
Saturday 13th October
Kingston 1stXV 29, Worth old Boys 3 (Junior Vase, round 1)
Awaiting match report…
Weybridge Vandals 3rdXV 24, Kingston 2ndXV 7 (F)
Another commendable effort by Kingston II, who were let down by cry-offs from their own side, and therefore had to play most of the match with 13 men. To hold a side with two, and sometimes three, more men to 2 tries in each half was due to a determination not to let their heads drop. Kingston also lost two players to injury. Their efforts were rewarded with a converted try under the posts by Dave Edwards after powerful approach work by the pack.
Saturday 6th October
Kingston 1stXV 25, O’Walcountian 17 (League)
Awaiting match report…
O’Caterhamian 2ndXV 14, Kingston 2ndXV 7 (Merit)
In a creditable performance, Kingston suffered their first merit table loss of the season in a keenly contested visit to Caterham. Substantially the better side in the first half, Kingston could only register one score, a try by Neil Anderson. converted by Matt Parry. Their share of possession and territory should have led to several more scores, but they were unable to clear quick ball for the waiting backs. The home side dug in the second half, and the sticky pitch took its toll on Kingston forwards fitness.
Even so, with a much improved Kingston defensive effort, it wasn’t until the 70th minute that Caterham scored their second, and decisive, try.
Saturday 29th September
O’Whitgiftians 31, Kingston 1stXV 25 (League)
Awaiting match report…
Kingston 2ndXV, Purley John Fisher 2ndXV – home walkover (Merit)
Kingston 2ndXV 17, Bec Old Boys 2ndXV 45 (arranged friendly
Poor defence by the home side led to this substantial loss.After conceding 3 tries in the first half, Kingston did respond with the 3 of their own, all from chip and chases, one by Chris Akerman and two from Matt Parry, who converted one of them. Having cut the deficit to 17 -19, however, they let in another soft try to trail 17 – 26 at half time.The second half was always going to be hard uphill, and the visitors added another 4 unanswered scores to run out easy winners.
Saturday 22nd September
Kingston 1stXV 40, O’Cranleighans 37 (League)
Kingston got off to a perfect start to the season, with a hard fought victory over newly promoted O’Cranleighans. After the first 10 minutes, K’s knew they were in for a tough afternoon after some strong running from OC’s backline. They struck first and only some great defence and tackling from Kingston stopped them scoring more.
Kingston composed themselves and after some sustained pressure scored two tries, the first by Leo Fedorcio and the second by Harry Bettinson before half time to finish the half 17-13 up.
Now with the slope in their favour, Kingston were confident they could press on. Two further tries from the forwards and a number of kicks gave Kingston victory, but they were made to fight until the death, with OC scoring in the last play to come within 3 points.
A pleasing but tough afternoon for Kingston, who will look to continue their good start this Saturday at O’Whitgiftians.
Croydon 2ndXV 5, Kingston 2ndXV 53 (Merit)
Kingston finished their first Conference 3 merit game in style after subduing stubborn opponents. After conceding the first try due to poor tackling, Kingston responded with a converted try to lead 7-5 at the interval. With improved defence, the home sides forward were nullified and Kingston’s confidence grew. There were some notable scores aided by impressive offloading close to the line and some thrilling counter attacking by full back Harry Foskett and notably Chris Akerman, who crossed the line no less than four times. However, to illustrate what a good all round team performance this was, even that effort wasn’t sufficient to win Man of the Match, which went to another of the try scorers, loose head prop, Matt Bolster.
Croydon : 1 try , Kingston 9 tries, 4 conversions…