Medway RFC U17s

4 February 2007

Tom hands off the last defender
to go into the corner

Medway never hit their best form in this match but still produced a victory against able opposition. The Romford pack were well-drilled and performed well at the set-piece, although their backs had a torrid time in the first-half with multiple handling errors marring their game.

Medway, as usual, were better in the loose and put in a fine rucking performance throughout the match, although the first-half mishandling plague hit their backs as well. The half-backs, Ryan Ellis and James Davies, did a good job of managing the distribution of the ball, but all too often passes further out went astray and scoring opportunities missed.

Romford maintained some possession and territorial advantage initially, and caused a brief scare for the Medway defence as a nicely weighted kick into the in-goal had to be touched down by the scampering Joe Davies and Richard Verrall just in front of the Romford winger. But the visitors were rocked back on their heels after three minutes when Medway scored their first try.

Caught on half-way, Richard Verrall popped the ball off the ground to midfield partner Stewart Stockford and a sidestep broke the defensive line. Hauled down by the fullback on the Romford 22, Stockford expertly passed out of the tackle to the supporting winger, Tom Bourne, who handed off his counterpart and dived into the corner.

Effective tackling negated the few offensive threats in the next ten minutes, although handling errors by both sets of backs caused some minor panic at each end before being cleared up and kicked downfield.

Vezz heads for the line,
dragging the defence after him

It took a switch move behind a scrum between Stockford and Verrall to partially wrongfoot the Romford defence and produce the next score, as Verrall took the blindside route and burst through one tackle before being pulled down by two tacklers just within reach of the line, and the try was awarded.

Two minutes later another superb break by Stockford gained 30 metres and his perfect pass inside allowed the pounding Verrall to dive in unopposed under the posts. Stockford converted and half-time came with the home side 17 - 0 to the good.

Romford's half-time team talk must have been a good one, as they dominated the first ten minutes of the second half, and suddenly their backs were finding their passes and making ground. It wasn't long before a move wide from left to right drew the Medway defence, and then quick ball moved rapidly back the other way left a hole in Medway's back line for the Romford fly-half to exploit.

The Romford defender appears to have
Aaron by the knackers, but sheer
determination and flagrant disregard
for his future paternal capability
keeps him going under the posts

Romford now had the better of the possession, although Medway as ever looked dangerous on the counter-attack. A well-executed miss, loop and switch move in the backs deserved a try but was stopped five metres short, and the next score was a more scrappy affair. A series of rucks in the Romford 22 eventually resulted in the ball reaching Verrall, who changed the direction of the attack and powered over the line for his hat-trick. Paul Pierce converted.

Romford came back again and put a lot of pressure on the Medway goal-line. Using forward power to attempt a push-over try, the third drive by the Romford pack was finally shunted into touch by the Medway defenders. For once, Medway's lineout worked perfectly and Stockford was able to kick long from deep inside the in-goal. The ball failed to reach touch but Jamie Chapman was following up at top speed. He did enough to cause confusion between the fullback and winger and as the ball squirted loose, hooker Simon Brooks arrived to pick it off his toes and gallop upfield, sidestepping an opponent before spinning a pass to flanker Aaron Dimmick. Having gone the length of the field from the original lineout and just about outrunning the last defender, Dimmick fell over the line under the posts for a great try. Stockford converted to bring the final score to 31 - 5.