St Benedict's dream run to Twickenham proved to be one step too far as they were well beaten by Tunbridge Wells, who extended their winning streak to 29 matches.

The 56–14 final score in the RFU Intermediate Cup final was, to be fair, an accurate reflection of the game.

As both teams have won promotion to Step 6 for next season, neither will have the chance to repeat the experience, at least in the RFU Intermediate Cup.

The match had a messy start with the opening scrum having to be reset and Tunbridge Wells were then penalised for hooking too early. They had, however, shown that their pack was strong and mobile and when the next scrum was set, St Bennys found themselves five metres back.

A minute later, Tunbridge Wells were reduced to 14 men when Lee Campion was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

From the resulting penalty Bennys attacked and Kyle Drake thought he had scored in the left corner, only for the touch-judge to rule that full-back Mike Hawley had knocked on as he challenged his opposite number Hayden Pope for a kick-through.

Another big problem for the Cumbrians was that their line-out was failing miserably. Three of their first five throws missed the intended target and Tunbridge Wells got the ball, too.

In the ninth minute, from their first attack inside the Cumbrians’ 22, the Kent club showed the power and pace, and only a tremendous last-ditch tackle from Hawley stopped a try, albeit at the expense of a five-metre scrum.

From there, Bennys were penalised and Tunbridge Wells elected for another scrum. This time, there was no stopping the powerful pack and Nicholas Doherty touched down beside the posts. Pope added the extras.

There was immediately more danger for St Benedicts when Tunbridge Wells launched another attack. Hawley, was once more the hero, producing an excellent on-on-one tackle to stop Alex Maynard.

It was a temporary reprieve because after a turnover, Tunbridge Wells again attacked down the right and this time Maynard would not be denied, running behind the posts to touch down.

Something had to be done to slow down the Tunbridge Wells charge and when they were penalised for going over the top to kill a ruck, St Bennys elected to kick at goal.

Unfortunately, Daniel Rayson was wide left with the kick and, things got even worse a minute later when Campion ran onto a grubber kick and scored a third Tunbridge Wells try. With 22 minutes on the clock, after Pope’s missed conversion, the score was 19–0 and the men from Mireside had a mountain to climb.

A break by Hawley offered some hope, but that was extinguished five metres out by a knock-on and then a penalty as a forward picked up the loose ball in an offside position.

In 32nd minute, there was more joy for the men from Kent as Maynard made another break and Hawley finished off.

Four minutes before half-time a high tackle on the 22 gave Tunbridge Wells a penalty and Pope added another three points, making it 27–0.

With the last play of the half, St Benedicts got on the board with a try from Ryan Fisher. Hawley made the break, chipped over Pope and then got a bit of good fortune as the bounce went Fisher’s arms and he scored. Rayson added the conversion.

St Benedicts need to make a good start to the second half, and two mistakes from Tunbridge Wells helped to them achieve it. A box kick went into touch on the full and Pope knocked on from a kick into space.

From the scrum, two missed tackles gave Hawley clear run to the line and the cover didn’t arrive in time to stop him. Rayson’s conversion cut the deficit to less than two scores and St Benedicts were definitely back in the game.

Now it was Tunbridge Wells’ turn to display nerves and they started making handling errors under little pressure

Bennys had both a lineout and scrum between the 22 and 10-metre lines, but they failed to take advantage of either good position.

The comeback was stilled in the 53rd minute when Charlie Harding made a break, broke through four tackles and his pass gave Tasi Fred Tila the chance to charge over the line.

Three minutes later, more dancing feet from Harding ripped open the St Benedicts defence and after he was stopped five metres out, Charles Spence was able to wriggle past a couple of players on the try line before putting down the ball.

With 20 minutes remaining Steven Wood was sin-binned for a high-tackle, and Tunbridge Wells capitalised, five minutes later, when Harding scored near to the right touchline.

Brave tackling from Fisher stopped Guthrie Holliday from adding his name to the Tunbridge Wells try-scorers, but when the attack broke down, Harding dropped a goal from 20 metres out.

With a little more than two minutes remaining Tunbridge Wells broke through the 50-point barrier. Maynard, whose running was too much for the Miresiders all afternoon, burst through the defensive line and he sent Pope over in the left corner.

The full-back added the conversion to complete a comfortable victory.