3XV dump Southgate out of the Cup

Anyone who has played for the 3s and 4s over the last 5 years will know what it means to play Southgate, and they were our cup opponents again on Saturday. A number of Old Ashmoleans players have also recently joined Southgate after their club folded, bolstering the ranks with more power and aggression! It is worth just reflecting on past encounters for those not acquainted with the history for a minute ; A&C have solidly beaten Southgate most of the time over the years but Southgate have had some moments of glory and outrageous fortune as well. In the 2012 Cup final against them A&C suffered 4 injuries in the first 20 minutes and were down to 14 , and never recovered as the game spiraled out of control eventually losing 14-8. And then there was the game when A&C were 30-0 at half time and eventually lost 39-37, Southgate sealing things with a length of the pitch score under the posts in injury time. Most of those Southgate players are still playing and were playing yesterday.
-
It’s a difficult ground to find , Southgate Rfc , but it was still a strange sight to see an unchanged Ben Dugdale emerge from a hedge with a carrier bag 30 minutes before kick off , having abandoned his car and completed a cross country route to the pitch. It was just as well he made it, as Duggy then put in a Man of the Match performance at 9, sending long range passes out to the backs, making breaks and organising a big slow pack at the breakdown, it was a fine performance finished off with a solo try.
-
Southgate have always liked scrums and mauls, it’s just what they do. And the Southgate scrum was no disappointment this time, well drilled and aggressive. Southgate also like to let their big men run and this brings me neatly to where we won it; our tackling. We tackled well , taking the big men down and turning over ball. We also ran and offloaded, made plenty of hard yards and had the pace to finish our moves.
-
Jason Kilby scored a try , rolling through 3 tackles to place the ball on the line at full stretch, Anthony Smith finished off a backs move in the corner, Alex Bear crashed over from a few yards, and Ben Dugdale finished off the scoring beating a couple of players before going over. Dan Kinsey slotting the conversions.
-
The 3s backline of Kinsey, Brown and Neill at 10,12 and 13 set the overall platform for the win, the clean ball that was won was used expansively and we defended a high line not allowing Southgate any time on the ball.
-
There was a 3XV debut for Harry McMullen who got an assist, Chris Royals answered the call on Friday night and kept things tight at the back, and there was an heroic return for Neil Aves making a comeback after an Achilles injury last season. Great to see you back on the pitch and it was most amusing to have Ela as water girl, happily wandering about the pitch handing out water bottles to the team wearing her Chesham Stags hoodie!
-
Thanks to Ed Wainwright for being Team Manager and to our supporters - you know who you are !
-
This Saturday 1st April is the 3XV’s final league game of the season at Home v Stevenage. The 3XV have won the league already , but are very keen to make it 17 league wins out of 18 before attention turns back to the cup and the semi-final on 8th April, President’s Lunch day.
Match Report words: Doug Smith