28 October 2007
Both sides were missing their county players so an interesting match was expected. Medway lost another three players to injury and other reasons and could raise only a 16 player squad for the game, with two of those carrying injuries. It was a surprise when Blackheath arrived with a small squad too, since they have enough players for two U16 sides.
With intermittent rain and a strong wind blowing across the pitch making
conditions tricky, the match was played mostly in the forwards in the first
half. Blackheath put early pressure on in the first ten minutes but failed
to put any points on the board.
Then, as they gained in confidence, the Medway pack started pushing the Blackheath forwards all over the park. One driving maul saw a gain of more than 30 metres, which may have been a new experience for the Blackheath players.
The Medway forwards provided the first score in the 18th minute. A lineout 15 metres out was gathered, Blackheath again had difficulty stopping the Medway maul, and Billy James was driven over for his first try for the club.
Medway had the best of the final minutes of the first half, but a blow fell when Ian Findlay, who had been playing with severely bruised ribs from a previous game, had to go off. Like England in the World Cup Final, a forward was replaced in the pack by a scrum-half as Jack Thompson came on. The Medway pack must have lightened by ten stones as a result, but Jack made up for it by putting heart and soul into the job.
It was a different Blackheath side that came out for the second half. Clearly some problems had been put right in the half-time team talk as they began to make ground and keep possession of the ball. Their rucking and recycling of the ball was superb, often going through a dozen or more phases.
Medway found themselves pegged back in their own 22 and were forced to
repel boarders from their goal line for long periods. But while the visitors
had all the ball they failed to take advantage of a number of overlaps,
preferring to cut inside. Medway could stand that: backs and forwards put
their tackles in, with Richard Petch and George Dyer to the fore.
Eventually though, after a series of attacks, the Medway line was concentrated and the Blackheath inside centre ran around to the right wing where he found enough space to go over. The conversion was missed and the scores were level.
Despite this breach Medway continued to defend well and eventually had a chance of their own. Jamie Chapman hacked a loose ball upfield and he, Tom Bourne and Simon Brooks steamed up the pitch to pressurise and isolate the fullback who was penalised for holding on.
It was a kickable penalty with only a few minutes left, and skipper Paul Pierce took responsibility for it. Keeping his cool, he slotted it and Medway were ahead again, albeit against the run of play.
Blackheath came back again and nearly won it at the death, but a fine tackle from Jamie Chapman put the attacker into touch and the referee blew for the end of the match. Once again these two sides had produced an enjoyable game of rugby that could have gone either way, played in good spirit with fine qualities and skills on display.
