Dover 1st XV (37) v (15) Thanet Wanderers
Played 8th November 2008
After a recent run of disappointing results this was a must win situation for Dover as they faced local rivals Thanet for the first time in a league fixture for the best part of 25 years. In perfect conditions Dover weathered an intensely contested opening half of rugby before comfortably overcoming Thanet.
Dover were undoubtedly fired up before kick off and the nerves were on show
for the first quarter or so. Thanet missed a superb scoring opportunity in
the first minute and they were to have limited chances for the rest of the
contest. 
Dover’s discipline was the best it’s been all season in
the first half and this had an impact on the flow of the game. The game did
become a little fractious at times but the hosts stamped their authority on
proceedings and refused to be bullied. Thanet took the lead on the 18th minute
when their midfield intercepted a ball leading to a score in the bottom right
hand corner of the field. Dover defended well with full back Jamie Townley
superb at full back. Dover’s forwards set out their stall early on and
it was a pleasure to see David Sluman returning for his first full outing for
the 1st XV following his horrific injury three seasons ago. His inclusion lead
to Dale Tonks starting at 8 and he had a huge game. Dover did have a fair amount
of territory and on the 33rd minute Dover won their scrum on Thanet’s
22 and the ball was fed from right to left before going through numerous hands
back across the park for Ben Sedgwick to score a fantastic try.
Thanet countered
and they kicked a penalty late in the half to hold the lead before the
interval.
Words of advice were given at half time and unlike last week Dover listened
and they responded with a controlled and ruthless display scoring some
superb tries in front of 300 supporters or so.
Direct from kick off Dover were awarded a penalty that Martyn Beaumont
slotted. The confidence was high and the visitors found themselves from
hereon fighting
for their survival. Flankers Buster Collins and Jon Foster were immense
and they suffocated anything coming in their direction. 
The platform
that the
forwards provided allowed Dover to take full advantage with outside half
Blair Charge
kicking thoughtfully throughout. Props Chris Lucas and Shane Moore were
solid up front with Dan Robinson and Sluman doing a fine job in their ‘donkey’ work.
On the 51st minute Dover opted for a scrum from a free kick and the ball was
fed to Ben Murray who broke blind and cleverly passed to Lee Tonks who found
the gap to score. The third try saw hooker Kirk Savage joining the show and
he provided the pass to Sedgwick to score his second with the extras to follow.
There was arguably no way back for Thanet at this time and Dover stretched
the lead shortly after the retake when Jamie Phillips had a good run down the
left flank and with players in support the ball was fed to Beaumont who touched
down and scored the conversion. Sedgwick grabbed his third on 70 minutes, when
he joined the line in a ‘miss move’ and touched down on his opposite
wing for another classic try, with the conversion to follow. Credit to Thanet
who never gave in and they scored a well taken try with the additional points
added, to reduce the deficit.
Dover’s last try was scored in the closing minutes after pressure was
applied in the midfield. The ball was moved on the blind side and Beaumont
found himself with a number of his forwards and he scored one of his more unusual
tries to conclude the game.
Senior Coach Graham Tonks commented, ‘This was a good solid performance,
apart from one or two areas of our game, and my forwards were superb. Their
hard work allowed the backs to score some breath taking tries and take the
much needed 2 points. This will put us in good stead for the 3 remaining league
games before the Christmas break; but there is still a lot to be done. Thankfully
we have a number of our injured players returning in the next week or so plus
our new signing Michael O’Donnell from Deal Lions, who has all the necessary
credentials to fit nicely into our squad’.
Dover travel to Chingford RFC in an EDF cup match next week.
Team: Lucas, Savage, Moore, Robinson, Sluman, Collins, Foster, Tonks D, Murray,
Charge, Tonks L, Beaumont, Phillips, Sedgwick,Townley, Lacey, Bowditch, McNamara.
Report by: Richard Collins
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