Dover 1st XV (45) v (0) Ashford
1st XV
Played on 16th December 2006
The Vice Presidents of Dover Rugby Club met for a pre- Christmas get together, courtesy of the culinary delights of Hudson Worrell-Mercer and it was important that the Sharks completed the first half of the season on a high note.
The Dover supporters were not to be disappointed as the team maintained their position at the top of the league against local rivals Ashford. Dover welcomed back Ben Sedgwick, following a year ’s absence through injury and new signing Jeremy Walmesley, from Canterbury, made his debut at open-side.
Before the ‘old farts’ had hardly finished their spotted dick, Dover had taken the lead in the opening minutes. Ricky Mackintosh made a superb break before off-loading and Jamie Townley took control with Mackintosh on hand for the return pass running 25 metres to touch down. Martyn Beaumont converted. Immediate pressure on the visitors was immense and Walmesley scored his first try for the club when he collected the ball at the back of a line-out and powered through to touch down. On the 13th minute the third try was scored, Collins took a quick line-out to Savage and the ball was fed to Beaumont who skipped through several tackles to touch down He successfully converted his third kick. Some of the play was excellent; with the forwards dominating up front and the back line playing some exhibition rugby. Stuart Dean was secure at the back and Lee Tonk’s lines of running were superb. Ashford did well for the next 20 minutes in stopping Dover scoring further points, however they had little in their arsenal to cause any major problems. Dover expected the heavy pack of Ashford to create difficulties but little was forthcoming. Ben Murray was marshalling his forwards and as usual causing havoc on the base of the scrum and the back- row of Collins, Walmesley and Gus Surrendorf was a delight to behold, providing possibly the club’s best back-row combination since the days of Fountain, Edwards and Mercer in the middle 90’s. Dover were unlucky not to increase the score, Sedgwick went close and in the closing minutes of the half, the forwards drove Ashford back 35 metres and the visitors did well to stop the try.
In the second half Dover had the advantage of the slope and within 4 minutes Walmesley scored his second when he chased a deft kick from Murray to touch down. Collins scored the next try when he collected a diagonal kick from Townley to score. The conversion followed. Directly from the kick Dover took possession powered down the field and from the ruck the ball was chipped over the top for Mackintosh to outpace the defenders to score. Dale Tonks and Dan Robinson again did the donkey work well and Kirk Savage took two scrums against the head. Ashford did fight back and worked the Sharks hard on their 5 metre line but the defence was solid and the ball was cleared to safety. The last try came from a penalty with Ricky Stanley taking the crash ball and ‘headed’ over the line to touch down with another conversion to follow.
Graham Tonks was delighted with the performance, ‘This was an excellent win for us today. I was delighted with the performances of Walmesley and Sedgwick and in particular the potential of my back- row. However we can’t get carried away, this was a top versus bottom fixture and our focus must be Charlton Park away in the new -year, which will be a much tougher contest. On behalf of the club and in particular the senior squad, I would like to send the season’s greetings to Travel Spot, Empire Motors, Unibond, Adams Printers and Dover Marquee for their generosity and support in our quest to win promotion’.
Team; Stanley, Savage, Moore, Tonks D, Robinson, Collins,
Walmesley, Surrendorf, Murray, Beaumont, Tonks L, Townley, Mackintosh,
Sedgwick,Dean, Lucas, Lacey, Matcham.
Reported By Richard Collins
Posted on 18/12/2006
