|
|
|
|
|
|
Gravesend were within one minute of an amazing win against League champions Maidstone on Saturday only to see there hopes dashed by some 'interesting' penalty decisions made by the referee, leading to a last minute converted try. After a horrendous second half to the season, when G's have recorded just 2 victories, the home support , in the large crowd of nearly 300, were expecting a thumping for the G's. How wrong they were to be as Gravesend put in a performance of pride and ferocity that totally belied their final lowly position in the League.
The Maidstone side, who were already promoted a few weeks before, probably arrived expecting G's to roll over for them and let them rack up a big score. Gravesend were going to have none of it as from the start they fronted up to the County Town side letting them know both legally, and occasionally illegally, that 'Stones would be in for a physical afternoon.
In the first 10 minutes Maidstone kept a lot of possession recycling the ball well and attempting to break through the tight G's defence. They could not break the barrier and gradually the G's pack played themselves into the game, driving 'Stones back at ruck and maul. In the scrum the experienced front row of Ethan White, Gareth Davies and Rob Bardell gave their opposite counterparts a torrid time all afternoon, consistently driving the Maidstone scrum back and disrupting their feed.
Elsewhere the two G's second rows, Bowler and Saunders were just as imposing, punching their weight in the scrum and taking generally good lineout ball, as well as putting good work in the loose. It was however 'Stones who scored first with their fly half , who had missed a couple of earlier attempts, kicking a penalty to take the score to 3-0 on 18 minutes.
This was the spark that G's needed as for the rest of the first half the home pack took charge. Continuing dominance in the scrum and at least parity in the lineout started to starve the useful Maidstone backs of any good ball. The two big Fijians, Socks and Ziggy Stevens were everywhere either making big hits, stealing Maidstone ball or busting tackles themselves with powerful runs. They were ably assisted in the back row by Matt Clement who consistently put his body on the line to win G's ball.
At last on 27 minutes the breakthrough came as from a lineout a well controlled maul drove towards the Maidstone line. Eventually Ziggy Stevens was dragged over by Davies and Bardell to touch down for an unconverted try to make the score 5-3. Five minutes later G's were able to extend their lead as from a scrum close to the Stones line Clement was able to pick up and go over with the try converted to take the score to 12-3. This should have been the time for G's to move on and put the game out of Maidstone's reach. However some ill discipline allowed Maidstone to kick their way towards the G's line. With just a couple of minutes to go before half time a well taken Stone lineout allowed the Champions to exploit a hole in G's defence on the touchline and score a try wide out, which was not converted.
Despite the last minute try in the first half G's felt confident they could build on their 12-8 lead in the second half. Maidstone did not look like League champions as time and again the Gravesend pack pounded the 'Stones half . Although G's backs themselves saw little quick ball young backs Buller, Harding and the returning Corneliusen still managed to look threatening whenever they got a chance of a clear run. The home crowd were magnificent in their vocal support as they tried to roar G's on to an unlikely victory. However a sustained period of nearly 20 minutes in the 'Stones half could not find the extra points so badly needed to secure the win. Poor handling and wrong options at crucial times combined with the dogged defence of the visitors snuffed out any chances that were there to take.
Finally Maidstone were able to break the pressure and in the final 10 minutes they started to exert some of their own. The referee at this stage started to penalise the ruck far more rigidly than he had done at any stage in the game and with Gravesend now on the defensive it was they who were paying the price. Eventually with just 2 minutes left on the clock Ziggy Stevens was shown a yellow card for handling in the ruck and from the resulting penalty 'Stones kicked to take a lineout just 5 metres out. G's defended in vain as at last the 'Stones forwards exerted their own pressure showing excellent control to eventually ground the ball for a try, which was converted to make the final score 15-12.
Skipper Gareth Davies was philosophical in his thoughts after the game.' We were great today and at last some pride was restored. The second best team won today but that is exactly why Maidstone have gone up. They can grind out results and dig deep when they're up against it. For me it has been an extremely frustrating season. After promising so much in pre season and the early League results some misfortune with key injuries and a lack of commitment from some of the players when the going got tough meant that we struggled from December onwards.' Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, reiterated this ' I thought the performance today was tremendous and shows that with the right team and the right attitude what we are capable of. Good luck to Maidstone, they've had a great season and their consistency and never say die attitude shows why they've got promoted.'
He then went on to describe some of his aspirations for next year.' This has been a season of positives and negatives. The club has for the first time run a girls team at U14 level and has assisted a women's team with their development. The youth and mini sections continue to thrive with the U.18's finalists in the Kent plate. We have had 2 players in the Kent U.20 squad both of whom played for the first team today. We know we still need to build a stronger senior squad and get the coaching structure, which has expanded greatly, more organised. We need to ensure there is greater commitment and discipline from players if we are to challenge next year. Further down the club we need to tackle the issue of player availability. Earlier in the season we put out six sides one Saturday afternoon yet by February we were sometimes struggling to put out three sides. Overall I would say the season has promised but not always delivered and this is something I and senior club members will look during the summer to ensure the promise is delivered next year.
Gravesend travelled to Chichester on Saturday low in confidence, after a disappointing run of results, knowing that they were facing a team that they had not beaten in the League over the last couple of years. After last weeks poor performance against Tonbridge Juddians a number of players made a welcome return to the side including the two Fijians Socks and Ziggy Stevens.
Against a big Chichester side, who had dismantled G's comfortably at home earlier in the season, the small band of travelling supporters must have feared the worse as from the start G's line came under fierce pressure. However what was to follow over the next 40 minutes was some of the best rugby, certainly defensively, that Gravesend have played for many weeks.
The Chichester pack, at least a stone a man heavier, had the G's scrum creaking at times but they never really threatened to overrun it as the front row of skipper Davies, having to act as an emergency prop, Wilkinson and Bardell stood up to their bigger counterparts resolutely. Slick work by the back row and scrum half Clements meant that the ball was usually away before Chichester could threaten.
From 1 to 15 the tackling was immense for the whole of the first half. In the maul big South African, Steve Hakim, regularly ended up tearing the ball away from his opponents. On the rarer occasions that Gravesend did make ground impressive youngsters Alex Buller and Ricky Harding were prepared to run hard at the opponents.
Eventually the hard work for G's paid off as quick ball found Matt Clements in the centre whose deliciously angled run at pace found a hole in the Chichester defence and he broke to score a try under the posts, which was converted by Day. This seemed to lift G's as they threatened on a number of occasions with strong runs by Socks Stevens and John Atkins. Eventually however a driven maul Chichester go over for a questionable try, with a suspicion the ball had been dropped before touching down. This was converted to make the scores 7-7 at half time and with G's having a strong wind behind them.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw half breaks and chance for both sides. However with several off the ball incidents occurring the referees patience eventually broke as he penalised and sin-binned Socks Stevens for handling on the ground. The rather harsh yellow card which could have gone to a player of either side at this point in the game was crucial to the final outcome. The 10 minutes of being down to 14 men saw G's concede 22 points as Chichester finally made the size of their pack tell with some well drilled driving mauls.
G's misfortune further continued as the impressive Hakim , who had been so important in the lineouts and mauls, was replaced due to injury. Upon Stevens return G's were able to tighten up and again threatened the Chichester line through Harding and Buller. Another controversial try towards the end finalised the score at 36-7.
At the end Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, remained upbeat. ' This was a far better performance than the score shows with some real pride and grit coming back into our play. We have at least 2 more matches , the Kent plate semi final next week at Aylesford, followed by the final league game at home to Champions, Maidstone. These are 2 very tough games but on the performance today and with some hard work in the final training sessions of the year we can go in with some hope of getting results.'
Skipper Davies was also a happier man despite the size of the result ' We at last played with some pride today and showed, in the first half what we are capable of. The sin binning was unlucky in that really it was the first man from either side to digress that would have been carded at that point and we just couldn't cope with their size and power when down to 14 men.'
Next week G's face Aylesford in the semi final of the Kent Plate, at Aylesford followed the following week by a home game against Maidstone to wrap up the season. Gravesend are likely to finish the season just below mid table, an improvement on last year when they finished 3rd from bottom. However the slump in the second half of the season will give the Director of Rugby some cause for concern over the close season.
Printwise East Premier League
Ipswich 1 Gravesend 4
Gravesend were triumphant against Ipswich in the East Premiere league this week. From the very start Gravesend attacked with force and were rewarded by a well struck goal by player of the match Claire Swift. The Gravesend defence then had to work hard not to allow an attacking Ipswich room to score. However, the home team managed to create a scoring opportunity which they took advantage of. Gravesend were not to be beaten this week and so increased their pace. This led to Gravesend being awarded a penalty strike which was well converted by Rachel Kidd. G's were not content to settle with a one goal lead and produced a number of attacks which led to two more goals by Karen Taylor and Claire Swift.
---------------------------------
The 2nds secured their place in the kent premier division with a fantastic display against BBHC. G's got the perfect start when Wendy Knight opened the scoring with a great strike from the top of the D after only 5 minutes. However, BBHC replied almost immediately with a well-placed shot of their own. G's were in desperate need of the points thia week and they upped the tempo of the game. With about 15 minutes gone Alison Shelton put G's back in front after some really persistant play through the middle by Lucy Allinson. With G's commiting players further forward, BBHC broke well again not long after G's taking the lead and claimed a second equaliser.G's forwards linked-up well throughout the game and Allinson got her reward for her efforts with a goal just before half time to put G's 3-2 up. After words of encouragement from captain Carolyn Davies during the interval G's came out showing real desire and commitment to the cause. G's were not about to let their lead slip again and eben added to their tally through Allinson and Knight, both getting their second goal of the match. Final score 5-2 Lucy Allinson was voted player of the match-worked extremely hard throughout and put in a classey performance.
---------------------------------
The fourth team could consider themselves very unlucky not to get a point from their encounter with Anchorians this weekend. G's started brightly with Debbie roch and Charlie Avery working well together up front to create two or three great saves from the Anchs keeper. At the other end stand-in keeper Claire stevens also pulled-off a few good saves to keep G's in the game and Gail Petherick worked tirelessly in the centre of midfield. However with only 6 minutes left on the clock Anchs had a shot form close range saved by the G's keeper but Anchs squeezed in the rebound to take all three points and leave G's facing relegation. ---------------------------------
The 5ths also had a disapointing afternoon against locals Holcombe 4ths loseing 2-1. Jill taylor scored for G's and Alison Dixon continued her excellent run of form-putting in yet another superb performance as sweeper to earn the player of the match award.
Printwise East Premier League
Cambridge uni 4 Gravesend 1
A determined Gravesend came out fighting this week in the East Premiere league and took the lead through a well struck short corner strike by Rachel Kidd. G's continued to attack Cambridge with a string of good passes created by Odette Hosty and Karen Taylor. Cambridge fought hard and scored with an unstoppable strike to enter half time level. Gravesend were unable to continue their strong efforts from the first half despite the hard work of player of the match Tanya Williams, which allowed Cambridge to score early on. G's tried to push forward to score but this then allowed Cambridge to take advantage of the gaps appearing to score two more goals and to take the three points.
