Clinical Cobham rack up half-century for second week running

On a day when several matches were cancelled because of waterlogged pitches, Old Wimbledonians were able to switch this fixture to the Memorial Grounds with their pitch unplayable. Thank you to the Cobham RFC ground maintenance team for all their great work enabling this match to be played. OW's had suffered a heavy defeat here last October, but as has been the case for the return fixtures of the season, those teams that have lost before have all raised their game.

Cobham had several changes from the previous week due to injury and non-availability, so there was a debut for Matt Lovell on the bench. Old Wimbledonians have had a tough season, having been promoted from Surrey 2, but they had had a very competitive match against Trinity the previous week, losing 31-24.

Cobham dominated the opening five minutes and their first try came from a scrum on the OW ten-metre line. Saunders fed the ball to Dellapina, who dummied and cut back inside to touch down under the posts, with Will Stephen converting (0-7). From the restart, Cobham secured possession from a ruck and sped the ball down the line to Saywell, who ran 50 metres to touch down before Stephen added extras again (0-14).

Those two back-to-back scores could have been the launchpad for Cobham, but credit to Wimbledonians who responded positively and for a neutral spectator, there was nothing between the two sides for the next 20 minutes. There were no further scores, but from a Cobham scrum on their own ten-metre area, Saunders missed out Dellapina and Burnett offloaded to Redknapp running an inside line. He carried play virtually the length of the pitch for Cobham's third try between the posts, assisting Stephen to convert and take the score to 0-21.

Having regained the momentum from the ruck, it looked as though Redknapp would immediately repeat his try. He kicked ahead this time, Saywell collected and was well tackled close to the line. Penfold however picked up the loose ball and drew level with Redknapp for his 13th try of the season. This score was Cobham’s 12th try bonus point this season (0-26). OW would need the next score to give themselves a chance and that is exactly what they did when winger Liam Byrne broke through and set up fly half Harry Tabb to score under the posts for a converted try (7-26).

There was a frenetic end to the first half as George Spires ran into space and from the ruck, Saunders passed to Captain Lippiatt. He, in turn, fed Noah Joyce, wearing a shirt reflecting his age next week (19), who touched down, which Stephen converted (7-33). Within minutes, a scrum for OW's saw their number eight Porritt create the extra man, allowing full back Zack Whelehan to find space and go over under the posts and provide a small wake-up call for Cobham at half-time (14-33).

Cobham started the second half energetically and were unlucky that a quick throw-in was not allowed. Soon after, a quickly taken penalty from Saunders created the opportunity for Stephen to put Redknapp over for his second try that Stephen converted (14-40). Once again, there was a 20 minute period where there was nothing to choose between the two sides. From a lineout in OW's half, Murphy bulldozed the opposition and his pass to Matt Frost via Saunders, who brought up Cobham's seventh try and Stephens sixth conversion (14-47).

Having scored a 66-second try last week, Cobham now took just 64-seconds from the latest restart with Joyce creating the initial break, passing to Frost, who provided an accelerating Burnett with his chance to get on the scoreboard under the posts. Stephen converted to bring the half-century up for the second week running (14-54).

With Wimbledonians again creating some pressure it was a relieving kick from Dellapina that gave Cobham the territory that eventually led to Matt Lovell driving over for his well-deserved debut try (14-61). Cobham's tenth and final try again came from Murphy gaining ground and the ball was passed out to Burnett to dive over. Final score, 14-66.

For Cobham, they achieved numerical symmetry with 33 points in each half but most importantly provided another great exhibition of running rugby for their supporters. The 13th successive league win means that Cobham have now scored 620 points and have a points difference of +360.

This Saturday (31 January), Cobham are away to Weybridge Vandals in the Cup and the excitement of that encounter cannot be underestimated. All support is welcome.

Cobham 1st XV Squad:

1. Chris Lippiatt (Capt.)

2. Andrew Murphy

3. Lewis Joyce

4. Joe Harker

5. Will O’Leary

6. George Spires

7. Olly Fox

8. Noah Joyce

9. Ryan Saunders

10. Connor Dellapina

11. Wilf Saywell

12. Taylor Burnett

13. Charley Redknapp

14. Rory Penfold

15. Will Stephen

Substitutes:

16. Ryan Aujla

17. Matt Frost

18. Matt Lovell*

* League debut

Scorers:

Tries: Dellapina, Saywell, Redknapp (2), Saunders, N Joyce, Frost, Burnett (2), Lovell

Conversions: Stephen (8)

Joint Men-of-the-Match: Stephen and Noah Joyce.

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