The Blues Go Out in the Cup Semi-Final at Effingham

Today saw the Chipstead Blues make the trip to Effingham & Leatherhead for their “A” festival. Coming off the back of a great overall performance the previous week, in winning the Beccehamians “A” festival, it is fair to say that much like the weather it was a bit of a mixed bag today. Across the four games played Chipstead scored 56 points and conceded only 28; they lost only one match and went out only on count-back.

This festival is widely regarded as one of the toughest festivals that we play given the quality of each of the 8 teams involved. Today we were in a group with Maidenhead, Cobham and Warlingham so we knew it was going to be a tough day.

First up was Maidenhead, a team we hadn’t come up against before. Maidenhead came at us from the kick-off and did to us what we normally do to other teams. They were half a yard quicker to the breakdown, more physical than us (which meant they had the bulk of the possession) and their game management was excellent. We tackled hard and nullified their attacks but never really got going in attack ourselves (indeed at no point did we have possession of the ball for more than 15 seconds at a time). With a converted try in each half Maidenhead were deserved victors 14-0.

After a quick pep talk!! we were straight back on the pitch to face Cobham (last season’s joint Surrey A Champions) who would want revenge from the S&E festival. The first half was a physical affair with neither team willing to give an inch in defence, however from a period of pressure on our line at the end of the half Cobham crossed the line and despite the melee of bodies around/under the ball the try was given and duly converted. The second half saw the Blues manage the game much better, some great tactical kicking and a strong chase put us in the right area of the field and despite the full on defence we got an equalising try and conversion. At the end of the game, 7 point apiece was a fair result for both teams.

So we hadn’t started that well and going into the final group game we knew we’d have to win by more than 3 tries and Maidenhead beat Cobham for us to progress into the Cup semi’s.

So next up were Warlingham and with the instruction to go out on to the pitch and enjoy it the boys finally came to life. The forwards laid the platform and the backs came into their own with some excellent handling and line breaks. By half time we were 21-0 up from 3 well worked tries. The second half continued in the same vain and with the final play of the game we scored our 6th converted try for a 42-0 win. We had played well but as we said to the boys, with respect to Warlingham, who were missing several first team players, they were not Maidenhead, Cobham or for that matter Effingham.

With Maidenhead beating Cobham we had finished second in the group and were through to play the winners of the other group in the semi of the Cup. No surprises to hear that the winners of the other group were our hosts (the other joint Surrey A Champions from last season), who had come through their group with 3 wins.

The Blues started well and following a great run, which split the Effingham defence, and some uncharacteristically weak tackling we took the lead, 7-0. Effingham came back at us from the kick off and after a period of sustained pressure (where we gave away far too many penalties) they were rewarded (after a discussion between the referee, the touch judge and spectators) with a try in the corner to level at 7-7. The second half saw both teams give 100% commitment but it was a scrappy affair and neither team could get the upper hand. So when the final whistle blew it was 7-7.

So it was at the Cup semi-final stage that the Blues exited the festival on the dreaded count back.

In summary, you are capable of playing a lot better than you did and going out (remember we didn’t lose) in the Cup semi is not the end of the world, especially against high quality opposition. So dust yourselves down, drop the scowls from your face and replace them with a smile and lets look forward to our last 2 festivals as mini’s.