---------------------------------
This was a very difficult and disapointing weekend for Gravesend Ladies Hockey club-with at least 8 people having to double-up due to lack of players through injury and illness having a knock-on affect throughout the teams. The second team came closest to putting a point on the board-narrowly losing out 2-1 to Marden Russets However the score could have been 3-1 but for a saved penalty flick by stand-in keeper and Player of the match winner Vicky Whitehead.
---------------------------------
The third team suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Blackheath 2nds which put pay to any hope of being promoted this season. G's were already without their captain and things went from bad to worse when they lost their sweeper Andrea Kitchener late in the first half through injury.
---------------------------------
The 5th team suffered a haevy defeat to Bexley Invicta. G's had the majority of posession, but could not find the finishing touch to some of their excellent attacking play. With the entire 5th taem defence having already played earlier in the day G's struggled in the second period and Invicta exploited the gaps well. Alison Dixon was voted player the match-making some excellent tackles in the centre of defence.
Gravesend travelled to local rivals Sevenoaks on Saturday and came away with nothing as they lost 36-8. G's have been hit by injuries all season and it was with another patched up side that they made the short journey to Sevenoaks.
G's, hoping to put on a more spirited display than their previous league encounter against Aylesford, started strongly. The big front row of White, Davies and Bardell took the game to the Oaks pack in the scrum and certainly took the edge in that department for most of the afternoon. Elsewhere the back row of Clements,Hussey and Stearns were also prominent in stopping the lively Sevenoaks backs, well marshalled by former Harlequins fly half, Stuart Thresher.
It was on the half hour that missed tackles allowed Oaks powerful Kiwi centre to score a converted try followed very shortly by another one to take the score to 14-0. G's responded shortly after with a penalty by Sullivan to make the score 14-3 at half time.
At half time skipper Davies believed that G's were still in a position to claw their way back into the game. However as the early stages of the second half developed Gravesend allowed themselves to be drawn into a game of getting retaliation in first rather than trying to win the match. The match started to become very scrappy as penalty after penalty was awarded to both sides for various misdemeanours. It was the home side that took advantage of this as their superior backs eventually took control of the game.
As Gravesend lost both Hussey then skipper Davies to the sin bin in the closing stages due to off the ball incidents Sevenoaks rattled up the score scoring several tries in the final fifteen minutes with G's responding with a try by Stevens.
After the game Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was not too despondent. ' We have a 3 week break now before the final run of league games. Today there were some good elements but it was too inconsistent. We looked like a team that had been cobbled together and had not trained together regularly. I do need some players back from injury and I do need the players to put some focus into training over the next three weeks as we want to close the season on a high.'
Elsewhere the seconds put in a reasonable performance with a team of veterans and youngsters but eventually lost 32-19 to a Sevenoaks 2nd team that had lost just three games all season.
Printwise East Premier League
Gravesend 2 Chelmsford 5
Gravesend were unable to beat a strong Chelmsford side this week as they fight for survival in the East Premiere league. Gravesend started badly and were put under pressure by the Chelmsford attack. Continuous defending by Gravesend could not stop the precisional striking abilities by the away team. Gravesend started the second half more positively, creating scoring opportunities through Tanya Williams and Claire Swift. There diligence was awarded as Odette Hosty fired in a suberb goal for Gravesend. G's were not to let there heads drop and continued to attack creating a number of short corners, one of which was converted by Di Prior.
---------------------------------
The 2nds showed great determination and spirit to come back from 4-2 to claim a draw against Tonbridge Wells in the last 5 minutes of the game. Claire Leeson gave G's the lead, scoring from a short corner routine and later doubled her tally with a fierce strike from the top of the D. However G's were pegged back and the score was 2-2 at half time. Wells came out hard and fast in the second period and thought they had wrapped up all three points with only 5 minutes remaining. With nothing to lose G's went all-out attack and with goals from Lucy Allinson and Karen parnell stole a point from the game. Lucy Allinson was voted player of the match.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 3rds claimed all three points this weekend from a difficult game against Gravesend 4ths. This is always a difficult and hard fought game for both teams and this was no exception. Both teams started brightly, but with only a quarter of the game gone Barbra Ockenden scored from close range and settled any potential 3rd team nerves. From there the 4ths went into attack and could have levelled the game through Charlie Avery but she was denied by Vicky Whitehead playing in goal for the 3rds. Whilst the 4ths dominated in terms of possesion, the 3rds always looked dangerous on the counter attack and Ockenden pounced on a loose ball to claim her second of the game. Both captains led by example throughout the match, with some driving runs from the midfield, helping to create goalscoring opportunities at both ends of the pitch. Despite an excellent Man of the match performance from Karen Munns as sweeper for the 4ths a third goal was conceeded-afine strike by Mel Armstrong. There was to be no concelation goal for the 4ths-due mainly to the defensive pairing of Andrea Kitchener and Allison Bull. Barbra Ockenden was voted player of the match for the thirds All in all WELL PLAYED GRAVESEND!!
---------------------------------
The 5ths played a very strong, determined Edenbridge side and came away 1-0 victors. This was probably G's best all-round team performance of the season. G's passed the ball around with conviction and supported each other well both in attack and defence. G's dominated possesion and created many goalscoring opportunities, but could not find the vital shot/touch to take the lead. Mid-way through the second period Laura Morrison had her shot at goal stopped on the line by an Edenbridge foot and the umpire gave G's a penalty flick. With no-one wanting the responsibility of the flick Tamara Boddington-playing her first game for G's calmly stepped up and put G's 1-0 up. From there G's didnt look back and could have added to their tally on numerous occasions but on two consecutive occasions the ball was judged to have not fully crossed the line. Alison Port had yet another solid performance for G's in defence , but was just pipped to the man of the match award by Tamara Boddington, who gave a superb performance for G's up front and capped it with a goal.
Gravesend put in a dogged display at Brighton on Saturday but rarely looked like maintaining their unbeaten record with the South Coast side. Forced into some late changes, particularly in the backs, Gravesend rarely found any real sparkle in their play as they missed the talented Fijian, Will Narathuren, at fly half.
Playing against a strong wind in the first half the G's got off to a good start as they threatened the Brighton line in the first 10 minutes. The home side eventually managed to clear their lines and from then on G's had to put up a resolute defence as the Sussex team pounded away at the G's line. G's were not helped by losing the rugged South African second row, Steve Hakim, after only 10 minutes although he was ably replaced by another of G's overseas player, Fijian Socks Stevens.
Gravesend managed to hold on until the 30th minute when a well worked lineout eventually saw the ball move across the Brighton backline for the centre to score a converted try to make the score 7-0. In the remaining 10 minutes of the half the Brighton place kicker Gibson , unusually also the second row, converted two excellent penalties, leading to chants from the home supporters of 'Gibbo for England' a reference to England's less than successful kicking the previous week.
Gravesend were relatively comfortable with the 13-0 deficit at half time with such a strong wind behind them in the second half. However G's probably saw all their hopes disappear after 10 minutes when Brighton scored another converted try to make the score 20-0. Gravesend responded quite quickly with a try scored by Stearns after good powerful running by Stevens. Gravesend now had probably their best spell of the game as the Stevens brothers, young prop Ben Burkhill and centre Barry Andrews continued to make gain line breaking runs. It was against the run of play when another massive kick by Gibson put the game beyond reach at 23-5.
In the final minutes Gravesend gained a consolation score through Andrews converted by Day to make the final score 23-12. Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was philosophical afterwards ' We had a disrupted team selection this week with some key players not available through work commitments and some absentees from training. There was good effort but Brighton were the better team on the day. We did not win enough quick, clean ball to assist the backs and we did not quite have the pace in the backs to make any real impact.'
Elsewhere there was defeat for an inexperienced 2nd team to Dunstonians but a good win for the 4ths against Thurrock. Next week Gravesend face Aylesford at home for a mid table league clash.
Printwise East Premier League
Gravesend 1 Cambridge City 6
A crisis struck Gravesend first XI lost out yet again as they were on the receiving end of a 6-1 thrashing to visting Cambridge city in the East Premier League. Cambridge opened their account promptly in the first half, and despite resilliant defending by Centre back Sadie Clinch, the visitors continued to add to their tally. The second half brought a ray of light as Karen Taylor rescued some of Gravesends pride with a close range effort. G's rallied round and produced some good attacks mainly centering on midfield player of the match Tanya Williams. But it just wasn't the home sides day and despite some further good attacking play by Kerry Jewiss and Claire Swift, Cambridge ended the game 6-1 victors leaving Gravesend fighting against relegation.
---------------------------------
The 2nd team lost out in a closely contested encounter with Holcombe. The game was evenly poised in terms of both possession and goalscoring opportunities right up until the last 15 minutes of the match. Holcs broke through the G's defence twice in the space of about three minutes, and with little time ledt on the clock G's could not find a response-leaving them to ponder a 2-0 defeat. Vicky Whitehead was voted player of the match for a string of excellent saves/stops for G's in goal.
---------------------------------
The 3rds were at home to Bromley 2nds and wrapped up all three points with a convincing 6-0 win. Player of the match Mel Armstrong led the way with a hat trick of goals, while captain Caroline Conroy, Debbie Roache and Jill Quinnel all chipped in with a goal a piece. G's made their experience tell over a youthful Bromley, but to their credit Bromley never gave up and battled right to the end. G's kept possession of the ball well and really should have put the game to bed before half time, but they didnt make the most of their chances and were only two to the good. G's were far more clinical in the second period to make sure they claimed all three points.
---------------------------------
The 4ths were seven minutes into their game against Clifttonville when a torrential down pour meant the game had to be abandoned due to a water logged pitch. The game will be replayed at a later date.
---------------------------------
The 5th team travelled to Tonbridge Wells in search of a desperately needed three points, but with only ten players they were up against it from the start. G's were quick to settle on the unfamiliar grass surface-creating two or three early opportunities to take the lead. After an early bout of pressure from G's Wells crept back into the game and began to test the G's defence, bringing out some excellent saves from G's keeper Lisa O'Neil. With ten minutes left to go before half time Wells broke the deadlock and scored the only goal of the game. G's continued to battle and could consider themselves very unlucky not to get at least o point from the game. Alison Port was voted player of the match for the second week running-this time for a superb performance up front for G's.
Gravesend faced a good Bognor side on Saturday and whilst giving away a 15-0 lead would probably accept that a draw was a fair result. After the forward dominated battle at Folkestone the previous week Gravesend faced a Bognor side who had a capable pack but some very exciting, strong running backs.
It was Gravesend who very much set the pace early on. After 10 minutes Ben Day kicked a penalty to give the home side a 3-0 lead. A terrific break by Fijian fly half, Will Narutheran, 5 minutes later saw centre Austin Saunders go over for the first of two tries, to take the score to 8-0. It was Saunders who again scored after intercepting a Bognor move and making a spectacular dive under the posts for a converted try to take the score to 15-0.
This saw Bognor, whose backs had always looked threatening, start to really press and it was only resolute Gravesend defence that kept them out. Eventually the excellent Bognor centre, Castleton made a great break and scored an unconverted try. Shortly after another good Bognor move saw Gordon score to narrow the gap to 15-10.
