Dover Rugby Club

Despite the loss of captain Ray Biggs who went lame during the warm up, Dover fourth team went on to deservedly win this close match. From the initial whistle the Dover pack led by Paddy Mcadam and Dave Pellet disrupted the visitors ball and Ashford were pressed back into their own half for the majority of the opening quarter. Indiscipline and poor final passes meant that Dover could not turn their supremacy into points and therefore it was a major disappointment when Ashford’s young but exceedingly quick winger sprinted through some despairing tackles for the opening try of the game.

Undeterred Dover continued to drive forward. From a quickly taken tap penalty fine interplay from Jason Wall and Chris Bowman, led to Bowman dummying three to score underneath the posts. Bowman then converted to give the home team a slender lead; this was further increased by a penalty from Cain Mercer following a fine forward charge led by John Clark and Colin White.

In the second half Dover played against a strong breeze but following further good driving play from the forwards the ball was quickly relayed along the Dover backs to allow Gareth Speakman to touch down in the corner. Ashford then came into the game through better forward play and direct running from their burly three-quarters. After withstanding these Ashford charges for a long period, Dover’s doglegged defence was finally breached when Ashford’s centre broke through some weak tackles to score just next to the posts.

Picture by Igor Kupco
This score seemed to galvanize both teams but it was the home team who shunted the Ashford scrum back on three occasions to allow momentum and play to swing towards Ashford’s try line. These efforts were richly rewarded when Cain Mercer dummied past his opposite number and sprinted 25 metres to score the final points of a compelling game.

Reported By Christopher Bowman