Dartfordians (0) V (39) Dover 1st XV
Played on 30th September 2006
Dover expected the encounter with Dartfordians to be a much tougher
in view of their previous experience in London 3. Apart from the opening
10 minutes the home side were outplayed in every area of the contest
throughout the game.
Darts pack were big and heavy and their endeavours were to try and
disrupt and spoil whenever possible. Their efforts were short lived
and the Sharks forwards controlled the line-outs, loose and set play.
Chris Lacey and Wayne Matcham were to steal 8 line-outs between them
and the front three in Kirk Savage, Rick Stanley and Chris Lucas was
causing havoc against their burly opponents. The platform from the
pack enabled the backs to fire from all angles of the park causing
mayhem to the Darts defence. Martyn Beaumont opened the scoring by
slotting a penalty and three tries followed with Ricky Mackintosh touching
down first followed by a brace from Adam Tolman. Beaumont converted
all three.
Dover had the advantage of the slope in the second half and the expectation
was high. Unfortunately the opportunity to double the score wasn’t
taken. Although never under any real threat the game deteriorated into
a niggling affair that saw three yellow cards and a dismissal for the
Darts skipper for punching. The influential open side Jim Byrne had
to leave the park and was replaced by the debutant Craig May. He continued
the good work on the back row with Buster Collins and the three of
them turned over an abundance of ball. Danny Robinson had a stormer
and his ball carrying was worthy of mention. Dover’s strength
and fitness was too much for the hosts to contend with and it was only
a matter of time before they increased the score. Jamie Townley notched
two tries and Beaumont kicked another penalty and a conversion.
Graham Tonks commented; ‘I am delighted with the manner in which
my forwards controlled the game against such a big outfit. Their performance
gave the backs the ammunition to show their speed and strength. However
the indiscipline in the second half wasn’t acceptable and must
not continue. I was particularly pleased with the performances of Byrne
and May our latest recruits’.
Team; Chris Lucas, Kirk Savage, Ricky Stanley, Chris Lacey, Danny Robinson, Wayne Matcham, Jim Byrne, Buster Collins, Benjamin Murray, Martyn Beaumont, Lee Tonks, Jamie Townley, Rick Mackintosh, Adam Tolman, Ed Close, Gerg Hewer, Craig May, Stuart Dean.
Report by: Richard Collins
Posted 06/03/2007