Gravesend somehow managed to keep the visitors out right up to the final minute when the other Bognor centre, Stirles, scored another unconverted try to tie the score at 15-15. Gravesend now realise that they must really win all their remaining games to stand any chance of getting a play-off spot. However this is a far cry from the same time last year when a severe loss of form in the second half of the season saw the G's finish third bottom. Long term injuries to several of the senior squad have also hampered the season but this has allowed many players to break through and there is now a large pool of players in their early twenties who have first team experience.
---------------------------------
Elsewhere the club are celebrating another successful Tsunami appeal. Fifth team skipper, Chris Bampton, organised a friendly floodlit tournament on Wednesday evening that saw teams from Gillingham, Medway, Maidstone, Lordswood as well as two Gravesend teams play. The important result was that over £800 was raised and a great time was had by players and spectators alike. Gravesend Rugby Club has a close link with the Tsunami as long time 5th team captain, John Ramsay only just survived the disaster in Sri Lanka where he is carrying out charity work.
Printwise East Premier League
Canterbury 6 Gravesend 1
Gravesend were unable to beat a strong Canterbury side in the East Premiere League this week. Despite Gravesend defending to their full potential Canterbury managed to break through. G's would not give in and continued to fight hard. Their diligence was eventually awarded as they won a penalty flick which Rachel Kidd converted. Player of the match Claire Swift worked tirelessly in midfield but her efforts were not rewarded.
---------------------------------
The 2nds got a point from their encounter with Ashford but really felt they deserved to get more from the game. Despite dominating preceedings G's could not find the back of the net and the game ended with a 0-0 scoreline. G's were well organised at the back-restricting Ashford to only two goal-bound opportunities of which keeper Vicky Whitehead saved one and Alison Shelton saved the other. G's attacked in numbers and had many goalscoring opportunities throughout the game but they could not find the finishing touch needed to break the deadlock. Tnya Van schalkwijk was voted player of the match for her tirless efforts in midfield.
---------------------------------
The 5ths claimed a hard fought three points this weekend against Meopham 2nds. Some excellent attacking play by Natalie Goodman down G's left hand side provided Theresa Coller with an easy finish to put G's 1-0 up midway through the first half. Shortly after Coller slipped the ball to Mandy Wells who calmly slotted the ball past the Meopham keeper for a 2-0 lead. In the second period Meopham came out hard and fast and got themselves back in the game with a fiercely struck shot from the top of the D. It was a backs to the wall job for G's in the last quarter of the game butthey held on for a much needed three points. Alison Port was voted player of the match-making some excellent last ditch tackles in defence for G's.
Gravesend travelled to lowly Folkestone on Saturday and came away with a deserved 18-13 win after putting in a disciplined display that was full of hard graft and team spirit. Gravesend new they would be in for a tough game as the Folkestone had given the G's pack a tough lesson in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season, a game which G's narrowly won.
On Saturday the G's pack were determined not to be dominated by their bigger opponents and matched them head to head in the scrum and had the edge in the lineouts. Playing on a boggy pitch the game took a while to develop any pattern as both sides made handling errors. However gradually the more mobile G's pack, with the back row of Hooper, Atkins and Clement prominent, started to impose themselves on the game. It was against the run of play that Folkestone took a 3-0 lead from a penalty.
This spurred G's on more as impressive Fijian fly half, Will Narutheran, made a number of telling kicks to put the Folkestone backs under pressure. Eventually the pressure told as quick ball from a solid scrum saw stocky centre, Barry Andrews, punch up through the centre of the Folkestone defence with the ball eventually being fed to winger, Ian Sullivan, to score an unconverted try in the corner. This was shortly followed by a kicked penalty in front of the posts by Ben Day to take the score to 8-3.
The home side seemed to have little to offer once it was obvious that their usual game plan of using a strong scrummage to disrupt the opposition was going to fail. As the going got heavier on the mud bath pitch G's just upped the tempo. More pressure on the Folkestone backline saw them give away another penalty which was quickly taken by Austin Saunders and saw him slip through the slow Folkestone defence for another unconverted try to take the score to 13-3 at half time.
The second half saw the Folkestone pack eventually start to come to life. The first 10 minutes saw G's continue to dominate. However some loose play eventually allowed Folkestone to clear play into the G's 22 metre area. There then followed almost 20 minutes of continued Folkestone pressure that was defended resolutely by G's. In particular the front row of White, Davies and Bardell refused to buckle as the Folkestone pack tried to impose themselves. Eventually the pressure told as Davies lost a ball against the head from which Folkestone scored a converted try.
A tactical change saw experienced flanker, Guy Stearns, introduced to the match and this seemed to re-galvanise the G's as they began to work their way back into the game. By now the game was starting to get fractious and Folkestone started to lose their discipline. A series of penalties eventually led to a lineout just 10 metres out. This was well taken by Stevens and the Gravesend pack drove forward towards the Folkestone line, with Stearns being dragged over to score an unconverted try.
Folkestone only had time for one more penalty and in fact it was G's who finished the game the stronger as they were unlucky not to score a pushover try in the final minute. Not a game for the purists but Gravesend were well satisfied with the 18-13 win. Afterwards skipper Davies was delighted ' That was a game we would have lost a month ago. I was really pleased with the work rate and team spirit today. We had to battle all the way and despite their league position Folkestone is not an easy place to come to. The scrum was much better than in our previous encounter against them and the lineout, which was poor last week, really worked well today.'
---------------------------------
Elsewhere the fifth team had a good 13- 7 away victory against Hastings and Bexhill third team.
Printwise East Premier League
Gravesend 1 Harleston 1
A late goal by Kerry Jewiss saw Gravesend Secure a point against Harleston in the East Premiere League this week. Gravesend took awhile to settle into the first half and were caught out by a clean strike by Harleston. G's entered the second half with determination which saw more attacking play and some good strikes by Steph Forbes. Gravesend were keen not to lose this game and some great saves by player of the match Alix Lee saw Gravesend come away with the draw.
---------------------------------
The 2nd teams match against Canterbury had to be abandoned midway through the second period due to an injury to G's keeper Carolyn Davies. G's were 3-0 down at the time of the incident and decided to conceed the game because they didnt have a substitute goalie.
---------------------------------
The 3rds got over their disappointments of last weeks result and bounced back with a very well earned 2-1 victory over Deal. Captain Caroline Conroy lead the way-being in the right place at the right time to deflect a shot that was going wide into the back of the net. Shortly after Barbra Ockenden doubled the lead after a fast counter attack, with Mel Armstrong supplying the final pass and Ockenden supplying the finish-and a great one at that! G's then got a little sloppy in their passing and let Deal back into the match, with what was quite a soft goal to conceed from Gravesends perspective. That made the last quarter of the game very nervy for G's but they hung on to claim all three points. Adele Downer was voted player of the match-putting in some excellent tackles to keep the score at 2-1 to G's.
---------------------------------
The 4th team lost 3-0 to a very strong Blackheath side, but fought them all the way. G's started brightly and despite being on the back foot and being under presure for most of the first half G's restricted Blackheath to one goal. G's found their rhytmn a lot more in the second period and were unlucky not to score on a couple of occassions after some positive forward play by Debbie Roche and Nicola Gear. However with G's searching for a way back into the game Blackheath found the gaps and took full advantage of them and ended up coming away with a comfortable 3-0 victory. Andrea Kitchener was voted player of the match for G's for a very reliable and solid performance at the back, saving G's on a number of occassions.
---------------------------------
Despite having the majority of the play and bags of chances to score the 5th team found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline against Burnt Ash. The score was 0-0 at half time but G's thought it was only a matter of time before one of their chances hit the backboard but it wasnt to be and Burnt Ash took their chances well and secured all three points. Alison Cant was voted player of the match and Eilleen Norris also had a very good game for G's at the back.
Gravesend faced second placed Purley John Fisher on Saturday in front of a large crowd of over 200 at Rectory Field. In the annual Mayor's lunch match there were several local dignitaries including the Mayor and Mayoress of Gravesham and MP Chris Pond and much focus was put on raising funds for the Tsunami appeal with John Ramsey, who played for the club up until last season and who survived the disaster, being very much in peoples thoughts. Over £2000 was raised on the day by Beryl Howard, wife of former Club President, Trevor Howard.
Gravesend knew they would be in for a tough match having lost at Purley earlier in the season. In particular they were aware that the forward battle would be key. Welcoming back young flanker, Rob Hussey, who has been with the Blackheath development squad, the pack made an impressive start. A series of driving plays and scrums took the G's up to the Purley line and eventually skipper, Gareth Davies drove over for a converted try.
This seemed to spark Purley who started to take a slight edge in most areas of play but particularly in the lineout where throughout the match they took 100% of their own ball and stole some of the G's lineouts. Eventually it was some miss timed tackles that eventually let Purley through as both wingers managed to get on the scoresheet.
Exchanged penalties eventually took the final score to 15-10. G's were frustrated by some of the refereeing at times with 2 tries disallowed during the game. However the simple but effective gameplan that Purley stuck to, using there strong pack to good effect, eventually saw the higher placed visitors through. In an enjoyable match Gravesend will take some encouragement from their performance against a team destined for a play-off spot.
Next week G's face a trip to lowly Folkestone who have started to pick up some results at home.
---------------------------------
Elsewhere the second team lost 42-27 to an experienced Charlton Park side. The fourths won 44 -10 against New Ash Green seconds and the fifths won at Edenbridge, 48-5.
---------------------------------
The Club is having a further Tsunami fund raising event on the evening of Wednesday 2 February. Chris Bampton, captain of the fifth team is organising an eight team floodlit tournament for some of the lower sides from local teams. Chris said ' With our old captain John Ramsey being in the local press and hearing his harrowing story it is the least we felt we could do. At our level we have a great relationship with many of the local sides who all hope to bring a 'social team' to play on the night. It will be great fun for a good cause and I hope that we have a big turnout from players and supporters alike.'
Matches will last 20 minutes with the tournament expected to start at 7.00 p.m. Spectators are very welcome at this fund raising event.
Printwise East Premier League
Dereham 3 Gravesend 3
Gravesend were unable to win against a defient Dereham side in the East Premiere League this week. Gravesend dominated from the start and a tender strike by Tracy Atterbury saw G's take the early lead. Dereham were unable to control the attacking force of Gravesend which allowed the joint players of the match Claire Swift and Tanya Williams to score a goal a piece. Dereham then had nothing to lose and forced Gravesend into conceding three goals with a last minute short corner strike.
---------------------------------
The 2nds lead the way for Gravesend Ladies with a superb well-earned victory against Blackheath. G's started brightly with crisp accurate passing and some excellent forward play by Werndy Knight in particular-scoring two well finished goals Karen Parnell also scored for G's but despite G's dominance they were unable to kill the game off and Blackheath kept themselves in the match with two well-worked goals of their own on the counter attack. Cosidering this was G's first game since before Christmas this was a great performance and an excellent victory. Wendy Knight was voted player of the match-putting in an outstanding performance.
---------------------------------
The 3rd team found their 2-1 defeat to Anchorians really hard to take after dominating preceedings but just not being able to make the most of their chances. G's went 1-0 up with a well converted penalty flick from Captain Caroline Conroy but with the last play of the half Anchs got back on level terms. Anchs were awarded a penalty corner and had their first shot saved by keeper Carolyn Davies but Anchs were first to react to flick the ball over Davies and get themselves back into the game. This was a huge blow for G's but things went from bad to worse when Anchs went into the lead within the first ten minutes of the second period,with a very well-worked and clinically finished short corner routine. G's were not about to throw the towel in and kept battleing creating many goalscoring opportunities that were either missed, saved or blocked! It was just not to be G's day. Caroline Conroy and Andrea Kitchener shared the player of the match votes.
