Thanet
3rd XV (5) v (15) Dover 3rd XV
Played at Thanet - Saturday 6th January 2007
With 5 players seconded to help the 4th team Dover travelled to Broadstairs with only 16 players which included their Coach Burr Senior and Mickey Gaughran who were the only players over 18 ( but lets face it, at just over 50 & 40 respectively, are mere spring chickens!!) Upon arrival they found a boggy pitch minus one set of posts, which had been vandalized (Thanet!!) so any type of kick at goal was prohibited. Facing a mature Thanet pack, heavily outweighed, Dover found possession hard to come by in the scrum so had to rely on good lineout work and turnovers in the loose. This they achieved throughout a close fought first half up the slope, with the forwards never giving an inch, and the defence holding firm. Good driving play in the loose led to Dover being held up over the line, and just before half time Tom ‘Topov’ Henson had a try disallowed in the corner. Half time nil nil. Dover turned with the slope in their favour and began to gain parity in the scrums gaining good possession. Sam McNamara won plenty of his own and oppositions lineout at will, however it was Thanet who scored first, taking a quick penalty, seemingly whilst the referee was still talking to the Dover players. This spurred Dover on, who then dominated the rest of the game. From a huge drive at a Thanet scrum, they turned over the ball for Hayden Cruickshank to score the first Dover try. This was then followed up by another try by Hayden, who supporting the ball carrier as ever, took the off load to score. Daniel Burr at full back made a searing break from his own 22, to set up ‘Topov’ for another attempt which was foiled by a good tackle from Thanet’s full back. However, from the ensuing lineout Dover turned over the ball, and after several drives by the forwards, and good transfer by the backs, Ryan Porter scored in the corner. A good performance from a young set of players who are gaining confidence all the time. Well Done All.
Reported by Brian Burr
