Medway U16s (12) v (6) Dover U16s
Played on 23/01/2008
On wednesday 23rd January Dovers' talented u16 side travelled to Medway
for a flood-lit fixture against arguably the best team at their age
group in the county. It was to be the toughest encounter of the season
so far by a long way but the young sharks worked tirelessly to match
a medway team boasting a large number of this years kent squad. Fresh
from the thumping of sheppey on sunday the sharks started as they had
left off and spent the first ten minutes of the match camped in the
medway 22. Only a last ditch tackle by the medway winger prevented
wheeler from opening dovers' account after excellent work from the
dover pack. Gradually medway realised they were in for a tough time
and responded well with good breaks from their big number 8 and their
speedy wings. The first 20 minutes were a 'stare down' and it was dover
who blinked first. Medway broke away down the left touchline but were
brought down 5m short after excellent tackles by Capon and Bradley.
The medway pack were rucked off the ball but good work from their scrum
half saw him pop the ball off to the number 8 who bundled his way over
the line for an unconverted try. Dover responded immediately, and after
Hayden Annakie drove deep into the medway half from the re-start medway
were penalised for being off-side at the break down. Fly half Phillips
slotted an excellent penalty to make the score 5-3. Medway then showed
how dangerous they could be on the counter attack as their pacey backs
raced up field to finish off a fine move despite some superb dover
tackling along the way, notably from Keen, Ward and Foggarty. 12-3
to medway. Dover's response was again immediate and decisive as Phillips
slotted an excellent 35metre penalty to reduce the deficit to 12-6
and bring the sharks within a converted try. The second half started
at 100mph as both teams looked to get the upper hand. Medway were looking
to run the ball at every oppurtunity but were unable to breach dovers'
robust defence. With both sides so emotionally charged tempers began
to fray and after a particullarly crunching encounter at ruck time
a yellow card was given to a medway flanker after he needlessly lashed
out at Dover's impressive captain and number 8 Ben Rix. The next ten
minutes saw Dover gradually getting the upper hand as they exploited
their numerical superiority but, despite the best efforts of Norris
and Foggarty medway kept them at bay. When parity was restored the
game returned to a very even contest with medway making the occassional
break but for the most part the remainder of the game was played in
the middle of the pitch. Despite excellent effort from Dover the score
remained the same and finished at Dover 6 v Medway 12. The entire squad
deserve a great deal of credit for this performance and a number of
them are surely playing themselves into contention for county selection.
Well done to all involved.
Team: Hubbard, Stott, Bradbury, Annakie x2, Merrit, Rix, Coughlan,
Beresford, Phillips, Wheeler, Norris, Foggarty, Clarke, Capon. Subs:
Yarrow, Ward, Ross, Hewer.
Reported by Daniel Gill
