Ashford 4th XV (22) v (21) Dover 4th XV
Played on 28th February 2009
Dover lost their way at Ashford and their unblemished record in untidy game. Dover were off the pace for large sections of the match and this coupled with some dodgy refeering decisions and some fine tight play by the Ashford forwards led to a very disappointing outcome. Dover started slowly and Ashford soon converted a penalty which was quickly followed by an uncoverted try when their huge number eight barged over from a tap penalty move. Dover struggled going forward around the fringes of the contact area and when the ball was given to the backs promising breaks were stifled through poor handiling and over running the ball carrier. Neil Yarnell did however make a surging run , which went on and on until he reached the try line for an excellent score.
In the second half, Ashford increased their lead when the referee awarded a try despite the Ashford player dropping the ball 2 metres forward before diving over the line to apply downward pressure. Ashford forward pressure kept Dover in their own half for long periods of time , with Dover forwards failing to understand the referees interpretation of a ruck. Despite good defence, the sheer size of the Ashford number eight and five created enough space for the Ashford flanker to score from close range. Dover realising they were playing badly suddenly upped their game and started to play some free flowing rugby. Bowman dummied his way through to score under the posts and this was quickly followed by winger Gareth Speakman touching down thanks to some excellent handling by both backs and forwards.
Ashford were starting to wilt but they closed out the game in the last 10 minutes by playing tight controlled forward dominated rugby and so Dover were starved off the ball and ultimately losing their 100% record.
Report by: Chris
Bowman
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