23 November 2008
In a match cut short by atrocious weather, the Medway U17s put in a good performance against a mixed side of Sevenoaks U17s, U18s and three Medway Colts. The set-piece scrum was particularly impressive with the U17s disrupting the opposition and shunting them backwards on several occasions, with Billy James and George Dyer showing improvement with every match.
But it was Sevenoaks who struck first. With the wind and rain behind them and the slope in their favour, they were able to put on some early pressure that paid off with a try in the corner after a missed tackle in the Medway defence. The try was expertly converted from way out wide.
Medway made an immediate reply through James Davies. Receiving the ball from a scrum he feinted to pass but cut through the deceived defence to go under the posts, and Stewart Stockford converted.
Sevenoaks tried to apply pressure again, but good tackling kept them at bay, with Jack Thompson and Ryan Ellis showing well against their larger opponents. But Medway's decision-making was again awry, with kicks into the wind from behind the scrum going either straight up and back, or straight to Sevenoaks and back.
Keeping the ball in hand might have been better, and considering it was wet and slippery and the freezing rain had numbed everyone's fingers, Medway's handling was pretty good. A pick up off the ground and drive by Dyer, supported ably by James, made 20 metres and forced a penalty when Sevenoaks went off their feet at the breakdown. The thin crowd groaned when the ball was kicked across field again but this time, luckily, the wind took it back to Aaron Dimmick who made another 20 metres. From the ruck, the ball was passed quickly left and Simon Brooks crossed the line. Stockford converted superbly from the angle into the fierce wind.
This time it was Sevenoaks' turn to make an immediate reply. Only a minute later a drive through the middle by one of the Medway Colts set up quick ball and an overlap on the right was exploited. Once again the difficult conversion was good and the sides turned round all square at 14 - 14.
Medway now had the slope and weather, and five minutes into the half took advantage. A drive up the middle was retained on the ground and number 8 Tom Barnes took the ball to the blind side. A perfectly timed pass gave wing Tom Bourne the chance to accelerate past two defenders down the slope and into the corner. The conversion missed but Medway were ahead again, yet Sevenoaks wasted no time in driving back upfield and were unlucky not to go over in the corner a few minutes later. The second half was ended after ten minutes because of the risk of death by exposure, not least of the referee we suspect!
Man of the match: Billy James
