Dover 3rd XV (36) v (12) Deal/Betteshangar 3rd XV
Played
24-11-2007
Hard battles offer the sweetest victories, and none was sweeter
than this previous weekends play where the Development Squad bulldozed
a strong Bettes team, their second win against them this season.
Scoring opened up from a 'will-he won't-he-kick-it?' Price chip through
the line, which beautifully set up a try for D Meredith, converted
nicely by Stevenson. Dover's youthful pack then set the trend for
the entire game, staunchly defending and stealing 80% of the ball,
allowing for another try from a fine display of forwards rugby.
Bettes seemed to get a boost from somewhere, and pressured Dover
for a good 5 minutes of high octane attack, which was held off by
the likes of Russel, Cooper, and the marked return of Oscar King.
However, that kind of punishment could not be sustained for long
and the D-Squad were outrun on the wing when Betteshangar scored
their first try.
Halftime saw the scoreline at 12-5 in Dover's favour, but in the
first 10 minutes of restarted play, Bettes put another try and this
time converted, drawing the score level. It was then that Dover felt
the pressure and rose to the occasion, with the younger winger Spud
screaming down the right wing for a 40m sprint-try, converted by
Stevenson. This seemed to inspire the team to do all kinds of wonderful
things, and spectators were in technical rugby heaven. Meredith L
scored from the back maul from a lineout on the Bettes 5m line, again
converted. A penalty kick from Dover which was turned over eventually
led to a try run in by the skillful McPherson, and the final nail
in the coffin arose from some stunning ball handling, with Swingbourne
providing ball to Gaughran, who went on to out-class a few Bettes
players on the sprint, and finally to Stevenson, who made up for
not converting the last few tries by scoring the final 7 points of
the game. Credit should go to all members of the tea, for a fantastic
game of rugby to watch, and especially the Men of the Match, which
was awarded to the entire pack of: Swingbourne, Gaughran, Morrison,
Cooper, Grayson, Burr, Meredith D, Meredith L and Liddon for their
tireless work all game that gave the foundations for the win.
Reported by Sam Fields
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