3rd April 2010

Anchorians v Beccahamians

Beccahamians flew in from the Sparrow Den with every confidence of a repeat win against Anchs given our recent form.  Going into this game with both teams mid table in the Kent 1 league we were keen to ensure that they came away from the match if not defeated but certainly stinging from the game.  However, against the run of form A’s put up a sterling performance from the first to last whistle.

Beccs kicked off with a slight wind in their favour taking a long kick up-field which was caught well by Phil Dedman who passed the ball to Ryan Dowling who chipped the ball back toward the Beccs half. Beccs caught the ball but under pressure from the chasing Anchs backs the player was bundled into touch for the first line-out.  Gareth Knight presented the ball well to Mike ‘Egg’ Hughes who took the ball cleanly off the top and dropped to the ground to set up quick ball across field and for the try line and the first points of the game to Craig Whiting, ably supported by the ever present Dave Hadris.  Paul Evans stepped up for the conversion which dropped slightly short of the posts to leave the score at 5-0 to the home team.  At the restart Anchs took the ball back at the opposition and piled into their half.  Good tackling brought the ball to ground but the tackler failing to roll away resulted in a penalty for the home team.  Evans kicked the ball which failed to find touch and ended up with Beccs running back at Anchs.  Sucking up the pressure Anchs got possession and kicked the ball to touch.  Beccs won the line out but sterling defence turned the ball over and kicked long up-field.  Brothers, Adam and Ben Davison chased well and, putting Beccs under pressure forced an error and were rewarded with a penalty kick just outside the Beccahamians 22.  An accurate kick by Evans took the ball to touch within 5 metres.  Another excellent line out resulted in a quick moving driving maul directed by Hadris who placed the ball over the line for to bring the score to 10-0.  Now on the back foot Beccs were keen to reverse the trend of points against them and spent the next ten minutes camped in the Anchs half.  However, strong defensive work by the whole team with particular effort from Kenton Parbutt, Phil Dedman, Pat Richardson, Andy Pritchard and Gareth Knight kept them at bay until, spotting a gap they burst through to register a try in the corner which was unconverted bring the score to 10-5.  Play bounced around the half way line with neither team willing to give any quarter with tackles coming in from all directions including one try saving tackle by die hard veteran Pat Richardson who sprinted across the field to take the Beccs winger out of play and knock the ball on.  Anchs were now sucking up all that Beccs could throw at them and finally they came out on top with Ben Davison picking up a bouncing ball from a high kick to run 45 metres to place the ball over the line for a converted try to take the teams into half time at 17-5.
 
Beccs were now well and truly playing catch-up.  Anchs kicked off and despite a supporting wind the ball failed to travel the required 10-metres and Anchs gave away early possession to the visitors for a scrum on the half way line.  Beccs came out from the back of the scrum with ball in hand and three missed tackles allowed the visitors to get within 10 metres before a thumping tackle by Adam Davison bought the player crashing to ground and turn over ball to Anchs.  Phil Dedman who kicked the ball back up-field to find touch just outside the 22 yard box.  Beccs were keen to get points for every visit but Anchs had other ideas.  With huge tackles and well placed clearance kicks Anchs fought their way back into the visitors half but could not convert to points.  Beccs came back hard but again Anchs fought them off with Andy Pritchard making a dash through the centre and chipping the ball up-field with a well placed kick that was chased by both him and Tim Banner-Martin.  Resulting in a line out just 10-metres out.  The line out was won by Beccs but handling errors bought about a series of scrummages and eventually Dedman charging out with ball in hand to dive over the line for an unconverted try to make it 22-5.  Still with plenty of time Beccs came back but again Anchs sucked up the pressure but eventually something had to give way and Anchs conceded a penalty and Beccs kicked to touch 5-metres out.  A quick lineout resulted in Beccs diving over to register a converted try making the score 22-12.  Now sensing a potential upset Beccs were rejuvenated but Anchs weren’t giving up just yet and forced their way back into the visitors half with Dedman diving over the line for a try which was disallowed by the Referee who decreed that it was knocked on. Undeterred, Anchs lost the scrum but a long clearance kick was picked up by Adam Davison who ran the ball back in-field before passing to Parbutt who took it on supported by Andy Wylie who took the ball from him to place it over the line for another unconverted try making the score 27-12. One final score for Anchs sealed the victory with the final points going to Ben Davison for his second try of the game beneath the posts.  As the conversion attempt bounced off the posts the referee blew the end of the game with the final score being 32-12.  All in all this was a superb effort by what was effectively a scratch team who all gave their best in a fast moving match which was keenly watched by next weeks opposition coaching staff from the sidelines.  It will be interesting to see if they gain any advantage from watching us win today.
 
Anchorians man of the match as voted by the spectators was Andy Pritchard who really put pressure on the visitors despite being injured early in the match.
 
Next weeks game Saturday 10th April at Darland Avenue against Sheppey.  Kick off at 3.00pm.