---------------------------------
The 4th team suffered a huge 7-0 defeat against top of the league opposition Old Williamsonians. With seven of the Gravesend team having already played full games in the morning there was only really ever going to be one outcome. Quite often Old willies found themselves with time and space on the ball and they exploited the gaps well. Despite some excellent saves from Vicky Whitehead in goal for Gravesend Old Willies found themselves 3-0 up at the break and in complete control of the match. G's came back into the game a little early in the second half with some strong purposful running from Debbie Roche up front and were unlucky not to score on two or three occassions.However as the game went on G's struggled to keep up with the pace and quick thinking of Old Willies and Old Willies claimed a comfortable victory.
---------------------------------
The 5ths were on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline against Holcombe 5ths this weekend. G's started really well with some good attacking play by Claire Stevens and Nicola Gear. Both teams had an even amount of possesion but Holcombe were far more clinical in front of goal and went in at the break two nil up. G's were still in the game but for all the possesion they had they could not find the back of the net. G's pushed an extra two players up front to break the deadlock but Hols stood firm and killed the game off with a quick counter attack and claimed a convincing 3-0 victory.
Gravesend put their December of woes truly behind them on Saturday as they thrashed Cobham 69-15 to record their highest ever league win. Another record was also set with veteran back row Sean Barham scoring an amazing five tries to create a club individual scoring record. After 3 successive league defeats in December it was important to get any kind of win against the lowly Surrey side. G's were wary of Cobham as they had beaten them in November but there was no need to be as they mirrored the gale blowing around Rectory Field to blow them off the pitch.
Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, made his intentions clear through selection with several of Gravesend's more elderly players, Sean Barham, Mike Delay, Ethan White and Jason Bowler being selected. This paid off as Barham in particular led from the front, physically imposing himself on the game from the kick off. It was no surprise that after 7 minutes it was Barham who gathered up a loose ball from a lineout and went over to score his first try which was unconverted to make the score 5-0. Cobham replied shortly afterwards to make it 5-3 but it was to be nearly 40 minutes before the away side scored again.
Gravesend imposed themselves on all aspects of the game from now on. In the scrum they were totally dominant with the front row of White, Davies and Day disrupting the Cobham ball and taking several against the head throughout the game. On 21 minutes, now leading 8-3 after a Ben Day penalty, a series of scrums led to Barham picking up at the base and driving over for his second try which was converted to make the score 15-3. The game continued to be dominated by the home side as Cobham, with a strong wind behind them failed to break out of their half. On 35 minutes a pushover scrum saw Barham completing his hat-trick, the conversion successfully kicked by Ben Day, who had a great game with his kicking. On 40 minutes the veteran three of Barham, Bowler and White, looking like a heard of rampaging Dinosaurs, combined well to give prop White the first of two tries. The try was again converted to take the score to 27-3 at halftime.
On a cold, windy day Gravesend continued to deliver some exhilarating rugby in the second half. Young backs Harding and Nolan in particular made some great breaks to compliment the power of the forwards. However it was another pushover scrum that gave Gravesend their next converted try as yet again Barham touched down as the pack drove over just 2 minutes into the second half to move the score to 34-3. A great break by Ricky Harding 10 minutes later saw Ethan White go over unopposed for his second try which was again converted to take the lead to 41-3. This led to Cobham having their best spell of the game. Some good work by the Surrey side saw the move the ball up field and foe their hooker eventually to score an unconverted try. Almost immediately G's responded with a well worked lineout seeing skipper Gareth Davies driving forward and setting up good ball for replacement centre, Austin Saunders to eventually go over for a converted try.
Cobham's backs continued to look dangerous for a spell as G's took their foot off the gas. A , for once, solid Cobham scrum saw the impressive fly half feed their centre for a converted try to take the score to 48-15. This was to be the last time Cobham were to make any further impression on the game as G's turned the screws in the final 15 minutes. On 69 minutes Barham scored his fifth try from another pushover scrum again converted to take the score to 55-15. Two minutes later a powerful run by Fijian Ziggy Stevens saw the ball fed to Tony Nolan who made a great break and cleverly fed Jason Bowler to go over for a converted try. The scoring was finished off on 76 minutes when a strike against the head saw the ball moved to Saunders to score his second try. The final score line being 69-15.
Club spokesman, Rob Bardell, was very impressed. 'Having played for the first team since the league system started and having played in or watched probably ninety percent of the league games since this probably ranks up there in the top five performances. What made this special wasn't just the score, which was terrific, but the overall display, after some very poor performances in the last 6 weeks. The pack was awesome and the backs, from scrum half to fullback were tight and disciplined and made some great breaks but also defended resolutely when called upon.'
---------------------------------
Elsewhere the fourths and fifths recorded good wins against Gillingham Anchorians. History was also being made on Sunday as the first Gravesend girl's side made their debut against Ashford at U.15 level. ---------------------------------
On a sadder note promising young second row, Tim Jones, who was seriously injured in the last league game against Charlton Park has had to retire from rugby after it was discovered he had actually broken his neck. The Club offers Tim its very best wishes for the future.
Printwise East Premier League
Gravesend began their new year campaign by bagging a well deserved 3 points against Crostyx in the East Premiere League this week. G's piled on the pressure from the outset and relentless attacking led to a mad scramble in the D that Ada Leppard was able to pounce on to open the scoring. Gravesend defended enthusiastically, maybe a little too much in Di Prior's case as she received a yellow card for body checking a Crostyx forward. Karen Taylor dropped back to sweeper to seal G's defensive line and they went into the break 1-0 up.
The second half saw more positive Gravesend play with player of the match Tanya Williams dominating the midfield. Rachel Kidd struck from a short corner and sealed a critical victory for a jubilant Gravesend.
Gravesend put in another poor performance on Saturday as they lost at league strugglers Charlton Park 26-6. In a game that was held up for 30 minutes by a serious neck injury to big Gravesend second row Tim Jones Gravesend struggled to raise their game against mediocre opposition. The game actually started brightly for G's as they saw more of the ball and ran purposefully at their Park counterparts. Over the initial 15 minutes they could have scored 3 tries with great breaks all coming to nothing as wrong options were taken each time. Gravesend were also incensed by some of the 'off ball' tactics used by Park the worst of these being a straight arm into the face of Austin Saunders by the Park skipper in the first couple of minutes.
It was against the run of play that Charlton Park scored a penalty on 16 minutes. The match continued to see foul play now from both teams as the weak referee failed to get to grips with either side and surprisingly did not produce a yellow card throughout the game, despite at on point threatening both skippers with a red card. On 20 minutes Gravesend received a blow as Jones landed awkwardly on his neck and an ambulance was immediately called for. Jones was kept motionless on the pitch as the players retired to the changing rooms. After a half hour delay play resumed but Gravesend failed to find any of the early form as penalties were exchanged for the rest of a dour half. The only real area of cheer for G's was their dominance in the scrum reflected by a superb shove against the head on a defensive scrum.
The second half was another dour affair with continuous off ball incidents preventing any pattern developing in the game. G's continued to dominate the scrums regularly moving the Park pack backwards. However the story was very different in the lineout where the tall Park jumpers took several of the G's lineouts and were comfortable on their own ball as the G's tactic of not opposing the opposition throw opting to drive the catcher failed to pay off. On 22 minutes Park made their first breakthrough as the Park fly half skipped through two missed tackles to score an unconverted try to make the score 11-6. The confidence visibly drained from G's at this point as the large Park crowd who had been muted up till now found their voice. Less than 5 minutes later another unopposed lineout saw Park take quick clean ball and the break from the back of the lineout saw the Park flanker run through four motionless Gravesend defenders for a converted try to take the score to 18-6.
Gravesend were now totally devoid of any spirit as the home side scored a further penalty and unconverted try to make the final score 26-6.
Skipper Gareth Davies was despondent after the game 'I am very disappointed with our performances over recent weeks and this was probably the worst because the opposition were so poor. A number of players need to take a good look at them and deliver 110% in the coming matches. We need to regroup over Christmas if what was initially a promising season does not turn into another relegation fight. A number of the middle table teams around us are now picking up points and we have slipped from third to seventh in just 3 weeks.'
Gravesend face bottom club Cobham at home in their next league match on the 8th January. Using an old cliché this is a must win game for Gravesend as the result will set the mood for the second half of the season.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Sevenoaks 5 Gravesend 0
Gravesend finished the year in disappointing fashion as they went down 5-0 to Sevenoaks in the East Premiere league. Gravesend defended hard in the first half and created a number of attacks through striker Tara Hewitt. Sevenoaks produced a number of short corners which they converted in style. Gravesend's Karen Taylor and player of the match Tanya Williams worked tiressly but were unable to stop an inform Sevenoaks who walked away with three points.
Gravesend put in another unconvincing performance on Saturday as they lost at home to Chichester 18-10. The Sussex side, despite having trounced Folkestone last week 53-0, still must have believed they would be in for a tough match as they made the long journey up from West Sussex. They were in for a pleasant surprise as G's failed to make any real impression on them for most of the afternoon. Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, and Coach, Simon Ryan, had made a number of changes to the team that had played so disappointingly at Maidstone last week. Jason Bowler returned to second row and Dean Emery was drafted into the back row for his first start of the season. In the backs the dependable Ben Day returned at scrum half and veteran centre, Mike Delay, returned from a long injury. Ultimately the changes made little real impact with the G's failing to find the early season spark that kept them in the promotion pack.
The big Chichester pack laid down the foundations to their win from the start as they dominated the lineout and used the driving maul effectively to gain several metres at a time. Fortunately for G's the Chichester backs regularly took the wrong option failing to spread the ball wide to their quick wings and instead getting wrapped up by the G's defence. The inevitable breakthrough came on 20 minutes when another well taken lineout was driven on by the big Chichester pack. The ball was eventually moved to the backs and the Chichester fly half, Jack Smallman skipped past Corneliusen to score a try under the posts which he converted to give the Sussex side a deserved 7-0 lead. Chichester continued to dominate possession and territory as G's found it hard to win any good ball. However Gravesend's hopes were raised on 25 minutes when sloppy play by the Chichester backs allowed young fullback, Ricky Harding, to grab a loose ball on his own 10 metre line and race over half the pitch to score an unconverted try to take the score to 7-5. For the rest of the half, despite the odd bullocking run by Hooper and Atkins, it was Chichester that made most of the play.
The G's coach, Ryan, made use of all 3 substitutes early in the second half to try and add some pace and experience to the side and briefly G's did lift their game. However it was ill discipline that allowed Chichester to build on their lead as 2 penalties for handling were converted by Smallman to take the lead to 13-5. Gravesend were again to score from another mix up in the Chichester backs as they failed to gather a kick through allowing substitute Ian Sullivan to score an unconverted try out wide. Although the score had been closed to 13-10 Gravesend supporters were still not confident, with some reason as on 69 minutes another strong drive by the Chi' forwards was rewarded with an unconverted try to make the final score 18-10.
