Dover
3rd XV (16) v (3)
Canterbury 3rd XV
Played on 03/11/2007
The young Sharks had to fight hard for victory against a comparably
larger side of Canterbury, entering the field with only two seniors
due to injury, but things did not seem like they would go Dover's
way in the first half. Stevenson's usual kicking seemed off with
a missed opportunity to kick an early penalty, to which Canterbury
retorted leaving the Sharks 3 nil down. Praise should be given where
due however, and although mistakes we made, glimmers of what was
to come were here and there, and Dover held fast their defence, especially
the harassment and pressure the youthful scrum-half McPherson produced
at every scrum.
The second half is when Dover had woken up, after invigorating advice
from Captain Price, and from then on Canterbury seemed to wilt under
the increasing pressure laid on from all over the Dover line, building
to a head with the titanic efforts of the pack, in particular the
front row of Kayden, Gaughran and Charge. Four minutes in, and Stevenson
had put the ball over to mark Dover on the scoreboard, but couldn't
find the slot.
Russel had a lovely run but was cut short resulting in a penalty,
which Stevenson converted, putting Dover 8-3 up. Everything came
together at this point, with Stevenson running in another try, and
almost another try was earnt with a daring run by young Kayden, chipping
the ball over 3 Canterbury players and sprinting through, only to
be taken down within 10m of the try line. After an injury on King
A, Warner took the field and showed how he could play with the Dover
2nds, another penalty was scalped by Dover, which left the D-Squad
with a 16-3 at the final whistle. Men of the match were Charge, Gaughran,
and Kayden, the entire front row.
Reported by Sam Fields
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