At home, Tonbridge too good

The first quarter of this match was uneventful; Tonbridge were 3 points ahead, Barnes had missed a few chances and hadn’t scored. After 25 minutes the visitors were penalised for not releasing while attacking. Tonbridge kicked for a line-out into the other half then put together their best sequence of phases thus far. They advanced further to get another penalty 12 metres out where they again put the ball into touch, now 7 metres out. The pack kept the ball and when their maul went down Hamlin had a go then after a few more tight recycles, no. 8 Martin twisted round to touch down over the line near the posts at 28 minutes. The not-difficult conversion went wide.

Barnes responded well and got their first try within 3 minutes of the restart. They regained their restart; centre Lewis made a half-break then ball was recycled to the blind side and wing Riley raced away. He was stopped near the line then after 3 recycles Tonbridge lost a man for 10 minutes and Barnes' pack drove over from a set scrum with no. 8 Crimmens on the ball. Gower kicked for the lead. Next, despite being a man down, Tonbridge scored within 2 minutes of their restart from a brilliant solo effort. Barnes secured the kick; 3 kicks followed; the last into the hands of wing Campion who then ran 65 metres to the posts, carving through the opposition apparently untouched. Harding added. Barnes knocked on one of Hamlin's up-and-unders after the restart but came away with the ball after the Tonbridge scrum. They now retained well to get a penalty 15 metres out and another man advantage for 10 minutes. They put the ball into touch 5 metres out then got another penalty when their drive went down and, hardly believably, another opponent off for 10 minutes. They chose another set scrum for Crimmens to get his second. Gower added before the halftime whistle to leave Tonbridge with a 1 point lead but having to start the second half with 13 men for most of 10 minutes.

However Barnes failed to capitalise fully on their numerical advantage and only got 7 points until Tonbridge were back to 15 men. After the restart penalties got them to close line-outs. They were repulsed the first time but at the second the pack drove over for flanker Givens to touch down after 8 minutes. Gower added for a 6 point lead. For the next quarter of an hour both defences prevented further scores but Tonbridge gained in confidence then scored 4 tries in the final quarter with no reply from Barnes, 3 from forward effort and 1 from their other flyer. After an opposition line-out in their own half Tonbridge forced a turnover and kicked for territory and caught the opposition fullback and dispossessed him. Their forwards kept ball tight to get a penalty at Barnes' 22 and this was put into touch for a line-out 6 metres out. The defence held well initially but gave away another penalty 3 metres out and lost a man for 10 minutes. Tonbridge opted for a line-out again and drove to the line then fly-half Harding took the ball over not far from the posts after 24 minutes but failed to add the conversion.

Tonbridge retook the lead with another try 3 minutes after the previous one. They secured the restart and sent back an up-and-under that the visitors caught with a foot in touch. From the line-out in Barnes' half their forwards recycled twice then sent ball wider and centre Farmer ran clear to the posts. Harding added. Within 5 minutes of the restart Tonbridge had another try; two line-outs took them forward and from the second they set for a drive then released to Farmer who made yards then offloaded and Collins went over at the corner. The conversion was wide. Within 3 minutes of the next restart they scored another. Barnes were offside at the kick; Hamlin broke from the scrum and some good passing got Tonbridge to 5 metres out then prop Tibbits went over near the posts for a 7-pointer with 7 minutes to go. Later a poor pass by Barnes nearly led to another runaway try. From their own line Barnes broke into the other half inter-passing to get a penalty which they ran before the defence forced a turnover.

FUTHER DETAIL :-

There were a few errors in the early minutes then the first real attack came from Tonbridge hacking on a loose ball to the opposition 22 and getting the ball there. The defence held and forced a turnover then got their second penalty. Barnes kicked for a line-out into the other half then, having lost an early line-out, they threw this one not-straight. From the scrum Tonbridge advanced to their line-out at their opponents' 22 and from there the pack set for a drive. When this went down they recycled well to get to the line then the Ref. went back to an earlier penalty. This was an easy 3 points for fly-half Harding at 13 minutes. The restart didn't go 10 metres. Tonbridge got their first penalty with ball in hand and then kicked for a line-out into the 22. This time they released to their three-quarters and recycled several times. The defence held and won a turnover; another Tonbridge line-out at the same place followed. This time they kept ball tight but again the defence held and got a penalty for not releasing. The kick got Barnes into the other half but a slow throw-in gave the opposition a free-kick. Several kicks resulted in another Barnes' line-out. From that the visitors kept ball tight to advance but Tonbridge got the next scrum on halfway at the start of the second quarter. After this they varied play a couple of times before passing forward. From their scrum Barnes kicked to touch, still outside of the opposition 22. They were forced back then regained possession after dealing with one of many up-and-unders from Hamlin at scrumhalf for Tonbridge then were penalised for not releasing. Tonbridge kicked for a line-out into the other half then put together their best sequence of phases thus far. Two recycles got them to the 22 then keeping ball tight they advanced further to get another penalty 12 metres out where they again put the ball into touch, now 7 metres out. The pack kept the ball and when their maul went down Hamlin had a go then after a few more tight recycles, no. 8 Martin twisted round to touch down over the line near the posts at 28 minutes. The not-difficult conversion went wide.

