The RFU’s London 2 South-West league season came to an end last Saturday with all 12 teams in the league already knowing their fate: Cobham to be promoted to London 1 South; London Cornish to play off against Sevenoaks this Saturday for the second promotion place; and Weybridge Vandals and Basingstoke to be relegated to London 3 South-West.

(Basingstoke left it to the last day of the season to get their first win and a bonus point: 35-19 at home against Weybridge: the rematch in division 3 in September should be one to savour.)

Winchester travelled to Cobham with nothing to play for but pride, and lost 52-18, but with their heads still proudly up. Under their new director of rugby Steve Pope, Cobham have been head-and-shoulders the best side in the league this season, visibly improved since they beat Winchester at North Walls Park by a single point in the first match of the season, and richly deserve their return to London 1 South.

A week before, Cobham had lost only their second match of the season, to Warlingham. A fortnight before that, Winchester had beaten Warlingham by eight tries to two, so students of form in Winchester’s travelling support had found a glimmer of hope.

Eight tries to two it was again, but this time in Cobham’s favour, not Winchester’s.

With injuries and unavailability forcing nine changes from the starting XV that beat Warlingham and eight from the side that lost to London Exiles a week before, Winchester could have been lambs to the slaughter. But to the credit of the whole squad and the coaching team led by Andy Fields, they soaked up the pressure, never stopped attacking, and were rewarded with two tries in the last 15 minutes of the match.

Cobham, with the more mobile forward pack and outside backs with real power of penetration, opened their tally after only five minutes with a driven maul from a lineout and a try for flanker Doug Rodman. Winchester scrum-half Connor Breen got the visitors on the scoreboard with a penalty when Cobham went off their feet at the breakdown.

Two more home tries, both converted by fly-half Ollie Weir, and a second penalty for Breen, this one a magnificent kick from the half-way line, saw the teams go into the changing-rooms at half-time with the score at 19-6.

Fields’s half-time message to his team was to get out of their own half, take the game to Cobham, play positive rugby. As the second half unfolded and Winchester went down to three more Cobham tries, they never stopped trying to do that, with No 8 Matt Lown, second-rows Campbell Ettinger and Nye Rees and full-back Tom Forster all prominent.

An injury to Winchester winger Alex Baylis gave Jonny Lee his first appearance for Winchester’s first team, and five minutes into the second half Matt Woods, one of Winchester’s Golden Oldies who had not played at all this season, came on in the back row, looking less tubby, if not fitter, than of old. They brought the total number of players selected since September to 39.

Finally the Cobham dam burst. Winchester took lineout ball 10 metres out, prop Ben Ashbee carried the ball forward, slipped it to Rees out of the tackle, and Rees was over for his third try of the season. Breen added the conversion, and Winchester were on their way.

Cobham’s final try made it eight: four for left wing Max McDonald, their top try-scorer of the season, two for Rodman, and one each for prop Josh Brown and outside-centre Matt Goddard.

But Winchester were to have the last word. Lown picked up at the back of an attacking scrum, Breen cross-kicked for Lee to run onto the ball, but found touch in the corner. Cobham caught the lineout ball and mauled, only for Rees to win a turnover for Winchester. Prop Jim Beavan passed to full-back Forster, and Cobham went offside. A quick tap, slick passing, and Beavan was over for his fifth try of the season, surely some kind of record for a tight-head prop.

This was Fields’s last match after six seasons as Winchester’s coach, the last three in London 2 South-West. (And this is this writer’s last match report after three years of Sunday mornings spent at the keyboard.) All would have wished Fields a happier ending to a reign that started with Winchester’s relegation to London 3 South-West, and has since seen them end seasons at eighth, fifth and as champions of that league, then at seventh, third and fourth in London 2 South-West, with a record for the last six seasons of 81 wins, two draws and 49 defeats.

“It’s had its moments”, he said with a wry grin. “Some I’ll remember with pride for the rest of my life, others I’d frankly rather forget. Despite losing to a much better team who might have beaten us out of sight but for our defensive commitment, I’ll remember today for its positives: 10 or 11 normally first-choice players missing, two coming off the bench for their first first-team games this season, and despite those disadvantages an unquenchable team spirit, and a determination to keep attacking that led to two great tries at the end. And our 4s beat Cobham’s Vets 38-28, so there was something to celebrate on the coach home.

“I’m looking forward to coming to next season’s matches as a spectator. We’ve built a squad that will go on improving. Promotion to London 1 South should and I’m sure will still be our target.”

Winchester team: Tom Forster; Alex Baylis, Adam Dye, Seb Purvis, Max Lampard; Johnny Morris, Connor Breen; Rob Arthur, Ben Ashbee, Jim Beavan, Campbell Ettinger, Nye Rees, James Edwards, Dom Wandless, Matt Lown

Substitutes: Jonny Lee, Matt Woods