CCK 17 - 7 Homerton

On a terrible pitch, neither team had much opportunity to shine in what was at times, a closely contested game. CCK started strongly, looking to build on the back of their victory over Downing 2 weeks ago, and proved dominant from the start. Uncontested scrums denied them a chance to show their forward dominance which had proved so destructive against Downing, but they looked to make up for this in the lose play.

An early penalty miss denied Homerton a chance to get on the scoreboard, and from that point, Homerton were barely able to keep CCK out of their half. CCK looked a lot more dangerous at the set piece, with lock Dom Rustecki constantly stealing Homerton line out ball. Eventually the relentless forward pressure bore fruit, as Corpus Captain Ken Burns went over for the first try mid way through the half. A difficult conversion from the touchline was neatly slotted by fly-half Josh Wilson to give CCK a 7 point lead. Homerton showed little promise in attack, with the CCK defence holding firm, and flanker Mike Philo proved a menance continually stealing good turnover ball at the breakdown. A clever kicking game saw CCK score once again, with full back Ben Laing getting over the line to make it 12-0 going into half time.

With there still all to play for, Homerton came out in the 2nd half and played some much better rugby, whilst CCK looked somewhat lacklustre at times. Homerton played some more attacking rugby, getting it out to their centres who looked dangerous with the ball in hand. However, the CCK defence held firm, and soon were across the try line again, when prop Stu Brown took advantage of continual forward pressure to go over for the 3rd try. A difficult kick from Josh hit the posts to keep it at 17-0. By this point, CCK were looking tired, and were obviously trying to run down the clock. Homerton showed a lot of promise and took advantage of the weary CCK legs making constant line breaks that eventually led to their only try. A string of missed tackles let Homerton break through in the middle of the park to score under the posts in a deserved try that offered some consolation.

The final whistle blew to end what hadn't been the best game of rugby, but nevertheless marked a convincing win for CCK who booked themselves a place in next week's semi final, most likely against John’s. With a run of form that looks set to continue, will we be seeing another historic Cuppers upset by the Division 3 team that relies on the quality of it's rugby rather than position or reputation? Probably not, but its worth a watch.