Another frustrating afternoon for Cranbrook who despite having an equal share of possession and territory could not resist Crowborough at close quarters.
Cranbrook kicked off on a good dry pitch at the well-appointed Crowborough ground with 5 pitches and a modern clubhouse, however the cold though light northerly wind at this exposed location made it tough for spectators.
The early part of the game showed that there was parity in scrums and lineouts whilst the Crowborough 10 tried to achieve position by kicking and varied his kicks intelligently enough although Cranbrook generally collected to try to run back. On 10 minutes Crowborough did get a score after Cranbrook were penalised, the kick towards the corner was taken at the lineout and a forward spun out of a tackle to dive over.
Cranbrook had to reorganise as lock Tom Humphreys went off early and wing Elliot Barbour had to go off midway through the half, but had a chance to score as Crowborough were offside but the kick from Theo Rimmer drifted wide caught on the breeze. He did score on 27 minutes as a sharp pass from flyhalf Alex Cornwallis put him clear on the right wing, at pace he cleverly moved infield from the touchline and confidently side stepped the full back on the outside to score a fine try near the corner.
Shortly after Rimmer attempted to clear into space behind the Crowborough back 3 but his kick right was held up in the crosswind and returned for a score in the corner, this kick was unconverted as otherwise the scrum half had a good day making 6 other kicks. Rimmer now found himself running back as a home centre kicked forward a loose ball, he used his speed to get there first but needlessly shoved the centre off the ball and was inevitably carded. The converted penalty put Crowborough 15-5 ahead and when the kick off from Cornwallis went straight into touch Cranbrook were again under pressure. Although initially turning the ball over a high pass put Rory Goodger in trouble and he was turned over. In an attempt to retrieve the situation the ref, who had a good game, spotted a hand in the ruck for another easy penalty and a half time score of 18-5.
In the second half with the crosswind subtlety changing slightly to favour Cranbrook, Fabian Rimmer was able to get good length and accuracy on a number of kicks which helped Cranbrook, but Crowborough were first to score after 12 minutes from close range. Cranbrook now put together their best phases of the game with Cornwallis prominent with a couple of breaks, also scrum half George Robertson was his usual busy self and in this period twice nearly made clean breaks. After 68 minutes an overlap on the right appeared to be lost when a chip through was attempted, but in the confusion Theo Rimmer was able to recover the ball for his second try of the game near the corner. Crowborough responded with another catch and drive try, but from the kick off lost a player to a yellow card due to a high tackle. Debut making wing Lachlan McClean made his mark running back a clearance almost to the try line, when tackled popping up a pass for the supporting hooker Kenny Magsico to score out wide on the left. There was just enough time left for Cranbrook to attempt to get to score a 4th try for a bonus point but they lost field position and Crowborough closed the game out with another close range try for a final score of 39-15.
This was a game that with a stronger team Cranbrook may have won. Crowborough offered little threat in the backs but Cranbrook just could not resist them close to the try line, which has been a recurring problem in recent games. The young replacement forwards do not as yet have the physicality or know how to be effective at this level, although they were combative and well led by the experienced prop David Lock on his 50th appearance who seems to respond positively to the extra responsibility injuries have given him now, being busy in the loose and who, for once, did not himself suffer injury. Crowborough now move out of the bottom 2 relegation places and look to have enough about them to stay up.
Match report courtesy of Philip Rimmer.