Longlevens RFC

Sometimes in sport you get big upsets, the ‘Miracle on Ice’ in 1980 when the amateur USA Ice Hockey team defeated the might of the Soviet machine, Buster Douglas beating an undefeated Mike Tyson in 1990, ending the myth and in 1988 when Wimbledon shocked the country and beat Liverpool in the FA Cup final. Now you can add Longlevens beating perennial winners Matson in the 2023 Combination Cup final. The Longlevens players will not see this as a big upset as they knew they had it in them to win, but it certainly sent a message across the city of Gloucester, the Griffins mean business.

This game was and probably will be the most talked about final in history due to the hubbub that went on before the match even kicked off. Longlevens had been on two cup runs and rightly wanted to compete in and win both. Common sense prevailed in the end and a week after winning the Papa John’s competition they were back at Kingsholm to win the Combination Cup.

In the changing rooms beforehand the staff and players knew that 95% of the crowd fully expected a Matson win. That only fired the boys up more and they started the game with a bang, stringing 20 phases together and stressing a Matson defence not used to that much pressure.

To their credit Matson did manage to stop that first wave, however a poor kick out by their left winger landed directly into the hands of Longlevens top scorer, Mike Yorke, who sprinted clear to add the first points, 0-5.

The pressure continued and it looked like the key to success was multiple phases, Matson looked like a team not used to defending for long periods, so ball retention was vital. The next big event came from the inspirational Tom Griffiths. He showed his class and experience at a higher level by tormenting his opposite number all night. He took a pass on the Griffins own 10 metre line and ghosted through a gap to make a great break to the 22. Griffiths was looking for the pass, but tacklers were falling off him, so he was able to get to the line for what looked like the second score, but unfortunately a Matson defender was able to dislodge the ball over the line. They might not have scored but a warning shot had been fired and they knew that Griffiths was going to be dangerous.

A penalty was then converted by Brad Wilkins to make it 0-8, before a second score came through the impressive Louis Boyd, who capped a fine performance with a well taken try. A scrum on the right was moved blind following an 8 pick from Jed Holman-Jones, he popped to Wilkins who shipped to Griffiths. The defence was drawn in and Boyd hit a great line back on the angle to beat several Matson players and go over, converted by Wilkins, 0-15.

Matson were visibly shocked by the fast start, but they have gone two seasons unbeaten in the league and started to show what they were about. A great 50-22 kick by the Matson 10 set up a driving line out that was finished well in the corner, before silly penalties allowed Matson to gain territory and eventually go wide for a second score, 10-15. Crucially at this stage their kicker was having an off day, meaning the Griffins were still in control.

Longlevens reasserted their dominance on the stroke of half time, again through Griffiths. The forwards went through good phases and set up a platform for Wilkins to feed Griffith going right. He stepped outside his man and made a charge for the line, drew the last defender, and passed outside to Ben Collier to go over, making the half time score 10-22.

The belief was palpable at half time, there was not one player that didn’t believe this game was going to be won, but each and every one knew maximum effort was required.

The half started with early Matson pressure, and they were first to score. They put together multiple phases from the kick off but were repelled back each time through impressive hits by the likes of Josh Lyons, Daniel Jenkins, Jack Cuthbert and Cam Jones. Matson did eventually get near the line only to be held up, but the ref brought them back for an earlier penalty infringement by Longlevens. They elected to kick to the corner and the resulting lineout allowed them to go over, only for the ref to adjudge that they knocked on. The following scrum was penalised against Longlevens and from a quick tap the Matson 12 powered over, 17-22.

The game was becoming hugely entertaining, and the crowd were making themselves heard. Longlevens pressure drew penalties from the ref and Wilkins kept the scoreboard ticking over with a penalty, 17-25. This was followed by a try for Griffiths, who made up for his earlier effort to crash over near the posts. More fast phases were strung together, and strong running forwards Harvey Walsingham and Cuthbert were making good yards. The ball was worked right for Jack Beck to put a chip forward and win the foot race for the ball recycled back inside for Griffiths to score, 17-32.

Matson replied with a try wide out left but this was preceded by a yellow card for Griffiths who was deemed to have tackled with no arms. However, it was the Griffins who added to their score during this period through a Wilkins penalty, 22-35.

There was still plenty of action left in this game during the last 10 minutes and Matson made a game of it by scoring another try of their own, this time scoring wide right following a lineout, 27-35. The game was finally put to bed on 77 minutes when Daniel Jenkins was put clear following excellent build up play. The attack was started by a nice snipe down the side of the ruck by Wilkins, which was followed by strong running from Joe Weatherley, Jones, Cuthbert and Walsingham. The ball was moved back right, and Oliver Deacon made a great delayed pass to Jenkins who scorched over to make the score 27-42. There was time for one final Matson try to bring the score to 32-42, but the night and the cup belonged to the Griffins.

This was on of those rare 80-minute performances where 1-20 all played a huge part. Dave Edwards played most of the game on one leg and didn’t take a backwards step, Jed Holman-Jones led by example and as mentioned, each forward made the hard yards all night. The backs were class, with Wilkins and Griffiths pulling the strings and Collier and Beck making tackles and yards with similar aplomb. The back three of Boyd, Yorke and Carlos Jenkins were always a threat, and the bench of Deacon, Tom Denby, Ollie Smith, Matt Fatica and Henry York all added value when they came on.

This was an upset and most of Gloucester didn’t believe Longlevens could do it, but all the players and staff had no doubt that the win was achievable, and they delivered on their promise.

Thank you to all the supporters and members for making this a memorable season and special thanks to outgoing head coach, Luke Stratford, who has taken up a new position with Leicester Tigers womens' team. His input has been invaluable and the team are playing a special brand of rugby becasue of him. We’ll see you next year!