Medway RFC U16s

23 September 2007

A last minute drop goal against rivals and bogey team Old Elthamians won the U16s their first trophy for over a year in a tense but ultimately joyful day at Beckenham. The journey to the final is a tale of mixed fortune, mixed performances and occasionally nail-biting suspense.

Medway's first match was against Sidcup, a side they had not met for three years. Seven minutes each way is not long to make an impression, but the impression Medway gave was that they should have stayed in bed. Dew on the ball and the ground made conditions tricky, and Medway's handling and passing was at times embarrassing.

It took until early in the second half for the first try to be scored with Aaron Dimmick supporting the backs well and running in from 10 metres. Shortly afterward Simon Brooks fielded a Sidcup clearance kick on half-way and ran it straight back in. Stewart Stockford converted to make the final score 12 - 0.

The second pool match against Ashford started perfectly with Aman Gill diving in from short range within 30 seconds of the kick off. But the same general malaise in Medway's play was still evident, and it took a short range pick and drive from Richard Petch deep in the second half to make the game safe.

Although they had never looked like losing their matches, Medway were far from convincing winners of their pool matches and knew they would need to play much better in the quarter-final if they were to go any further in the competition.

They did. Against Dover the team finally clicked and ran in six tries. Jamie Chapman got the first after chasing up a kick over the top from Stewart Stockford, who then converted. James Davies did likewise shortly afterward from a grubber kick from Richard Verrall.

Medway ran away with it in the second half. Chapman scored his second on an overlap after a long pass from Tom Bourne, and Richard Verrall powered through the middle and under the posts.

Tom Bourne broke through two tackles to get on the scoresheet and then Brooks got his second of the tournament. Two conversions from Stockford in the second half brought the final score to 36 - 0, and a place in the semi-final against Westcombe Park.

The quarter-final had renewed the optimism of the side and their supporters, but Medway again struggled in the semi-final. Medway conceded their first points of the day to a well-worked converted try midway through the first half. But a penalty on the right was worked quickly wide to the left where Richard Verrall beat two challenges to go under the posts. His conversion brought the half-time whistle with the score at 7 - 7.

Midway through the second half Medway were taken by surprise by a quick tap penalty and Westcombe Park scored in the corner. The conversion missed, and that was to prove crucial.

Medway had four minutes to save their tournament, and they set out with renewed determination. Jonathan Saddington came within two metres of a score but was pulled down and Westcombe Park managed to clear.

Aman Gill then came within five metres but was adjudged to have knocked the ball forward. From the scrum James Davies caught the opposing scrum-half, the ball went loose, and Aaron Dimmick was inches from getting the ball down over the line. But Medway were then penalised for hands in the resulting ruck and it seemed it just wasn't going to be Medway's day.

Time was up and it was the last play of the game, a scrum with Medway's put-in. Stockford looped behind Verrall before moving the ball to Chapman on the wing. In a trademark jack-in-the-box run he sidestepped inside one defender, feinted and sidestepped another, straightened, swerved past two more and suddenly was clear with 15 metres to go and the Medway supporters bellowing on the sidelines as he went under the posts.

Verrall coolly despatched the conversion to take the score to 14 - 12 and the final whistle blew immediately with everyone exhausted from nervous tension. It was a raw deal and a huge disappointment for Westcombe Park who had played well throughout the game, but it proved once again that Medway are a truly resilient side.

So to the final, and as expected it would be against Old Elthamians, a team that Medway had never beaten, but had never lost to by more than seven points.

The wind had got up and was blowing directly down the pitch, and Old Elthamians would have the advantage of it in the first half. The Medway defensive line took a battering. Medway spent the entire ten minutes in their own half, but every player tackled, covered, chased back and tackled again and Elthamians simply couldn't find a way through.

The second half was a mirror image of the first as, with the wind now favouring Medway, Old Elthamians were pegged back in their own half with no escape. They saw a lot of the ball, but failed to penetrate the Medway line. Medway too could not find a way through when they had possession.

It took cool thinking and a perfect strike with the boot to win the game. A Medway scrum provided the ball, and scrum-half James Davies provided the perfect delivery to Richard Verrall in the pocket. He was a long way out, and not even in front of the posts, but the drop goal was beautifully executed.

The opposition had only a minute to respond and it proved to be beyond them. As the whistle went, the Medway players let out a yell to celebrate an impressive win and a shiny new trophy for the cabinet, but even better they now know they can beat Old Elthamians. And of course, fate just had to arrange it so that next week's regular 15-a-side game is against -- Old Elthamians.