Jamie Elliott
Kingston men’s first team were knocked out of the cup by Canterbury Christ Church firsts losing 42-5.
The match at Tolworth Court, started tentatively with both teams looking to gain possession early, exchanging punts from end to end.
“It was a good first half, the first 20-25 minutes were probably the best we’ve played this season, also the new guys who play for the twos really stood up and played well,” said Kingston coach, Arran Cruickshanks.
Resilient defence
Kingston had to defend valiantly against waves of Canterbury’s attacks to keep the score at 0-0 for the majority of the first half.
After an exchange of possession and line-out turnovers, Canterbury had an early chance to convert from a penalty kick after 25 minutes, but filed to score.
Kingston continued to repel Canterbury until a bloody head injury caused Kingston’s Tom Leaney to leave the pitch for treatment, leaving the home side a man short.
Made to pay
Canterbury soon made the extra man count after another penalty kick was awarded when Lewis Faucet made the breakthrough for the team.
Wasting no time at all, Canterbury soon added another penalty kick courtesy of Faucet, making the score 6-0 before Kingston could return to full strength.
Kingston failed to mount any real attack and it was only a matter of time before Canterbury scored the first try of the game just before the whistle. Christ Church led 11-0 at the break.
Too much
In the the second half Canterbury quickly added further two tries through Faucet and captain, Charles Precious.
At 28-0 the game looked lost for Kingston but their brightest moment of the match gave them hope when Jake Stinson intercepted a loose ball and ran the length of the pitch to score the home side’s only try.
Canterbury’s constant attacking pressure was eventually too much for Kingston. They were pegged back inside their own half, conceding a further two tries in the process.
Canterbury’s captain Precious said: “It was a good game, we lost last week so we needed to get back to winning ways and we did. We won the cup last year and we really want to win it this year, we’re going to go for the treble.”
Kingston’s next match will be against Brighton’s seconds in a home game at Tolworth Court on December 5.