Club spokesman, Rob Bardell, was disappointed afterwards 'The early season optimism has taken a knock over recent weeks with 3 defeats on the bounce, with the last 2 performances being poor. We are missing a number of players through injury and work commitments at present and in particular need the return of our Fijian trio as soon as possible to add a little spark to the team. We now need to hit a purple patch to climb back up the table starting at Charlton Park next week.'
There was still plenty of good news in the club on Saturday though. Young backs Ricky Harding and Alex Buller, both in the first team on Saturday, have been named in the Kent U.20 squad. Also results were good as the seconds beat Ashford and the fourths beat Old Gravesendians 3rds.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Gravesend 2 Maidstone 4
Gravesend played some of their best hockey of the season this week but they were unable to salvage any points from their tie with Maidstone in the East Premiere League. Gravesend started the game with good passing movements in midfield and a strong defense with outstanding saves from goalkeeper Alix Lee. However, G's were unable to stop a number of strong attacking moves by Maidstone who took the lead by half-time.
Gravesend came out believing in themselves in the second half, and a great short corner strike by Karen Taylor and a sweeping strike by Tanya gave them an opening for victory. Maidstone continued to pile on the pressure and just proved too strong in the end as they secured a hard fought 3 point win.
Gravesend went to league leaders Maidstone on Saturday optimistic that they could take something from the game and close the gap on their local rivals. However the reality was that from the first minute Gravesend were very rarely in the game, eventually going down 23-0. The Gravesend season continues to resemble the British economy of the eighties and nineties - boom one week bust the next - and Coach, Simon Ryan, must wish he could turn himself into a rugby Gordon Brown to bring some stability to their results! Maidstone played downhill in the first half and immediately started to dominate in terms of possession and territory. The early exchanges between the forwards were fairly even but the more experienced Maidstone backs made the most of their wide home pitch as they continuously kept the G's pegged back with telling touch kicks. Gravesend never got to grips with the width and rarely put in lengthy touch kicks throughout the match, more often choosing to kick straight to the Maidstone wings or fullback. In the opening 15 minutes G's defended resolutely as the Stones impressive fly half, Gary Whitehead, almost opened them up on two occasions. All G's had to show in this period were two half breaks by Ricky Harding. On 16 minutes the inevitable happened as lack of communication in the Gravesend backline allowed Whitehead to put wing Mark Ryan through with a simple pop pass. The try was converted by fullback, Glen Aukett, to make the score 7-0. Maidstone never looked back from here as they started to pressure the G's forwards in the lineout and loose. Flankers Guy Stearns and Matt Clements worked tirelessly to keep the home side at bay putting their bodies on the line in tackle and ruck. Unfortunately this hard work was not matched throughout the side as several of their team-mates put in distinctly average performances.
In the 22nd minute Maidstone increased the score to 10-0 with a penalty kicked by Aukett after G's illegally stopped a great Maidstone move from a lineout. On the half hour G's at last gave their supporters something to cheer with a brief period of pressure in the home half. This was soon thwarted and a clean break by Maidstone was comically stopped as the fullback and wing collided with each other with no defenders in front of them. The laughing for G's supporters soon stopped as 2 minutes later as the same two players combined well to put fullback Aukett over for an unconverted try to take the score to 15-0 at half time.
Gravesend supporters hoped that by playing downhill in the second half they may see a fight back from the G's. However it was Maidstone that again started the better and this sparked a double substitution with experienced centre, Barry Andrews, and prop Chris Day coming on. Andrews almost immediately made an impact making some big tackles and making to great breaks the second one seeing an almost certain score ruined by a dropped pass. Maidstone sensed they needed to step up the pace and on 23 minutes the ball was moved wide for centre Tim Porter to score another unconverted try to take the score to 20-0. Stones piled on the pressure from here with G's conceding a number of penalties in their '22 which Maidstone kicked to touch on each occasion. It was only great defending from the resultant lineouts, particularly from prop Richard Hooper that kept Maidstone out. In the end the home side allowed their frustration to boil over as flanker, John O'Brien, was stupidly sin binned for descent. On 36 minutes Maidstone finally elected to kick successfully at goal to make the final score 23-0.
Coach, Simon Ryan, was left frustrated by the defeat ' Whilst Maidstone are deservedly top and will, barring a major slip-up by them, take the automatic promotion spot I am left very disappointed today by the performances of several players. Maidstone did not really have to raise their game today and at no time did we look as if we could really threaten them.' Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was also an unhappy man 'A number of players need to take a close look at themselves today. Our away performances this season have generally been poor and as we move towards the second half of the season both myself and Simon will look at what changes need to be made to improve the away form.'
Next week Gravesend face Chichester at home in a must win game if G's wish to stay in touch with a play off position.
---------------------------------
Elsewhere the second team lost to an experienced Maidstone Mustang side. The fourth team travelled to Maidstone having been embarrassed by the failure of the third team to show. Some concern is being shown within the club at the failure on many occasions this season for either the second, third or fourth team to field a side on a Saturday, and urgent discussions are being held amongst several committee members to try to resolve the problem.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Gravesend 2 Ipswich 2
Steph Forbes was Gravesend's heroine this week as she fired in a vital equalizer against Ipswich in the East Premier. Her spectacular reverse stick swipe was set up by Ada Leppard and added to an earlier penalty flick by Rachel Kidd. Player of the match CLaire Swift was tireless in midfield as were the umpires collection of cards as they dished out a yellow card to Tara Hewitt and a green card to Nicola Tatum. Gravesend once again showed their fighting spirit as they rescued a point from the match.
---------------------------------
The seconds were defeated by a very young Bromley side 2-0. G's took a long time to get going and they payed the price when Bromley opened the scoring midway through the first half. After some strong words of advice at half time G's came out and looked like a different side in the second half. G's tried really hard to take the game to Bromley. Mel Armstrong came close to getting the equaliser twice, as to did Tanya Van Schalkwijk but their efforts were halted by Bromley's in form keeper. With G's giving it their all to try to salvage something from the game Bromley counter attacked at speed and killed the game off with a great strike from the top of the D. Tanya Van Schalkwijk was voted player of the match for her outstanding effort.
---------------------------------
Gravesend thirds were unlucky not to get at least a point from their encounter against Tonbridge Wells.
---------------------------------
The 5ths were heavily beaten by a well organised Maidstone team. The game was evenly poised up until 15 minutes into the second half when some bad marking by G's gifted Maidstone the opening goal. G's went in search of an equaliser but having already lost one of their strikers early in the game through injury they found it very hard to carve out any claer cut opportunities. Despite some excellent saves in goal by Lisa O'Neil and some last minute defending from Alison Cant G's conceded twice more which resulted in a 3-0 loss to G's. Alison Cant was voted player of the match and Jill Taylor put in a tireless display in the centre of midfield.
Gravesend faced Sidcup away on Sunday in the first round of the Kent Cup and put in a creditable but losing performance as they went down 27-11. Director of Rugby used the tie to give games to several fringe players and all put in solid performances against opposition from the League above.
G's started brightly and it was against the run of play when Sidcup opened the scoring on 10 minutes with a penalty converted by Dan Allen. Gravesend replied just a minute later with a well worked try scored by full-back Ricky Harding in the corner to take the score to 5-3. It was Sidcup's turn to score in the corner on 15 minutes when they worked the ball wide for Rick Roddis to go over and take the score to 8-5. Gravesend fought well in both the backs and forwards but the inexperience of playing together told particularly in the lineout where Sidcup dominated. However two penalties by Ben Day in quick succession did briefly give Gravesend an 11-8 lead. It was a lineout, well taken by the Sidcup pack that led to a driven over try that was converted to take the score to 15-11 to the home side. Just before half time a 5 metre scrum on the G's line was won by Sidcup and the ball fed to the home fly-half, Allen, to score under the posts and allow him to score an easy conversion to make it 22-11 at half time.
Despite Sidcup having a far bigger pack and being able to dominate the lineout Gravesend put up a terrific display in the second half having several sustained periods of pressure on the Sidcup line, which the home side defended very well. It was again from a lineout that Sidcup scored the only points of the second half scoring an unconverted try after 10 minutes to make it 27-11.
Director of Rugby was not too despondent at the end. 'We knew we would be up against it with Sidcup being a league above and us having quite an inexperienced team. I thought our young winger Alex Buller had a good game making several runs and the pack held up well against a much bigger Sidcup eight. We now need to focus on our important league game against Maidstone next Saturday.'
Next week Gravesend travel to table topping Maidstone knowing that a win would close the gap on the leaders to just 2 points. However G's have already lost there in the cup earlier in the season in a tight game where the Maidstone forwards had the edge and they know they must be on top of their game to have any hope of taking the points.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
A hard fought game in the East Premiere league saw an inform Gravesend beat Cambridge Uni at home this week. Gravesend took the lead early in the first half as they secured a goal from player of the match Rachel Kidd's short corner strike. Not to be out done Cambridge piled on thr pressure which led to them converting a penalty flick that beat Gravesend keeper Alix Lee. Tempers began to run high as firey forward Tara Hewitt was given a green card. However, she redeemed herself minutes later as she provided a pass that fellow forward Ada Leppard slotted in to give Gravesend a well deserved win.
---------------------------------
The seconds had to play their match against Bromley as a friendly due to the pool umpire not turning up. This gave G's the opportunity to experiment in their play, of which they took full advantage. G's worked the switch well and created some excellent goalscoring opportunities. G's looked solid at the back and won most of the 50-50 balls in midfield. G's dominated the game to record a 3-1 victory. Scorers were Mel Armstrong, Jill Hopper and Karen Parnell. G's also had the opportunity to add a fourth with a penalty flick, but it was well saved by the Bromley keeper. Captain Carolyn Davies will be hopeing for much of the same when the game is replayed as a league fixture.
---------------------------------
The 3rds bagged another crucial three points against University of Kent. With only ten players G's found it hard to settle in the first quarter of the game. University of Kent were a very young side and they exploited the space well to put themselves 1-0 up at half time. G's knew however that if they could get an early goal in the second half they could be right back in the game. Babara Ockenden did just that with a supberb strike. This gave G's a huge boost and it wasnt long before Ockenden added a second goal to put G's in the lead. Ockenden completed her hat trick with a shot that most people would not even dare to attempt. After a run down the right hand side she got to the barline and somehow found a shooting angle. Annie Jefferies rounded off the scoring to give G's a 4-1 victory. Needless to say Barbra Ockenden was voted player of the match!
---------------------------------
The 4th team fell to a 3 nil defeat at the hands of Anchorians. G's started brightly but it was Anchs who opened the scoring with a firm strike that keeper Vicky Whitehead could do nothing about. With most of the play going down G's left hand side, G's found it hard to create the space needed in the final third of the pitch. G's fell two nil down just before the break, but came out fighting in the second half. With the persistence of Tanya Vanschwalkjik in midfield and Debbie Roche up front G's created a couple of opportunities to get back in the game, but they were squandered. With G's searching for a goal to get back into the game Anchs broke quickly and earned themselves a short corner, which was converted to put the game beyond doubt. Tanya Vanschalkwijk was voted player of the match. She worked tirelessly in c mid throughout the entire 70 minutes.
