Sidcup 19 v 24 Lewes

Rugby Union London 2 South League

SIDCUP welcomed Sussex side Lewes after a break from the league when they played rivals Old Colfeians in the Kent Plate competition, a game they lost 35-12.

The home side travelled to Lewes in September and came away with a heavy 50-7 defeat.

But although the gulf in ability has narrowed significantly since their last meeting, it was still the visitors who edged the victory.

Sidcup kicked off and started well with the first scrum, line-out and penalty all going to them.

However Lewes defended well and pinned Sidcup back into their own half for the first 10 minutes.

The hosts gradually moved out of their own half as the match unfolded and after great driving and slick passing by the whole team, open-side flanker Colin Cooper broke through and scored the first points of the game under the posts.

Fly-half James Cosh converted the kick, making the score 7-0 to Sidcup on 19 minutes.

The lead did not last long and with some pinpoint passing by Lewes' backs and a couple of crucial missed tackles by Sidcup, the visitors scored their first try of the game just one minute after the restart.

This was converted by fly-half David Tyrell, evening the score.

Soon after, Sidcup's young talent started to shine and 18-year-old outside centre Rob McDonald made a 40-metre break before passing to full back Jolyon Bond, also 18.

Bond showed his speed, making an impressive break down the touchline but was caught by his opposite number and tackled into touch 10 metres away from Lewes' line.

The tackle left Bond with a shoulder injury and he was replaced by Richard Evans.

Lewes won their resulting line-out but Sidcup quickly turned over the ball after charging down an attempted clearance kick by Lewes.

The ball went out to Sidcup's backs and a break from winger Richard Roddis resulted in Richard Evans scoring an unconverted try with his first touch of the ball.

Lewes restarted and immediately piled the pressure on Sidcup with Roddis stopping an impressive break from Lewes' scrum-half Matt Stole.

Despite some rugged Sidcup defence, Lewes' back line broke through again and an unconverted try levelled the half-time scores at 12-12.

The second half was a stop-start affair with injuries and mistakes hindering both teams from retaining possession.

The first converted try after the break came from Lewes blind-side flanker Jack Naylor.

Lewes followed this up with another touch-down immediately after the re-start winger Sean Taylor captialised on a loss of concentration in the Sidcup lines making a 60 metre dash to score an unconverted try.

Sidcup regained their focus and a well-won line-out in Lewes' half allowed number 8 Matt West to score a try, which was converted.

Sidcup grew in confidence in the remaining few minutes but despite an impressive late surge from the home team, they failed to break the visitors' defence, leaving the final score 19-24 to Lewes.

Rugby club president Phil West said: "We should have won the game in the first half.

"We played some excellent rugby before the break but unfortunately put ourselves under pressure in the second half and made some silly mistakes.

He added: "We have some young players breaking into the first team.

"Three players on the pitch today were just 18 years old and played fantastically.

"If they continue to improve I believe we will go from strength to strength next season."

The game also saw a rare sight in the form of woman referee Georgina Perrott, an ex-England rugby player from Camberley.

She has been refereeing for seven years, after a mountain-bike accident put an end to her playing career.

She said: "Overall I think it was a scrappy game to referee, there were good spats of about 10 minutes at a time but players from both teams became too focussed on scoring.

"Although it was very close and Sidcup produced an impressive late surge in the last 10 minutes, I believe the best team just edged it today."

Although she said Lewes had the edge when it came to the rugby she still believes Sidcup Rugby Club is always a great place to visit.

She said: "This is about the fifth time I have visited Sidcup and I am always made to feel very welcome here.

"The referees in the south east used to have a vote at the end of every season as to whom the friendliest club was and Sidcup won many years running. They don't vote on this anymore but I don't think much has changed."