16th January 2010
HSBC vs Anchorians
Gillingham Anchorians travelled
to Beckenham for the return match against HSBC on Saturday. When we got there we found a sodden pitch
with, despite the best efforts of the ground staff wide expanses of open water
you for which could have been forgiven if you had dipped a rod and line into to
try your luck. Unfortunately luck wasn’t
in the A’s favour as almost immediately after kicking off uphill HSBC were
running back down the slope with good ball skills making the most of the short
wide pitch and forcing defensive work from full back Ryan Dowling who clearing
loose ball kicked to touch for the first line out of the game which was won by
HSBC well into the A’s half but then gave it away with a simple penalty which
enabled Anthony O’Brien (AOB) to clear the danger zone with a long distance
kick toward touch. Unfortunately the
ball was intercepted by the HSBC winger who then dropped the ball forward for the
first of many scrums in the game. A’s
were down some of there key forwards but went into the scrum confident that
they would have sufficient strength to maintain the pressure. Unfortunately the home team pack were
stronger than anticipated and A’s were forced quickly backward and the ball
rolled out toward the HSBC No 8 which proved to tempting for scrum half Rob
Small and he was penalised for offside by the referee just inside the HSBC
half. A good kick to touch was chased
by the HSBC Linesman who then suffered from the conditions to slip over as he
applied the brakes and fall in a large splash of water to mark the lineout just
inside the A’s 22. The ball was lifted
off the top of the line out by HSBC but was wrestled from them in the resulting
maul once the jumper was down with Small placing a high kick into the air which
was intercepted by his opposing number but was cut in half by a rapidly chasing
Adam Davison. Staying in possession HSBC
were slowly being forced backward into their half by sterling defence. HSBC put up another attacking move with quick
ball and fast runs to make their way back into the A’s half before a well
placed tackle bought the run to a halt well inside A’s half. Play became embedded in the A’s half with the
home team getting over the A’s scoring zone and only being held up by the
combined strength of Andy Pritchard and Dan Perry who managed to keep the ball
from being grounded resulting in a 5 metre scrum. Despite powerful effort the scrum was forced
backward over the line and an unconverted try was registered by the home team.
A’s continued on the back foot for the rest of the half with another 6-points
being registered by the home team with two penalties to place the score a 11-0
at half time.
The half time talk by coach Alex
Brown and Skipper Davison encouraged the team to think about the situation and
with a couple of changes, Justin Fipps coming on for injured Ben Davison and
Paul knight coming on for Ricky Deamer A’s came out for the second half playing
down the slope with renewed energy. HSBC
kicked off and the high ball was well caught by Adam ‘George’ Webb but was
rapidly intercepted by the chasing pack but the ball was passed back to Richie
Kyle before being lost on the ground to HSBC who picked up loose ball and
kicked the ball high to be taken by Davison who ran with ball in hand through
the opposing team dodging 5 tackles before being bought down with a desperate
tackle by the HSBC winger. A’s
maintained possession and in the home team half but the ball was them lost
forward resulting in another scrum. The
ball was lost but a fracas in the scrum resulted in both hookers being sin
binned and a penalty for A’s. AOB kicked
deep into the HSBC half for a line out which was well taken off the top by
‘Mad’ Mick McLorn. Now just metres from
the line A’s could sense the opportunity to get back into the match and fought
desperately to get over the try line.
The home team were desperate not to allow a try to be scored and a
series of penalties inside the danger zone forced the referee to sin-bin their
fly half. Now down to 13 men A’s sensed the opportunity and piled over the line
only to be thwarted by a simple knock on caused by the poor conditions. The enabled the home team to set up another
scrum which they walked over and enabled a good clearance kick to be levelled
back up the pitch into the A’s half.
With quick chasing the home team were suddenly on the attack and pushed
deep into the A’s half. A’s piled into
tackle after tackle and were rewarded with a penalty which enabled AOB to take
a long clearance kick down the field.
With swift feet the A’s were quickly after the ball and maintaining the
forward momentum forced the ball over the line to touch down but the try was disallowed
in favour of a 5 metre penalty by the referee in a strange decision. A’s made the most of it with quick ball being
passed out to Davison who ran the ball on before popping it to full back
Dowling to score a try in the corner.
O’Brien stepped up for the long conversion which sailed through the
posts from 42 metres out. Now just 4
points adrift A’s were back on the front foot putting pressure on HSBC at every
opportunity. A long kick by O’Brien
bouncing over the head of the opposing winger o find touch 5-metres out
presented another opportunity for a try but the throw was deemed not straight
and a free kick was awarded to the home team.
Forcing play back into the A’s half the home team managed to release
their winger who ran in to score a converted try under the posts to bring the
gap up to 11-points again. A’s returned
the favour with quick ball and good running by Davison taking the game back
deep into their territory allowing AOB to pick up loose ball and run the ball
over the line for another try which he converted. With the score now 18-14 A’s could taste a
victory but time ran out and the final score stood as the referee blew full
time a couple of minutes later.
Anchorians Man of Match was Adam Davison
Captain Adam Davison stated
“Appalling conditions but a fantastic game to have played in. Unfortunately with our scrum being forced
backwards we struggled to maintain the forward momentum and suffered the loss
as a result. Still, I am pleased with
the way we played and despite the result I hope the spectators enjoyed watching
as much as we enjoyed playing.”
Next game is Saturday 23 January
at the Darland Pitch in a home match against Beccahamians.
Reported by Clive Davison