Depleted Downing Draw with Pacey Pembroke

Downing 20 – 20 Pembroke

In a strong performance, a rapid Pembroke side pulled the rug out from underneath Downing, laying waste to their clean sweep ambitions.

A loss of players due to injuries meant Downing started this match severely lacking fire-power against a Pembroke side boasting impressive pace in the back line.

A weakened Pembroke player recovers from the heroic effort

After Injuries to front row players over the previous week Downing were forced to move to uncontested scrums. This change alleviated the advantage that the home pack’s comparative fleet-footedness usually brings them later in the game when heavier packs begin to tire.

Pembroke’s early attacks came in the form of forward carries, but big tackles from back rowers Ollie Lewis and Matt Hall quashed the threats.

DCRUFC’s attacks in the early exchanges looked to move the ball outside the fly half. A quick blitz defence from Pembroke made the most of the ref’s unique interpretation of the offside line to smother any backs moves, forcing Downing to resort to forward carries in an attempt to build prolonged periods of possession.

With parity of defence in the centre of the pitch, the only try of the first half came when Downing shipped the ball wide to debutant winger Ben Guest of DCAFC. Guest showed his pace; slipping through two tackles to cross the line.

The 5 point lead for the home team wasn’t to last. Poor discipline within their twenty-two lead to the reversal of a Downing penalty which the Pembroke kicker, George Smith, duly slotted. Downing soon repeated the same offence, handing Pembroke another 3 points from a penalty to put Pembroke ahead.

This spurred on the Downing backline: after failing to make the most of a few good spells of possession, the Pembroke try-line was finally crossed by fullback Dan Janman. Arnold converted make it 12-6.

As the second half began, so came the turn of Pembroke to concede a kickable penalty. Arnold widened the margin to 15-6 with only twenty minutes to play.

At this point a full strength Downing side would have looked to close out the game, but persistent pressure from the visiting side kept the Magenta Men pinned in their own half. Having secured possession, DCRUFC looked to ship the ball wide when disaster struck. Pembroke’s winger easily read a loose pass, making the interception. Elsby showed his athletic credentials and outpaced the entire opposition team to score under the posts. Smith converted: Downing 15-13 Pembroke.

This late score gave Pembroke ideas of causing a league upset. More strong carries from Pembroke 8, Rory Scott, created the platform for George Smith to score out wide. Smith converted to put Pembroke up 15-20 in the final minutes of the game.

Though there was little time left, Downing refused to roll over when behind on the score-board. Rallying up field from the kick off, solid tackling allowed turnover ball to be spread to Janman for his second try of the match. A conversion would have gifted the win to the weakened Downing side, but the kick, agonisingly, drifted inches wide of the posts.

Though disappointed with the draw, Downing remain unbeaten and in a good position near the top of the league. Next week’s Johns-Jesus clash could prove the decisive match in the pre-Christmas fixtures. Pembroke have also good reason to be disappointed, but the 2 points widens the gap they have over Homerton at the bottom.