24th October 2009

Anchorians v Guys & St Thomas’s Hospital

Following last week’s performance Anch’s wanted to prove that they were up for it and deserved to be second in the Kent 1 League and boy did they prove it today at the Darland Avenue ground.

Everyone was expecting a fast game as Guys have a reputation for having the quickest set of backs in the league and very quickly they demonstrated just how quick they could be with their very lightweight squad.  It was clear that the visitors wanted a win following their own defeat last week and following A’s kick off the visitors caught and returned to the A’s half with ball in hand piling on the pressure which was absorbed by the forwards but not without forsaking a couple of penalties which Guys used to gain further ground until they got to within kicking distance and popped the ball through the posts to register the first points of the game with a penalty kick just of centre from the posts.  A’s came back hard and used a driving maul to set up the theme for the rest of the match.  The maul rolled on like an unstoppable freight train until it was finally collapsed by the visitors.  Turn over ball resulted and Guys kicked the ball clear of the danger zone using the wind to their favour.  Failing to find touch the ball was picked up by Brett Little who ran the ball up before being bought down.  Dave Hadris tided up the loose ball and making a few more yards popped it to Andy Pritchard who was charging forward and got to within metres of the try line before being bought crashing to the ground.  Again, turn over ball resulted when the Referee spotted a penalty for holding on.  This gave Guys the opportunity to clear their lines again with a long kick down field.  Caught by Little the ball was passed to Anthony O’Brien who passed to Skipper Adam Davison.  Making good ground Davison was bought down; Hadris picked the ball out of the maul and took the ball on before passing to the ever present Pritchard.  Now within scoring distance of the line the forwards piled over the tackled Pritchard but the ball was knocked on.  With our huge weight advantage in the scum our forwards easily walked through the scrum and spotting a gap Flanker Hadris picked up the ball and charged through the defence to score a try to the left of the posts.  Leaving a long kick for Richie Collins to convert Hadris made his way back to his half before turning to watch Collins slot the ball right through the centre of the posts with a fantastic kick of 42 metres with a heavy side wind.  Guys took the ball back in to the A’s with along kick to the right hand corner.  Wayne English made and attempts to catch the ball but the wet conditions forced an error and he knocked the ball on resulting in a scrum just 5 metres out for Guys.  As usual A’s soaked up the pressure with excellent defence and although they lost the scrum a turn over ball resulted but again the referee had spotted a misdemeanour and awarded a penalty.  Guys opted to run it and taking our defence by surprise raced over for a try on their right wing. A’s were now behind and everyone wanted to get back in front and took the ball back into the visitors half and a penalty was awarded to A’s for a Guys player being offside.  Then, with verbal going to the ref they conceded another 10 metres which O’Brien converted into a line out 7 metres from the try line. George Webb caught the ball off the top of the line out an the forwards piled around to start another driving maul with Pat Richardson carrying the ball over the line to score another try for the home team which was unconverted.  Guys kick off was again long but went into touch off of an A’s player resulting in a line out deep in the A’s half.  The ball was caught by Webb and passed to “Mad” Mick McLorn and O’Brien who took the ball on before passing to Little who, catching the ball at pace broke through the visitors line and ran 2/3 rds of the length of the pitch to score another try for A’s just to the left of the posts which was converted by Collins.  Again the visitors came back and with continual pressure on the A’s line forced several errors and finally got to within kicking distance to register 3-points for a penalty.  With the score now 19-8 to the home team the visitors knew that they had to get back into the match and forced pressure back at the A’s resulting in penalties galore against the home team.  Running the risk of being penalised the riot act was read to the team by Skipper Davison and play finally stated to get back on track leading up to end of the first half with a final unconverted try of the half going to the forwards with a driving maul piling over the line. With the whistle the score stood at 24-11.

Webb caught the ball at the restart and quickly passed it to Pritchard who took the ball on using his weight advantage to good effect before popping it to Hadris who took it on and passed to Collins.  Making good ground the A’s were flying toward the Guys try line and with Davison running at pace up the wing  the ball reached Webb who tying a quick tap pass lifted the ball just out of reach of Davison and rolled into touch just 5 metres away from another score. A’s managed to win the line out and the ball was taken in again by the forwards but each time they were stopped by Guys excellent defensive work forcing a knock just 7 metres out.  Guys had the put in and with a strong push A’s forced them to take the ball out to early and Davison, Hadris and Webb piled into tackle the scrum half.  Hadris Lifted the ball out and passed to Davison who ran the ball in to score another try for the home team which was converted by Collins.  A’s decided to ring some changes and bring on some fresh legs and Banner-Martin was replaced by Ben Davison and Ryan Dowling was replaced by Craig Whiting.  Play re-started with the ball being caught by “Mad” Mick who flew up the field shaking off tackles like there was nothing there before finally being bought down after making at least 30 metres.  His speed took everyone by surprise, not least of which were our forwards who were left behind in his wake.  However, the ever reliable Pritchard was there with him and lifted the ball out before passing to English, Webb and O’Brien before the ref spotted an infringement and blew up for a penalty to the A’s.  Well within kicking distance Collins and Skipper Davison opted to take the points and another 3 points were on the board for A’s.  Guys weren’t finished yet though and despite excellent tackles from replacements to Whiting and Davison they managed to score a try with an excellent interception by the winger who ran the entire length of the pitch to score a converted try.  With just minutes to go A’s were keen to put another score up before the whistle and Guys gave them opportunity with another penalty right in front of the posts which was easily scored by Collins.  The final score was 37-18.

Anchorians Man of Match was Andy Pritchard for excellent forward driving moves and for being everywhere on the pitch.

Head Coach Alex Brown said “After last week’s game a fantastic effort was put in by the entire team.  The desire to win was there; some players were outstanding in bad conditions.  The penalty count was huge for both teams in this game; at the start of the season we took pride in our discipline and the game has shown that there are some issues we need to talk to the guys about and address.  However, that is just one small negative in an impressive performance.  Today, for me the forwards were all very good, Andy Pritchard was outstanding and easily was man of the match today. Mick McLorn also deserves special mention for his performance, he really stepped it up today.  All the boys put it in; we all hurt as much as the opposition.”