---------------------------------
After a promising start to the season the 5ths fell to their third defeat in a row against Holcombe 2nds. G's never really got going in the first half before Holcombe took the lead. Lisa O'Neil made some tremendous saves in goal but it really was only a matter of time before Holcs scored. Holcs scoring seemed to spur G's up a little and they started to pass it around better in midfield, up to attack to create an opening for Natalie Goodman, but the Holc keeper produced a fine save of her own to keep G's at bay. Shortly after G's found themselves two nil down. G's came back into it a little in the second half and were unlucky not to score from a short corner, but on the stretch Debbie Watson could not provide the telling touch needed. Despite many more great saves from player of the match Lisa O'Neil G's fell another two goals behind and from there could find no way back. Final score 4-0 to Holcombe 2nds.
Gravesend put in a strong disciplined performance on Saturday as they beat South East London side, Charlton Park, 29-3 at the Rectory Field. After a disappointing defeat last week it was important to get back to winning ways and play well. The opening 10 minutes had a familiar ring to them for the supporters who had made the journey to Surrey the previous week. Handling errors and poor decision making were evident in a nervous start. Charlton Park, who have struggled this season, must have believed that they would be in with a chance. However, gradually, Gravesend began to put their game together with both scrum and lineout working effectively. Nick Corneliusen, back at fly half, started to show some of the nice touches that had been missed last week. Ben Day scored a try from a quick penalty on 20 minutes with Charlton Park replying 5 minutes later to take the score 5-3. However this was the last time that Charlton Park were ever really in the game. On 30 minutes a well taken lineout saw skipper, Gareth Davies make a great drive for the line. Charlton Park, who had already been penalised heavily in the half, were penalised again for killing the ball and a penalty try was awarded, converted by Ian Sullivan to take the score to 12-3. Charlton Park prop, Adam Matthews was sin binned for the offence. Just before half time Sullivan was able to add a further penalty to take the score to 15-3.
The second half started much the same with the confident G's dominating Park in all areas. After 4 minutes another well driven lineout saw the ball reach Sullivan whom scored under the posts and kicked the conversion to take the score to 22-3. By now Gravesend's backs, supplied with good quick ball from the forwards, were making ground all over the park. Just 4 minutes later another great break by Sullivan, having probably his best game of the season, was finished off expertly by young winger Alex Buller. Sullivan converted to make it 29-3.
Despite dominating for the rest of the match a combination of Charlton Park slowing the game, legally and illegally, and several wrong options from clear breaks, meant that Gravesend failed to add to their 29 point tally. Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was still a happy man at the end. 'After last week it was important that we put in a performance like that. We were disciplined throughout giving very few penalties away, unlike our opponents, and whilst we could have gone on to score more points our all round play was very good.'
The match was preceded by another of the popular mini rugby exhibition matches. This time the under 7 'Pirates' took on the under 7 'Redcoats'. Amongst the teams were George Peters, Alex Jobbins and Thomas Wilkinson the sons of one current and two former first team players. The rugby was excellent with some great handling skills seen and certainly if the standard of these players is reflected throughout the junior ranks then the future for the club is very bright.
---------------------------------
Elsewhere the 2nd team lost 22-10 at Charlton Park with several veterans having to turn out due to the impact of injuries in the 1st team. ---------------------------------
The 5th team had another great win, 31-0, against Gillingham Anchorians 3rds. Fly half Dibley was the star of the show scoring a try and controlling the game. Hooker Ian ' Tarzan' Turnidge helped the supply of ball taking 8 strikes against the head. ---------------------------------
Next week it is back to cup rugby for G's as they face Sidcup from the league above in the second round of the Kent Cup on Sunday. The following Saturday they face league leaders, Maidstone, in a vital league encounter.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Gravesend 1 Chelmsford 3
Gravesend 1sts went down 3-1 against Chelmsford East Premier Division. G's were missing six of their key players-including their Captain Tracy Atterbury, who is suffering with a long term back injury. It took G's quite a while to settle into the game but after soaking up the pressure from Chelmsford early on G's found an opening of their own and took full advantage of it through Steph Forbes Forbes recieved the ball at the top of the D and struck it with pace. The ball deflected off an opponents stick and flew into the top right hand corner of the net. From then on G's played some really good possesion hockey, keeping control of the ball and putting Chelmsford on the back foot. Chelmsford got back into the match with a deflected shot of their own just before half time and G's found themselves 2-1 down quite early into the second half after a great strike that G's keeper Alex Lee could do nothing about. G's continued to battle on and stuck to their game plan well but the Chelmsford defence was very resilient. Chelmsford added a third goal midway through the second period and despite G's being awarded quite a few short corners late on in the game Chelmsford defended them excellently to claim all three points. Alex Lee was voted player of the match-making numerous excellent saves in goal.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 2nds got back to winning ways this weekend against Marden. G's started brightly and were creating space for themselves with quick one-touch passing. G's had most of the possesion in the first half and created many opportunities to score. However it was Marden who managed to sneak in the first goal against the run of play. G's did manage to convert one of those opportunities-courtesy of the determination and persistence of Mel Armstrong. G's came out fighting in the second period and looked hungry for the victory. G's scored an early goal through Alison Shelton-flicking over the goalkeepers pads and G's never really looked back from there. Shelton Added a third with a first time shotto the bottom left of the keeper, and though Marden pulled one back with a quck counter attack G's killed the game off shortly after with a great solo run and shot through Karen Parnell. Karen Parnell was also voted player of the match.
---------------------------------
The 3rds had a tough encounter against top of the league Blackheath and fell to a 3-1 defeat-despite getting the early goal through Lucy Allinson. G's earned a short corner, which was passed out to Allinson. Allinson controlled it instantly and struck a first time shot into the bottom corner. G's couldnt hold onto the lead and the scores were level at half time. Blackheath got two early goals in the second half and despite all their efforts G's could not find a way back into the game. Andrea Kitchener was voted player of the match.
---------------------------------
Due to illness and having to drop a player to umpire the 4th team travelled to Deal with only eight players! G's started well and tries to keep hold of possesion but found it really difficult to create any real goalscoring opportunity. However when Deal were in possesion G's worked really hard to close down as much space as possible. Deal only really had one shot on target within in the first 20 minutes of the game, which was well saved by goalkeeper Vicky Whitehead. Just when G's thought maybe they could keep Deal at bay and get a 0-0 draw out of the game at least, their left half Gail Petherick took the full force of a shot at goal on her knee, which left G's with only seven players! G's didnt drop their heads and only found themselves 1-0 down at half time. G's battled on through the second half and tried to get back on level terms.Charlie Avery and Tanya Vanschalkwijk came close on a couple of occasions but they were lacking in numbers and support. With G's having worked so hard for each other throughout the game they started to tire in the last ten minutes or so and Deal took advantage of the space they had to pass into and scored two more goals to finish with a 3-0 vctory. Tanya Vanschalkwijk and Rebecca Calver were jointly voted player of the match. Stand in skipper Sharron Griffin said she was very proud of the teams efforts and the way they battled to the very end.
---------------------------------
The 5ths lost 2-1 to Bexley Invicta. This was a very close game that could have gone either way. Alison Port scored for G's after some good build-up play through the midfield. Bexley Invicta claimed all three points with two close range efforts. Laura Reiley was voted player of the match for her determined effort in midfield.
It was an early start for Gravesend on Saturday as the closure of the M25 meant that they started the journey to Cobham 2 hours earlier than expected. The feeling of the supporters that made the difficult journey was that they shouldn't have bothered. The inconsistency that has struck Gravesend on their travels again reared its ugly head as G's produced an error strewn performance against the Leagues bottom side. In good playing conditions on a narrow pitch Gravesend started brightly showing no signs of the difficult journey they had just made. Right from the kick off Gravesend gained possession and showed great handling and running skills as they tore into the Cobham side. This period of pressure resulted in Fijian, Socks Stevens, crashing over from a tapped penalty underneath the posts, which was duly converted by Ian Sullivan. Gravesend continued to dominate the early stages winning clean lineout ball and looking solid in the scrum. It was against the run of play when the strong Cobham winger ran in a try which was converted to even the scores. Gravesend continued to have the better of the play at this stage showing great passages of running play. After 20 minutes Cobham took the lead with a penalty only for Sullivan to equalise 5 minutes later with a penalty from a dropped maul, an illegal tactic that Cobham regularly used.
Cobham however slowly started to come back in the game with their impressive fly half and both wingers putting G's under some pressure. On 30 minutes poor missed tackles allowed the Cobham centre to run in under the posts for a converted try to make it 17-10. Just before half time disaster struck as yet more missed tackles again allowed Cobham through for another converted try to make it 24-10 .
Coach, Simon Ryan had stern words for G's at half time and initially it seemed to wake them up. Austin Saunders made a dazzling break 5 minutes into the second half to set up Socks Stevens for his second try, converted by Sullivan to close the gap to 24-17. However Gravesend did not capitalise on this as they continued to make basic errors to put themselves under pressure. It was against the run of play when Gravesend scored their third try with the Gravesend front row, of Hooper, Davies and Day, stealing a ball against the head on the Cobham line and scrum half Ben Day scoring an unconverted try to take the score to 24-22. At this point Gravesend supporters expected G's to push on and win the match against a team that had only won once all season. They were to be disappointed as the handling errors that had littered the G's game would not go away and allowed Cobham to play in the Gravesend half. On 30 minutes there was a further blow as Gravesend man of the match, Socks Stevens , was carried off with suspected ankle ligament damage. This seemed to drain any hope that Gravesend had from the team and Cobham went on to score one more unconverted try to take the score to 29-22.
Coach , Simon Ryan, was philosophical in defeat 'We had a difficult journey with the early start disrupting the team we actually put out. The players know they did not do themselves justice today and will work hard to remove the errors from their game. There were some positives with the scrum and lineout functioning much better than it was a few weeks ago and some great breaks seen by Austin and Ricky (Harding) in particular. Fortunately other results went with us today so we still remain in 4th place just 4 points behind the leaders Maidstone who suffered a surprising defeat today.'
---------------------------------
Elsewhere a strong third team lost by just one point to Gillingham Anchorians 2nds.
---------------------------------
The 4th team were touring in Jersey.
---------------------------------
The 5th team had a terrific win against Hastings and Bexhill 3rds 39-17 with former 1st team stalwart Jerry 'the Shellfish' Shelton playing his first game for 3 years and scoring a try upon his return.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Gravesend 3 Norwich Union 1
A triumphant Gravesend 1st XI secured a long awaited victory in grand style on Saturday in the East Premiere league against Norwich Union. Gravesend looked sprightly from the outset and some fierce attacking play led to forward Claire Swift slotting in an early opener for the home team. G's played some of their best hockey of the season so far with tireless work from Becky Taylor and Karen Taylor. Relentless pressure eventually led to a short corner that Rachel Kidd converted. Gravesend then put a strangle hold on the game with centre back Sadie Clinch and left back Nicola Tatum starring in a restructured defence. Norwich Union fought hard in the second half and pulled a goal back from a dubious penalty flick. Gravesend were not disheartened and player of the match Claire Swift wrapped up proceedings with a stunning solo effort. Gravesend can take much away from this game to try to repair their unsuccessful start to the season.
