A mixed week for Smiths Rugby

United through to Combination Cup semi finals.

Smiths United beat local rivals Cheltenham North 2nd XV 48-20 in an entertaining derby battle at Prince of Wales Stadium in a midweek fixture on Weds 18 March.

The Cheltenham & District Combination Cup started a Senior Cup competition in 1965 with Junior and Minor cups added later to provide cup competition for 2nd and 3rd XVs.

In the last 10 or so years Smiths have always aimed to pit themselves against local rivals in the right level of competition to provide a real test for their players.

For Smiths opening game of the competition, bar some evening dew, conditions were perfect and both teams aimed to move the ball in attack with Smiths quick to score the first of their 7 tries. The United side has really grown through the year and their phase play caused problems from kick off, punching holes in midfield before testing the defence out wide with pace.

North proved strong opposition however, particularly in the scrum where they had dominance through the first half. Smiths defence held in the first exchanges however and North resorted to taking 3 points after pressure led the home side to infringe.

Throughout the match Smiths responded to North pressure and points with a flurry of scores of their own. In this case, a loose kick was fielded and carried straight back through a disorganised defence during a period where Smiths took a 17-3 then 22-8 lead.  

Although scoring 7 tries, the real match-winning effort was the time Smiths spent defending on their own line. The second half saw scrums improve and able to hold out even when down to 7 men in the pack. Driving lineouts were dismantled, pick and gos repelled and tap penalties smashed back in a couple of periods of intense pressure.

To their credit, North persisted but were limited to scores out wide when numbers finally told. 22-15 was as close as the scores got before Smiths again responded.

Two quick tries restored a healthy 36-15 advantage before Smiths had to dig in for another defensive shift with one in the bin. Again they scrapped for every phase and frustrated North for a lengthy period before the vistors managed a last try in the corner to move to 36-20.

The final act for Smiths shut down any further comeback ambitions from North and added a bit of gloss to a gutsy performance. Two tries in the last two plays of the game completed the scoring at 48-20.

Scorers were -

Tony Moore

Christian White

Sam Williams 

Jack Birks

Rich Wintour

Ben Sheldrake

Ashton Pullin

5x cons and a pen from Tom Wardell

MoM Forwards - Cam Wilkinson 

Backs - Jack Birks

Smiths earned a home semi final vs Old Patesians 2nd XV with the fixture date TBA.

Promotion hopes dented with home loss vs Cinderford

Smiths 1st XV had another entertaining encounter against a strong Cinderford 2s team. Having lost 23-21 at Cinderford in November, Smiths were keen to show what they could do in the home fixture and also hoped to find a win to keep them in the promotion race.

Smiths struggled in the first half against a slight wind and found themselves 7-24 down at halftime with only a try from centre Jake Keylock-Townsend to show for all the effort they were putting in.

The second half saw Smiths hit straight back and scrum half Tom Gordon helped reduce the deficit to 11-24. Another Cinderford try and a second for Gordon meant Smiths were still in a position to press for the win at 19-31.

The final score for either team came from the home side as replacement scrum half Dan Jarvis took advantage of some Smiths scrum pressure, reacting quickest to a ball squirting out the back of a Cinderford scrum to collect and carry over the line. 26-31 with 19 second half points gave Smiths a shot at a comeback win but Cinderford controlled the final exchanges.

Further chances to finish on top came and went for Smiths and the away side were able to keep things simple and see out the final minutes of the game to win 26-31.

Man of the match was Number 8 Harry Jakes.

Next week the 1s travel to Tewkesbury RFC for their next league fixture.