Erith v Anchorians (Kent 1 League match)

Anchorians registered another impressive win in the Kent 1 league against Erith RFC.

Erith never really seemed to get into the match with more fight being shown within the team than on the pitch against the Anch’s.  Erith kicked off with the sun behind them hoping to get the first half advantage but Anch’s quickly put them straight on that with early runs by Phil Dedman and Alistair Parker.  Using the combined weight of the forwards the rolling maul was once again used to good effect keeping Erith well into their own half for the first 15-minutes before Scrum Half Rob Small took the ball from the back of ruck, noticing a small gap up the blind side ran the ball through the last 10m to score the first try in the right hand corner.  Craig Webb stepped up to take the conversion which was unsuccessful having the distance but lacked the accuracy.   

Anch’s expected Erith to come back and weren’t disappointed with the ball finding their centre deep into the Anch’s half.  Erith tried a rolling maul but the Anch’s pack put up a strong defence and stopped them dead in their tracks with the maul finally collapsing with Erith maintaining possession of the ball. Play continued in the Anchorians half before the Referee spotted an infringement on the A’s 22 metre line and awarded a penalty to Erith in front of the post.  Erith registered three points for the kick.  On the restart Anchs chased well and the ball was caught by Richie Kyle with strong support by new winger Keith White who took the ball from Kyle and ran the ball back into the Erith centre field.  Popping the ball out to Full Back Adam Davison on the tackle Anchs continued forward momentum with Davison passing the ball to Brett Little who made good ground up the wing before finally being bundled into touch by a spirited Erith defensive move.  At the line out Erith managed to maintain possession completing a clearance kick from inside their scoring zone.  A’s won the line out and Dedman again popped out with the ball in hand before being toppled to the ground by a excellent tackle from the Erith Scrum Half with the ball being turned over as a result.  Erith opted to kick the ball out of their own half but failed to find touch with Webb taking the ball in the air who returned the ball up the centre being chased by full back Davison.  Erith managed to catch the ball but Davison piled into the tackle forcing the Erith player to the ground and a penalty for the Anch’s for holding on well within the kicking range of Webb. However the kicked lacked accuracy and no score was registered. The 22 drop out was taken quickly by Erith and A’s found themselves on the back foot in their own half before another penalty was awarded against Erith and a player sin binned for stamping in the tackle.  This relieved the pressure on the A’s defence and allowed them to regroup for another attacking move with Webb kicking a long ball well into the Erith half.  A mistake by the home team caused them to miss the catch and the chasing pack were quickly in the mix with Parker putting up a spirited performance generating a turn over ball and a fast moving maul. Small picked the ball from the back and made good ground before being tackled to the ground.  The loose ball was picked up by the Erith hooker who despite his side picked up a fair pace to run the ball back at the Anchs before attempting a clearance kick which made no ground. 

Anchs maintained the pressure on the Erith half piling into them at every opportunity to use their strength advantage.  Erith scrums were continually being pushed backward and Dedman at No 8 popped out with the ball before dropping a quick pass Dave Hadris had the ball on the move again. Hadris passed the ball to Davison who carried the ball in through the centre before being bought down and a penalty awarded against Erith for coming in at the side.  Webb kicked the ball to within 10m of the Erith line. The lineout was successful caught by A’s but the referee reversed the advantage for a misdemeanour in the lineout.  The penalty kick failed to gain any significant distance and allowed the Anch’s to get back into the play with a quick kick taken by Webb took the play back to the Erith 22.  The lineout was caught well by Kyle who dropped the ball to Andy Pritchard then to Webb and Hadris who took the ball into Erith making good yardage before being bought down 3m from the try line. Erith picked up the loose ball and kicked well down into the Anch’s half.  The ball was picked up by Davison who was tackled early into his move but managed to maintain possession and pass the ball back to Webb who ran ¾ of the pitch to score beneath the posts.  The conversion was taken by Davison and the score at half time was Erith 3 Anchorians 12. 

A stern talk at half time seemed to have spurred Erith into action with plenty of pressure being applied from the off.  For the first time Erith looked in danger of registering a try but the stirling defence of the Anchorians team held strong beating off attack after attack.  For the first 20 minutes the A’s suffered almost continual pressure on their try line but each time either a mistake by Erith or a concerted defensive move allowed the A’s to keep them from scoring.  Suddenly Webb, appearing from nowhere intercepted a pass and charged through the Erith line to run in a second try from distance which was converted by Davison.  It was clear at this stage that Erith were experiencing a confidence crisis with Mickey Mouse moves generating disputes on the pitch being clearly heard from the touch line.  Despite barracking from the home supporters Anch’s continued to pile pressure onto Erith to take advantage.  Play after play resulted in Erith defence collapsing allowing the A’s to get to within metres of their scoring zone.  A’s decided to ring some changes with Pat Richardson coming on for the Paul Knight and “Mad” Mick McLorn coming on for Richie Kyle.  Shortly afterwards Josh Richardson also came on for Craig Webb.  All substitutes came on with a desire to continue the rout and the spectators were not disappointed with both Richardsons coming out big in both defence and attacking moves and McLorn being extremely strong in defence.  Anchs continued their forward pressure with finally a rolling maul resulting in an unconverted forwards try in the left hand corner.  Erith came back with one final effort to score a consolation try. Good pressure bought about a tackle on Davison as he caught the ball in the air and had barely touched ground when the Erith Captain came in fast and bend him double in the tackle reversing the earlier tackle Davison had completed on him.  The ball came loose and was picked up by Anch’s and kicked to touch allowing the referee to blow full time leaving the final score Erith 3 Anchorians 24.

Anchorians Man of Match was Craig Webb for strong attacking moves.

Captain Adam Davison stated ‘Another win for the A’s. A fantastic effort considering that at midday today we were still trying to get a full team.  It shows what the A’s are made of; the win was well deserved.’

Next weeks game is an EDF cup match against Old Cranlieghans away.

Next league game Saturday 10 October at against HSBC in Darland Avenue, Gillingham

Touchline pundits comments: -

‘Fantastic effort. Another brilliant game.  What a fantastic game, shame Erith didn’t have more in attack, it would have been good for us to have played another strong team. Where the hell is Old Cranlieghans? Who the hell is Mickey Mouse’