---------------------------------
The 2nds continued their run of bad form with a 5-1 loss to Tonbridge Wells. The scoreline did not reflect the game but Wells took their chances and were far more clinical in the right areas of the pitch than G's. G's foughjt hard and never gave up but the loss of their left back Louise Downing made G's have to work even harder. Mel Armstrong got G's only goal of the game and Alison Shelton was voted player of the match.
---------------------------------
Gravesend thirds played Gravesend 4ths this weekend and earned themselves a very narrow and close victory. Both teams only had ten players which created quite a bit of space for both teams to play the ball around and play some crerative hockey. This made it an end to end game with both sides creating really good openings to score. However both goalkeepers Vicky Whitehead for the thirds and Ruth Bunton for the 4ths were in fine form to keep the scores at 0-0. The 4ths put in a great team performance and started to frustrate the thirds. The game was level until the last ten minutes of the game and it really could have gone either way. Third team captain Caroline Conroy pushed her team further up the pitch in search of a winning goal and with about six or seven minutes left on the clock they won a short corner. The thirds packed the D with players and the origonal shot rebounded off the keeper and Barbara Ockenden tapped it in at the far post. 4th team captain Julie Coller was proud of her teams performance and is hoping for the same again next week away to Deal. Third team player of the match was Andrea Kitchener and 4th team player of the match was gail Petherick.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 5ths had a very tough encounter against top of the league Edenbridge. In the first half G's found it difficult to compete with some of the challenges being made by Edenbridge and they conceded three very scrapy goals-two of which literally trickled over the line. In the second period G's came out fighting and tried to take the game to Edenbridge. Nicola Gear and Natalie Goodman came close to scoring for G's but it wasnt to be their day. Edenbridge created a couple of chances themselves but stand-in keeper Debbie Watson who ususlly plays on pitch kept the scoreline at three nil with a couple of very good saves. Alison Cant had a solid game at the back for G's and earned the player of the match award.
Gravesend produced a great performance at local rivals Aylesford Bulls on Saturday, winning 22-21 to ensure they remained within touching distance of the League leaders. After a disappointing defeat at Purley last week when the pack, in particular, failed to perform it was important to bounce back against up and coming Aylesford. Gravesend were forced to make several changes due to unavailability but this seemed to enhance the team with the players coming in looking to prove a point to the coaching staff. Playing in front of a big partisan crowd Gravesend seemed unfazed by the vociferous support for their opponents. In good conditions the Gravesend pack, with two new props, Richard Hooper and Chris Day, settled in the scrums and lineout unlike recent weeks where they've struggled. Ayelesford were first to score with a penalty however before the excellent G's scrum half, Ben Day kicked 2 penalties to make it 6-3. Play was fairly even for much of the half as first the Aylesford Fijian number 8, Larquebera, scored a try then Gravesend's own Fijian, Socks Stevens, scored from a scrum leaving the scores 14-11 at half time to G's.
The second half saw Gravesend take the game more to the home side with veteran Sean Barham and John Atkins particularly prominent. In defence Aylesford found little joy in trying to break the Gravesend backline with John Clement playing out on the wing making several big hits. A further penalty took the score to 17-11 before Fijian Stevens scored his second try from a driving maul, to make the score 22-11. This should have put paid to Aylesford but they fought back through several penalties and the referee found an amazing 14 minutes of injury time to leave the small band of G's supporters biting their nails. Fortunately Bulls could not close the final gap leaving the score 22-21 to G's.
Afterwards Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was full of praise for the team. 'It's left me with a great problem for next week as several first team regulars become available for selection. Several squad players have laid down serious challenges today. After last weeks debacle at Purley the players have trained hard and responded superbly today. We play bottom club, Cobham, next week and if we perform to our ability we can hopefully make up further ground on the teams above us in the League.'
---------------------------------
Thursday also saw important history being made as Gravesend saw New Ash Green ladies training at the club for the first time. Des Beirne has extensive experience with women's rugby having coached at international level. He sees it as an opportunity to advance women's rugby in Gravesham. 'This is very much about supporting New Ash Green ladies with our coaching structure. We have several team and positional coaches who will make themselves available to the ladies side and help them. At the same time it helps us as a club from a community rugby point of view where we want to support men's, junior and now women's rugby.'
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Cambridge City 2 Gravesend 0
Gravesend failed to rescue any points from a close game that could have gone either way against a determined Cambridge City. Gravesend came out fighting but were knocked back into their corner as Cambridge fired in 2 early goals before half time. Joint players of the match Odette Hosty and Rachel Kidd fought hard to win a number of short corners for Gravesend which they were unlucky to convert. Karen Taylor fought hard in the midfield and goal keeper Alix Lee produced a number of good saves, but even this was not enough to inspire a Gravesend goal as they were left with another defeat to their name in the East Premiere league. ---------------------------------
Gravesend seconds also put up a struggle in defeat to Herne Bay. G's had most of the possesion throughout the game but just could not find the back of the net. Herne bay cleared at least two great shots off the line and their keeper was in fine form to halt G's. G's also spurned a penalty flick. Alison Shelton did manage to find the goal on one occasion but Herne Bay broke the G's defence with two well worked goals to take home the three points. Jill Martin had a solid game as sweeper to earn the player of the match award. ---------------------------------
The thirds also had a bad day at the office, crashing to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Old Williamsonians. G's did not really manage to settle in the first half. G's passing was not as sharp and the team cohesion that has been present throughout the third team this season seemed to be lacking which meant that G's went into the break with a 2-0 defecit. G's came back hard in the second period and looked to play the ball around quicker and far more accurately. G's also managed to find themselves a goal from a short corner routine. The ball was passed out to Hayley Lucas who under pressure from Old Willies defence slipped the ball to Julie Coller, with her second touch unleashed a superb shot from the top of D to give the keeper no chance of a save. That was as good as it got for G's though and they conceded two more goals to end with a 4-1 loss. Captain Caroline Conroy put in a terrific work-man like performance in the centre of midfield to earn the player of the match award.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Gravesend 0 Canterbury 3
A disillusioned Gravesend 1st XI were left wanting again this week as they went down 3-0 to visiting Canterbury in the East Premiere league. A reasonable start meant that Gravesend went into the break with only a 1-nil deficit. Gravesend tried to string together a number of attacking plays which Tara Hewitt and Claire Swift were at the fore front of. Player of the match Odette Hosty marshaled the defence with ruthless precision but even her performance wasn't enough to inspire a Gravesend goal. Canterbury slipped in 2 more goals in the second half to take away a 3-nil victory.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 2nds put in a very disapointing performance this week and handed Holcombe a 5-1 victory. G's lacked structure and played no where near their best. G's were rather fortunate to only be two goals down at half time. It was vital that G's improved on their first half performance early in the second period and put Holcombe on the back foot, but Holcombe were full of confidence and could sense that G's were struggling to get a foot hold in the game. Within 20 minutes of the restart G's found themselves 5-0 down. G's kept battling though and did manage to grab a consoloation goal through Gill Hopper. Due to the injury crisis throughout the club at present all four Gravesend sides were without substitutes and against the 2nds Holcombe made their three substitutes count-having fresh legs throughout the match. Captain Carolyn Davies will however be hopeing for a much better performance and result against Herne Bay next weekend. Player of the match was Alison Shelton
---------------------------------
Gravesend 3rds kept their brilliant run of form going with a 3-0 victory away to Bromley. G's started very well and signalled their intentions from the start. G's were up against a very young Bromley side but it was G's experience that really shone through. G's went ahead through captain Caroline Conroy-taking it round the back of the keeper and cooly slotting home. From here on G's were in complete control and dominated possession. Any attack made by Bromley was superbly halted by a solid defence. The second period saw G's again start very well and Annie Jefferies made it two nil after some great play through the Bromley midfield. Bromley to their credit never gave up and they forced G's keeper Lisa O'Neil into a couple of excellent diving saves to keep G's in the lead. Adele Downer also Cleared an excellent Bromley strike off the line for G's. G's finally managed to put the game beyond doubt with a goal from in form striker Mel Armstrong. Adele Downer was voted player of the match.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 4ths 3-1 defeat away to Cliftonville was really hard for captain Julie Coller and her players to take in. G's put in what was probally their best performance of the season and were very unlucky not to get something out of the game. After soaking up a little early pressure from Cliftonville in the first 10 minutes or so G's started to work it well from back to front creating some openings of their own. Debbie Roch was unfortunate not to put G's into the lead after some strong play down the right by Charlie Avery set her up but Roch's shot went just wide of the post.Despite some excellent play from defensive trio Rebecca Calver, Debbie Watson and Karen Munns G's went into the break 1-0 down. After some positive comments in the break G's kept their heads up and responded with an early goal in the second half. Tanya Van Schalkwijk penetrated with strengtha and strength down the left and slipped an early ball into Debbie Roch who finished superbly with a little reverse stick flick. G's really started to push on from there in search of a winner. However with G's attacking in numbers and tireing from having worked so hard to get themselves back in the game, Cliftonville broke well on two occassions to make it a 3-1 scoreline-a scoreline that really didn't reflect the game. Tanya Van Schalkwijk was voted player of the match. ---------------------------------
The 5ths picked up their easiest 3 points of the season when Tonbridge Wells failled to field a team.
The Purley John Fisher ground was in excellent condition. The playing conditions were perfect with a slight breeze and bright sunlight. In less than two minutes from the kick off by Purley John Fisher the Gravesend number 4, Jason Bowler, miss fielded the ball and knocked on, resulting in a scrum from which the ball was moved swiftly to the Fisher number 10 who made an incisive break and passed to the Right Wing who was then tackled. However, the sharper Fisher unit quickly recycled the ball to the Fly Half who kicked through for the Left Wing to score in the corner. From the restart the Gravesend Pack won the ball but an error forced a turnover resulting in a forty metre loss of territory. The line out was taken by Gravesend , which forced the Fisher Loose Head to give away a penalty. Good work by Guy Stearns at the lineout was thwarted and Fisher gradually began to dominate.
Both teams were forced into defensive errors and after two successive penalties Jamie Forsythe, the Gravesend Tight Head was yellow carded. The Fisher Inside Centre kicked the penalty taking the score to 8 - 0. Further indiscipline by Fisher resulted in a successful penalty taken by Ian Sullivan from thirty metres. Gravesend pressure from the kick off, especially from Austin Saunders, was followed by further indiscipline at a line out resulting in the Yorkshire referee dispatching Ethan White and the Fisher Loose Head with yellow cards. With both Gravesend Props off the field, moments later a further yellow card for persistent off side infringement saw the departure of the Fisher Fly Half. Rearrangements seemed to affect the Fisher pack to a lesser degree and from a scrum, their number seven picked up and drove but was well tackled into touch by Bryn Ferris. Ethan White returned with only one scrummage taking place in his absence. Some progressive work by White and John Atkins allowed Ian Sullivan to penetrate into the Fisher twenty two and concerted pressure eventually culminated in a twenty two drop out.
A mis-fielded kick by Fisher allowed the G's number 15 to kick a forty metre touchline. Pressure at the line out by G's resulted in a further twenty five metre gain. The closing minutes of the first half saw G's pressure pass the ball along the line, Austin Saunders picked up the ball from his feet and in one flowing movement passed to Sullivan who passed to the G's number 15 who was ankle tapped two metres from the try line. The ball spilled forward, touched the flag ingoal and the referee blew for half time.
