Dover U13s (19) v Deal & Bettshanger U13s (22)
Played Sunday 17th February 2008
Deal and Betts made the short journey to Crabble for Sunday’s
second competitive fixture of the season with the young Sharks. After
initial concerns over the state of the pitch, the early morning sunshine
melted away the surface frost to set up the perfect conditions for
what proved to be a highly contested encounter between the two sides.
Deal and Betts started well pressuring the Dover defences from the
off but good work from home side held them at bay until following
up a deep kick, the ball went wide to their wing who ran over to
score the first try. The Sharks regrouped and after a period of end
to end play put together some good phases to take outside centre
James Moynan within striking distance of the opposition line to deliver
a well deserved try. Tom Clark followed up with a difficult conversion
to take Dover 7 points to 5 up at the halftime whistle.
Starting the second period with increased confidence and commitment,
the forwards asserted themselves on the opposition pack winning a
number of Deal scrums against the head. This pressure provided the
platform for the backs to show what they could do, consistently getting
over the gain line through good ball retention and accurate passing;
their fluidity finally put the Dover wing, Robert Duffy clear to
register their second try of the match. To their credit Deal are
never a side capitulate and followed up their re-start kick to regain
possession releasing their wing from a two man overlap to score out
wide. This was followed by another converted Deal try as a direct
result of some lacklustre Dover tackling. Dover fought back and lock
Tom Johnstone was unfortunate to be bundled into touch 5 metres from
the Deal try line. The Deal lineout throw was not straight giving
Dover a scrummage that enabled number 8 Luke Rigden to pick up the
ball and power through Deal defences scoring under the posts. Another
good conversion kick from Clark put the hosts ahead with only two
minutes of play remaining. At this point the Sharks should have closed
the game down but Deal had other ideas scoring a breakaway within
seconds of the final whistle to win by a small margin.
The Dover forwards dominated set piece play throughout the match
and as always were industrious in winning the majority of scrums.
Luke Rigden was awarded Dover man of the match for his tackling and
consistent work at the breakdowns.
Under 13s : Connor Allen, Luke Allen, Hal Bryan, Jordan Caldwell,
Tom Clark, Jos Crush, Robert Duffy, Shaun Fields, Issack Goeghegan,
Aidan Harper, Sam Harrison, James Hornsey, Thomas Johnstone, Joe
Killick-Baker, James Moynan, Luke Rigden, Thomas Saunders, Joe Tonkin.
Coaches: George Clark & Bob Thomson
Reported by Chris
Bryan
