Report from John Walton:-

Bushy Park may be an aesthetically pleasing place to spend a Saturday afternoon, but it is no stranger to the machinations of combat. Not only was it a favoured hunting ground of King Henry VIII, it was also home to the field office from which General Dwight D Eisenhower planned the D-Day landings in World War II. Having lost both meetings in the league, King’s knew that Teddington would be formidable opponents to overcome in order to keep their cup run alive, but the faithful supporters who made the trip to watch were treated to a heart-pounding thriller of a game that hopefully did some small justice to its historical surroundings.

From the outset, this was a bruising encounter. Where gaps appeared the previous week against Old Tiffinians, there were now none - Teddington’s pack and centres slammed the door shut on pretty much everything that was thrown at them, and it was clear that it would take a monumental effort to take any points from them at all. To make things even more difficult, King’s would have to play the entire game without an experienced line-out thrower, which meant that some promising positions could not be developed, as the resulting lineouts were unable to provide a platform to attack from. Teddington were launching everything at King’s, and despite some quite astonishing defence, the home side found themselves up 10-0 approaching the end of the first half, with two well-worked tries out wide. The end of the half would give King’s a glimmer of hope however, as sustained pressure on the Teddington try line finally resulted in Jamie Miller getting over from short range. Will Carter sent the kick over, and King’s were looking at just a 3 point deficit going into the second half.

HT: 10-7

The second forty did not start well for King’s - Teddington scored a third unconverted try shortly after the restart, and there were perhaps worries that this would be the beginning of the end......would Teddington now run away with it as they had in the league? King’s however held strong. After a year and a half out with injury, Matt Young was a welcome addition to the squad, and provided much-needed support as Kings lay siege to a Teddington team that was not showing any sign of letting anyone through. The battle in the middle of the pitch was fierce, and there appeared to be little King’s could do to penetrate their defence. Sam Young, Cam Keller, Ellis Hook and Funmi Odunyi were running at Teddington as hard as they could, but breaking the gainline was made incredibly difficult by the strength of the home side’s tackling. Alex Watts was doing everything he could at the breakdown to disrupt the opposition, with some success. Eventually, King’s were awarded a penalty to make the score 15-10, and Teddington went down to 14 men as one of their players took Sam Young out in the air from the restart. King’s own stubborn defence in this period kept them in the game.

Anyone fortunate enough to have been watching from the side of the pitch furthest from the clubhouse will no doubt consider themselves blessed to have been able to listen to the insightful commentary from a Teddington supporter who claimed to have made no fewer than 128 Premiership appearances for Richmond in the Premiership, who made astute observations about the play and officiating throughout the game, interlaced with what we can only assume were jokes about leaving payslips for the Teddington players in the changing room, which everyone agreed were hilarious. Mid-way though the second half and at 15-10 to the home side, his wise advice to the Teddington fly-half was however shunned following a penalty in a very kickable position in King’s territory. “It’s a cup game Bob, take the 3 points!”. Bob was having none of it. Bob kicked into the corner, but the Antlers were unable to capitalise on their strong position, as King’s reclaimed the ball and made their way back up the pitch. If only they had listened to the supporter - with Teddington’s defence as strong as it was, an 8 point advantage would surely have been too much to overcome.

The game would however crucially enter the final quarter with only a 5 point difference. Teddington piled on the pressure, looking to get the score that would seal their victory, but it just would not come. King’s somehow kept tackling, and somehow kept finding a way to get the ball back, and would in turn start to put the pressure on Teddington. Hearts were in mouths at one point as James Hattersley first charged a kick down (with his head) but couldn’t quite get his fingertips around the ball to score. Teddington cleared the ball several times to counter the onslaught, but by now, King’s were determined to get to the try line. Carry after carry was made as King’s slowly squeezed up the pitch, inch by inch. Teddington supporters were desperate to hear the final whistle, but in the very last moments, player-coach Leon Driscoll managed to get the ball just over the line from a pick and go.

Thankfully the try was scored just to the left of the posts, so the conversion was more or less a formality. Will Carter stepped up, and promptly leathered the ball into the upright. Our dreams were up in flames - with no extra time, and Teddington having scored 3 tries, it meant that they were the winners. Except… the referee observed that at least one of the Teddington players had shouted at Carter while charging the kick, so it would have to be retaken. Carter reset the ball on the tee, took a deep breath, and sent the ball through the middle of the posts. Somehow, King’s had won.

Make no mistake about it. This was a rugby match of the highest quality, and for the full 80 minutes, the margin for error in defence was so small that one might reasonably say that it was non-existent. Teddington are a seriously tough side to break down and the depth that King’s dug to in order to pull this out of the fire will live long in the memory.

We will travel next Saturday to Longlevens in Gloucester for the semi final to decide to will make it to Twickenham. Please look out for details, as support will be very much appreciated!