3rd October 2009
Old Cranlieghans v Anchorians (EDF Cup match)
Anchorians took a 110 mile round trip to Surbiton to play
Old Cranlieghans on Saturday in a tight EDF cup match. The home team kicked off with Anch’s playing
into a strong wind. Anch’s looked like the most impressive team from the off
with well drilled moves being displayed and strong runs from Phil Dedman,
Alistair Parker and Jack Gonsalves leading to an early try by skipper Adam
Davison piling over the line at pace to register the first score to
Gillingham. Davison attempted to convert
his try but lacked the accuracy to find the posts and the score remained
0-5.
From the off the home team attempted to fight back with
sustained pressure being bought onto the Anchorians line but sterling defensive
work kept them at bay and forced many mistakes by the home team. Finally forcing a penalty Craig Webb kicked
the ball well into the home team half and relieved the pressure on the A’s
line. While the ball failed to find
touch good chasing by brothers Ben and Adam Davison forced a quick kick to
touch which made little distance. The
home team took the line out and quickly ran the ball back into the Anch’s half;
reaching the A’s line they pushed on and got over the try line to achieve a
score beneath the posts and an easy conversion to put the home team 7-5 in the
lead.
A’s fought back with excellent runs by Ben Davison,
George Webb and Paul Evans but the home team turned over the ball resulting in
a quick run down the wing which was bought to an abrupt end by a thumping
tackle from Paul Knight. Play swapped
ends and a ruck was set up by A’s with the ball popping out to Gonsalves and
Andy Pritchard to set up a rolling maul which rumbled over the line to register
Anch’s second try which was converted by Craig Webb leaving the score at 7-12
at half time.
The second half started with a bluff kick by Fly-half
Webb who managed to kick the ball two yards but the home team decided to play
it resulting in a turn over ball and Evans receiving the ball at pace to score
a third try for the Anch’s. The home
team retaliated immediately with a cheeky run spotting a gap and using it to
great effect to place the ball over the try line for an unconverted try within
60 seconds. Jogging back to their own line they all looked like Disney’s
Cheshire Cat.
The rock hard ground and the previous weeks matches were
starting to show effects on both teams with substitutions being made by both
parties. Mark Dishman came on for Evans
and Pat Richardson came on for Craig Whitehead.
Within seconds of being on the pitch Dishman was sin-binned for an
alleged high tackle (that time is a record within the Anchorians ranks). Now playing with 14-men the home team pressed
the advantage on the A’s line but strong defensive work by the Davison brothers
lead to a counter attack but was turned over and a penalty resulted to the home
team who opted to kick for the posts. A
successful kick brought it even at 17-17.
Anch’s came back with a second try to Skipper Davison but, following
another dubious high tackle call by the official Parker was sin binned for the
last 10-minutes and the home team used their knowledge of the ground to good
effect and placed another converted try at the Anchorians end to finish the
match as 24-22.
Undoubtedly the match was lost because A’s played for a
quarter of the game with only 14 men.
However, the match was lost and A’s walked out of the EDF cup match with
confidence that they played well. It was
good to see the return of Ben Davison to the squad, albeit playing with
strength and confidence out of position.
Let’s hope that next week’s match against HSBC at home will reverse our
fortunes and put us back into winning ways.
Anchorians Man of Match was skipper Adam Davison for
taking the ball on and attacking tries.
Head Coach Alex Brown said “Losing is not in my game plan
and I can see from the team that they haven’t enjoyed it either. We suffered from a series of dubious calls
from the ref but he can only play what he can see. We lost because we played with only 14 men
for 20 minutes. No side can sustain that
much pressure without conceding points.
We need to get back on the practice field and sort a few issues out but
I am confident that next week we will beat HSBC using our own home advantage.”
Captain Adam Davison stated “What can I say, we started
really well but were beaten at the end by a team who knew their own ground and
the way the pitch plays. Next week is
another game and I am certain that we will be all guns for leather to win it.”
Next week’s game Saturday 10 October at against HSBC in
Darland Avenue, Gillingham