Andover 16 Kingston 8

Kingston travelled to Andover with a number of their backline missing this week due to various commitments. It was left to others to fill their boots and Kingston very nearly pulled off an unexpected win.

Kingston had the edge in the set pieces, with the rest of the play decided on who dominated the breakdown.

It was Kingston who took the lead, with a penalty kicked by Leo Fedorico, after some sustained pressure through the forwards.

Andover looked dangerous on the counter and had some pace out wide, but Kingston’s defence held strong.

Andover eventually went over after an initial drive from a penalty allowed the ball to be spun wide to enable Andover to drive through the backline from 10 metres out. A weak try to concede.

The backline played with intelligence and executed their plays well all afternoon. Credit to Paul Symonds, Bobby McEvoy, Sam Cox and Martin Ng’Uni who played together as a backline for the first time and kept Kingston moving forwards.

Sam Cox chased a number of kicks and put Andover under considerable pressure, gaining Kingston valuable territory, one five metres out. Kingston took the option of a scrum and Harrison very nearly drove over, only to be short by inches.

In the second half, Kingston played with determination in the forwards that had been missing in recent games. Harrison May played well at No8, the front five throwing themselves into every ruck, led by Ciaran Galvin and the front row drove forward at every opportunity, as well as scrummaged well. Kingston’s break eventually came with two pieces of class. After some sustained pressure through the forwards, Bruce Fowles at scrum half spotted an opportunity and switched play to Leo Fedorico who with two defenders to beat looked to offload, but dived low for the corner to score.

Kingston fought for the remainder of the 20 minutes, but couldn’t break down Andover’s defence. Andover then got a couple of penalties themselves which they slotted to take the game out of Kingston’s reach.

A very competitive game and one Kingston might have nicked. A commendable effort by one to 18 and we will look to take this into our league game against O’Wimbledonians this weekend.