Cobham's dominant second half display delivers victory over Dartfordians

The last time Dartfordians visited Cobham was in March 2019 and in a close fought encounter the visitors edged a victory (25-28). As a testament to the loyalty of the Cobham playing squad, five of the current squad played in that match: current Captain Chris Lippiatt, past Captain Ryan Saunders, Louis Porter, Jake McQuade and Ben Joyce.

Cobham welcomed back Yanni Loizias and Andrew Jones-Davies for their first starts at home this season. Sam Reynolds made his home debut following his debut the week before at Beckenham and following his debut a couple of week's ago, Abe Turpen was looking settled in the back row, having previously played major league rugby in America.

After a difficult start to the season Cobham came into the match confident having defeated league leaders Beckenham the previous week. Darfordians prop up the table having suffered some difficult results but perhaps spurred on by that previous win, the visitors belied their league position especially in the first half.

Cobham kicked off and within just 90 seconds had scored, Reynolds offloading to hooker Lewis Joyce for the score that Taylor Burnett converted (7-0). Dartfordians responded almost immediately, opting to kick to touch from a penalty opportunity in front of the posts and going over from the subsequent lineout (7-5).

Cobham then extended their lead when McQuade put Redknapp clear, allowing him to touch down under the posts for Burnett to easily convert (14-5). What was proving to be a try fest, from the kick-off Dartfordians gained possession and spun the ball wide. Centre Jake Taylor flipped the ball under his legs to winger Steven Kpaka, who score in the corner (14-10) meaning 24 points had been scored in the opening 12 minutes. More tries than lineouts and no scrums.

When Dartfordians won the first scrum in the Cobham half, it was to be the foundation for their next score as pressure on the Cobham line told and they were awarded a penalty try (14-17). Dartfordians could have extended that lead when they broke the line and it needed a try saving tackle from full back Jordan Bond, warmly applauded by the Cobham supporters. The visitors had obviously not read the Cobham script and they continued to dominant play and the hosts did well to avoid any further scores in an entertaining first half.

Cobham have enjoyed some good second halves this season and they were going to need another. Following some initial forays from Dartfordians, Cobhham regained the lead when Bond put winger Will Springett clear (19-17) but Dartfordians responded once again, sending the ball wide for winger Joseph Rees to run in (19-22).

Cobham knew that they were going to need to raise their game to achieve a win and when they got a penalty close to the line, they put their confidence in their pack to deliver. A tap penalty gave McQuade a score and Burnett added the important extras (26-22). Cobham's next score came from an innocuous scrum just inside the visitors half, with McQuade picking up and feeding Saunders, who had come around onto the blind side to support. Burnett adding a conversion and following that up with a try of his own to put Cobham into a three-score lead (38-22).

Even then the visitors heads didn't drop and they bulldozed over for their fifth try. Final score 38-29. Both sets of supporters will have enjoyed a fast-paced game with Cobham's dominant second half display making the difference.

This result has consolidated Cobham’s mid-place position in the league and after a week's rest they travel to sixth placed Brighton. Yanni Loizias was Cobham’s player of the match, picked by Dartfordians

Cobham 1st XV Squad:-

1. Chris Lippiatt (Capt.)

2. Lewis Joyce

3. Ryan Aujla

4. Tom Davison

5. Louis Porter

6. Sam Reynolds

7. Abe Turpen

8. Jake McQuade

9. Ryan Saunders

10. Taylor Burnett

11. Charley Redknapp

12. Andrew Jones-Davies

13. Yanni Loizias

14. Will Springett

15. Jordan Bond

Substitutes:

16. Ben Joyce

17. Luke Westgarth-Taylor

18. Henry Lunn

Scorers:

Tries: Joyce, Redknapp, Springett, McQuade, Saunders, Burnett

Conversions: Burnett (4)