Under 15s Match Report
Ashford (10) v Dover (7)
Played on Sunday 19th November 2006
Dover U15's lost out in a hard fought contest at Ashford on Sunday.
With Ashford winning more ball at the breakdown and at the lineout
Dover had their work cut out to prevent the home team form scoring.
The task was made more difficult when captain Kris Jones suffered a
broken ankle early in the first half and was taken to hospital. The
team galvanised and the forwards began to match Ashford in the loose
with the back row of Haydn Annakie, Ben Rix and Micheal Merritt leading
the charge. Sharks went close when centre James Beresford broke down
the left wing but was tackled just short of the line.It was the home
side who eventually broke the deadlock with an unconverted try on the
stroke of half time.
Dover started the second half well with a combination of direct running by both forwards and backs which led to a ruck close to the Ashford line, the Sharks forwards recycled the ball quickly allowing Haydn Annakie to dive through a gap in the Ashford defence to score under the posts. Fly Half Greg Phillips converted to put the Sharks ahead. However, the lead did not last long when indifferent tackling allowed Ashford in for a second unconverted try. It really was nip and tuck from then on with both sides pushing for the winning score .
Ashford were denied on two occasions when they had worked overlaps
by ferocious tackles from centre Chris Yarrow and Full Back Josh Coughlin
which in both cases caused the ball carrier to spill the ball. Dover
also had their opportunities to win the match but failed to capitalise
on a clear overlap and were unable to exploit a crucial break by second
row Nathan Critcher with indifferent support play. Ashford held on
to register their second win against the Sharks this season. The two
teams meet again in the East Kent Cup final on the 17th December -
should be a corker.
Posted 20th November 2006
