Basingstoke RFC (24) v (13)Dover 1st XV
Played 25th October 2008
Dover took the long haul to Hampshire with the knowledge that the contest against the high flying Stoke, a London 1 side from the previous season, would be difficult. That certainly proved the case and although Dover’s performance had improved since their last encounter they will rue the four missed tackles that each resulted in a try and ultimately cost them the game.
One home supporter divulged after the game that some of his peers had an
expectation of putting 70 points on the visitors, whilst one elderly gent
actually asked
before the game ‘Where is Dover then?’ Any thoughts of a ‘mauling’ were
soon put to bed with Dover having the best of the first quarter with some useful
tactical kicking deep into the Stoke half. With the advantage of the slope
and the wind Dover pressurised Stoke and within 4 minutes were leading following
a penalty by Martyn Beaumont. Further pressure was applied and the ball spread
from right to left. Although the ball was lost Jamie Townley re-gathered showed
a little dummy and touched down with the extras added.
The hosts immediately hit back when Dover were penalised directly from the
kick off. A number of phases of play lead to a scrum deep in the visitors
22 and following some excellent play by Dover they unfortunately knocked
on which
lead to another scrum and a try scored with the conversion easily added.
The game ebbed and flowed and on the 32nd minute a missed tackle created
an overlap
for an easy score out wide with a long conversion to follow. Dover responded
and reduced the deficit when Beaumont added another well taken penalty.
There were some good phases of play, particularly from the forwards who
competed
extremely well throughout the day. The killer blow came before the interval
when further pressure from the home side saw another try scored from a
5 metre scrum.
The second half was always going to be testing but Dover again started
positively. 
Both teams were turning over ball and the game became a little
dour and scrappy,
from the spectator’s perspective, and not really helped with the
stop start whistle and the more than occasional chat with the skippers.
Stoke had
the better of the half undoubtedly, although Dover proved difficult to
breach with some good defence and spoiling tactics. On the 62nd minute
Stoke’s
open side broke through a lineout and ran 10 metres to score the final try
of the day, with the conversion missed. 
The remainder of the game favoured
Stoke with Dover unable to penetrate and the game finishing with the Dover
thought that maybe they deserved just a little more on the day. The defeat
places Dover 4th from bottom in the league. Dover host the unbeaten Dorking
RFC next week at Crabble (kick off 1430 hours) which will be a test for their
character.
Team: Lucas, Savage, Moore, Tonks D, Robinson, Collins, Foster, Surendorff,
Murray, Beamont, Tonks L, Townley, Phillips, Mercer, Close, Charge, Bowditch,
Lacey.
Report by: Richard Collins
back to 1st XV Home Page