Barnes responded well and got their first try within 3 minutes of the restart. They regained their restart; centre Lewis made a half-break then ball was recycled to the blind side and wing Riley raced away. He was stopped near the line then after 3 recycles Tonbridge lost a man for 10 minutes and Barnes' pack drove over from a set scrum with no. 8 Crimmens on the ball. Gower kicked for the lead. Next Tonbridge scored within 2 minutes of their restart. Barnes secured the kick; 3 kicks followed; the last into the hands of wing Campion who then ran 65 metres to the posts, carving through the opposition apparently untouched. Harding added. Barnes knocked on one of Hamlin's up-and-unders after the restart but came away with the ball after the Tonbridge scrum. They now retained well to get a penalty 15 metres out and another man advantage for 10 minutes. They put the ball into touch 5 metres out then got another penalty when their drive went down and, hardly believably, another opponent off for 10 minutes. They chose another set scrum for Crimmens to get his second. Gower added before the halftime whistle to leave Tonbridge with a 1 point lead but having to start the second half with 13 men for most of 10 minutes.

The visitors dropped the first up-and-under of the second half; then took the scrum against the head and advanced, recycling to another scrum 28 metres out. The forwards kept the ball in to get a penalty at the 22 which was kicked for a line-out 6 metres out. The outcome of this was a defending scrum when Barnes didn't set up their maul right. The visitors secured the next up-and-under but dropped ball after some recycles and passes. They won another penalty after the following scrum and kicked for a 5-metre line-out and drove from this for flanker Givens to touch down after 8 minutes. Gower added for a 6 point lead. The visitors cleared the restart to touch near half way then forced an error after the line-out to regain possession then get another penalty. This was kicked towards touch but didn't find it. Three more kicks resulted in a Barnes' line-out in their half. After that they tried an up-and-under that Tonbridge dealt. After a couple of recycles Tonbridge kicked and Barnes put together a good sequence of phases to advance and get a penalty 26 metres from their opponents' line. This was kicked for a line-out 12 metres out but resulted in a penalty against them for not releasing. Tonbridge's touch-kick didn't go far and they launched an up-and-under after their line-out drive went down. Four more kicks gave the visitors the next line-out still in the opposition half. After it Tonbridge forced a turnover and kicked for territory and caught the opposition fullback and dispossessed him. Their forwards kept ball tight to get a penalty at Barnes' 22 and this was put into touch for a line-out 6 metres out. The defence held well initially but gave away another penalty 3 metres out and lost a man for 10 minutes. Tonbridge opted for a line-out again and drove to the line then fly-half Harding took the ball over not far from the posts after 24 minutes but failed to add the conversion.

Tonbridge retook the lead with another try 3 minutes after the previous one. They secured the restart and sent back an up-and-under that the visitors caught with a foot in touch. From the line-out in Barnes' half their forwards recycled twice then sent ball wider and centre Farmer ran clear to the posts. Harding added. Within 5 minutes of the restart Tonbridge had another try; the restart was followed by a Tonbridge line-out, another up-and-under then their put-in in the other half. From the scrum they kicked into the 22. Barnes marked after two more kicks then cleared to touch. From the line-out Tonbridge set for a drive then released to Farmer who made yards then offloaded and Collins went over at the corner. The conversion was wide. Within 3 minutes of the next restart they scored another. Barnes were offside at the kick; Hamlin broke from the scrum and some good passing got Tonbridge to 5 metres out then prop Tibbits went over near the posts for a 7-pointer with 7 minutes to go. The visitors dealt with the up-and-under after the restart but immediately passed forward. They did get a free-kick at the scrum and ran that before being forced into touch outside of the opposition 22. A scrum for each team in Tonbridge's half followed then a poor pass by Barnes nearly led to another runaway try for Tonbridge. From their own line Barnes broke into the other half inter-passing to get a penalty which they ran. Tonbridge forced a turnover, forced more errors from Barnes then another turnover before the whistle.

Overcast almost totally dry, no wind; the pitch looking better than Barnes' last week but soft.