The second half began with a catalogue of errors by both sides. There seemed to be little pattern of play as both sides were intent on disruption at lineouts and were freely giving away penalties particularly for off-side in open play. A period of sustained pressure by the Fisher Tight Forwards on the Gravesend line was relieved by a clearance kick from behind the posts into midfield. Further power play from John Atkins who took a quick penalty after a further Fisher off-side resulted in penetration into their half. Jason Bowler gradually gained some of his lineout form and a series of good drives by Gravesend ensued. The G's forwards were working well as unit and pressed the Fisher try line only to give away a penalty for not releasing. From the penalty the Fisher unit moved swiftly up field and their number 12 chipped ahead, gathered the ball and scored. The conversion was added by the Fly Half and Gravesend were trailing 15 - 3. From the kick off, the ball was well fielded by the Fisher number 7 who made and an incisive run, gaining thirty metres. The number 7 kicked ahead and a moment's lapse of concentration between Gravesend's Wing and Full Back almost allowed a further score. From the line out, five metres out the stronger Fisher pack retained possession and drove forcefully for the line to score a try which was converted by the Fly Half.
A rare poor gather by the Fisher number seven allowed Richard Hooper to gather a loose ball from a knock on and drive on. John Atkins took the ball at pace and made a significant break to end at the Fisher five metres. Failure to release resulted in a penalty. The kick was field by the G's number 15 who ran well and was supported strongly. Further pressure on the Fisher backs led to the ball being once more carried to their try line but again the referee deemed that the ball had been illegally held by the Gs. Yet another concerted period of pressure on the Fisher try line resulted in success when John Atkins drove over to make the score 20 - 8. Ian Sullivan successfully converted. In the last passage of play, Fisher made one last foray into the Gs territory and from an offside by G's Forward, their Fly Half rounded off a solid performance by slotting a penalty to close the match with a win of twenty three points to ten.
John Atkins was the supporters' man of the match.
---------------------------------
A very strong Gravesend 2nd XV defeated a weakened Westcombe Park side by 77 points.
---------------------------------
At home the Gravesend Gannets continued their winning form with a resounding win over Ashford 4th XV by 39 points to nil. Captain Sam Broadhurst together with Paul Godwin, Andy Dadson and veteran Bruce Young all scored from a good overall team performance in a match the Gannets dominated in every area of play.
Good win for Gravesend in the wind and rain Gravesend had both a determined Folkestone side and stormy weather to beat in their London 3 league encounter at Rectory Field on Saturday. However another disciplined display saw them take 2 important league points with a 13-0 win. The win takes them to third in the table with a game in hand.
The game was preceded by the annual Captain's day lunch, this year celebrating the captaincy of Dave Powell who was skipper in the early 80's. With over 200 attending the lunch Gravesend were roared on by their biggest crowd of the season and both sides tried to entertain despite the horrendous weather conditions.
Gravesend knew they were in for a game from the struggling Kent coast side as the Folkestone pack regularly pushed Gravesend back in the scrum. It was only the clever work between Number 8, John Atkins and scrum half, Brynley Ferris that stopped this dominance coming to anything. It was in the loose play that Gravesend showed the edge with man of the match Will Hooper and fellow flanker, Guy Stearns regularly to the breakdown first and the outstanding Hooper in particular turning over ball throughout the game. The first score came half way through the first half when a stunning break by Fijian full back , Will Narruhn, outpaced 3 Folkestone defenders and set up Austin Saunders to score between the posts. The try being converted by Ian Sullivan. Despite playing against a strong wind in the first half Gravesend continued to dominate possession but failed to score.
The second half saw Gravesend virtually camped in Folkestone's half but they could find no way through the resolute Folkestone defence. For all their hard work G's could only add 2 more penalties by Sullivan. Despite this it was a good display in poor playing conditions against a side just starting to find their feet in London 3. Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was satisfied with the result 'We knew Folkestone had a useful pack and they proved that today. We need to tidy up our scrum ball but apart from that the performance was good considering the weather. Other results went our way today and we moved up 2 places. We now need to consolidate that by getting a result at Purley next week.'
---------------------------------
Elsewhere there were mixed results for the club. The seconds travelled to Colfeians and despite losing a player in the warm up and another early in the second half, were unlucky to lose 15-7.
---------------------------------
The Gannets continued with their successful season winning 5-0 at Gillingham, whilst the 5th team lost 11-0 at home to Tonbridge Juddians.
The 5th's had a bit of a miserable afternoon with the weather and the result! G's lost their unbeaten league run with a 3-1 defeat to Remnants. Both teams started well and the match was very evenly poised when Remants found a spare player unmarked in the D and she made no mistake with the finish to put Remnants 1-0 up. G's responded very well and started to pass it around in midfield and started to create some openings of their own. G's were unlucky not to get back on level terms when some strong running from the midfield by Claire Stevens set up a chance for Mel Armstrong but her shot went narrowly past the post. Things went from bad to worse for G's in the second half when Remnants capitalised on some poor marking to give themselves a 2-0 lead. G,s also lost their left back Lisa Whitehead through injury. Again though the response from G's was excellent and they chased everything in search of a goal. G's persisence was eventually rewarded when Emma Osbourne took a quick free hit to Mel Armstrong who in keeping with her player of the match display unleashed a superb first time shot to fire it past the keeper. At 2-1 Remnants looked to be on the back foot and G's again put together some excellent passages of play from back to front in search of the equaliser. However with G's attacking in numbers Remnants put together an excellent counter attack and killed the game off with a very well worked goal. Final score was 3-1 to Remants
Gravesend put in a creditable performance at table topping Maidstone at the weekend, but ultimately came out second best. Gravesend again made use of their squad system with several changes from last weeks league win at Bognor, including exciting young Fijian Will Nerrsuhn making his debut at fullback. In a first half where Gravesend had the slightly better of the early changes both sides showed 100% commitment with some combative forward play matched by some good running breaks by both sets of backs. Despite the early pressure from G's, it was Maidstone who scored first with a penalty by Craig Whitehead after 12 minutes. With both defences in good form and the occasional fumble or wrong option there was no further score until Ian Sullivan converted a penalty for Gravesend 5 minutes before half time to level the scores 3-3 at half time.
The second half saw the home side start to take advantage of the slope as G's found themselves camped back in their own half for nearly 20 minutes. Again solid defence kept Maidstone out but the pack was starting to tire and began to creak in the scrum. On 20 minutes captain Matt Clements, was sin binned for an infringement and from the resulting penalty Whitehead kicked 'Stones into a 6-3 lead. Despite some exciting breaks from Nerrsuhn, fly -half Cornelsson and winger Austin Saunders Gravesend seemed to be running out of steam. On 30 minutes as Clements returned to the field he was replaced by Saunders receiving a debatable yellow card from the fussy referee. From the penalty Maidstone took the option of a kick for touch. The home side then worked a clever lineout move resulting in a driven over try for second row Sam Johnson to take the score to 11-3. In the final minutes Gravesend fought back valiantly with several excellent breaks by the hard running backs. A terrific break by prop Richard Hooper was ultimately wasted as a 3 man overlap was spoilt by a poor pass. In a low scoring but entertaining game Maidstone probably just deserved to win but Gravesend will know that they can match the table topping Kent rivals when they meet in 6 weeks time in the league.
On Saturday Gravesend return to league action against newly promoted Folkestone, who are struggling to find their feet in London 3. However despite being bottom coach Simon Ryan knows it could still be a tough test. 'We saw in the recent game against Brighton that there are no pushovers in this league. Folkestone came up as champions and have a big robust pack. We will still need to perform well'. A big crowd of over 200 is expected as it is the annual Captains day lunch before the match so there will be some pressure on the Gravesend team to perform.
Gravesend made the long trip to Bognor on Saturday and returned with all the points following an impressive 19-5 win. In another wind dominated game a much changed G's side gave a very disciplined performance against the Sussex coast side. Gravesend started the match with no less than 12 positional changes from last week's disappointing performance against lowly Brighton. This included entirely new back row and half back combinations with debuts being given to exciting new South African fly half, Nick Corneliusen, and winger Austin Saunders. The match started slowly with both sides attempting to impose themselves on the game with Bognor hoping to make use of the wind in their favour. However the scoring did not start until nearly halftime. Firstly the Bognor wing, Merrett, scored an unconverted try in the corner after gathering loose ball. G's quickly responded with scrum-half, Ben Day, scoring a penalty, to make it 5-3 to the home side at half time.
In the second half Gravesend made much better use of the wind as Nick Corneliusen gave an excellent display of touch kicking. Two minutes into the second half veteran second row, Jason Bowler, giving an impressive display in the lineout, took a great catch and drove over for a try. Half way through the second half Gravesend, now dominating in most areas, extended their lead firstly through a penalty struck by Ben Day, followed shortly by a try from prop Jamie Forsyth from another great take in the lineout by Bowler. Bognor worked hard to find a way back in the final 10 minutes but indiscipline on their part with two yellow cards and Gravesend's edge in lineout and scrum meant it was a lost cause. The final score for G's came from another penalty from Day to take the score to 19-5.
Director of Rugby, Des Beirne, was far happier with this week's performance. 'The display today was impressive considering the number of changes made. I can really see a strong squad starting to form now with competition for every position.' Gravesend face a tough cup game away to league leaders Maidstone on Saturday, but will be going with a quiet confidence after the progress made so far this season.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Gravesend 3 Dereham 0
A jubilant Gravesend first eleven secured thier first victory of the season on home turf against Dereham in the East Premiere league. Karen Taylor controlled the midfield as Gravesend generated a number of attacks down both sides of the pitch. Gravesend piled on the pressure and striker Ada Leppard fired in a number of shots. Relentless pressure led to a short corner from which Odette Hosty's shot was saved only for Di Prior to find the back of the net with a close range swept effort. Gravesend entered half time one goal up.Gravesend came into the second half well rested but looking a bit shaky, however some good defending by player of the match Odette Hosty and Nicola Tatum prevented Dereham from scoring. Some good attacking by Becky Taylor set up the second goal that Claire Swift converted to re-enforce the lead. Continuing pressure saw Gravesend win several short corners and the third goal was converted by Odette Hosty from a Karen Taylor strike. Gravesend battled on to the final whistle and came away with a well deserved maximum 3 points.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 2nd's were very unluck not to earn themselves at least a point this weekend away to Ashford. G's settled into the game from the off and the passing and moving was excellent all over the pitch. After about 15 minutes G's took the lead through Alison Shelton. The lead was doubled within no longer than 2 minutes through Karen Parnell. The second goal seemed to spark some life into Ashford who came back with a vengance. G's gave Ashford far too much time and space and they exploited that in very good fashion to got themselves back into the game with a well worked goal just before half time. Ashford continued to put pressure on G's in the second period and mid-way through the 2nd period they levelled the score to make the last quarter a very tense one for G's. G's put in a great team effort throughout the game and just when it looked like they would get a share of the spoils Ashford bagged a winner with three minutes left on the clock. Wendy Black and Jill Hopper shared the plyer of the match votes.
---------------------------------
Gravesend thirds had a couple of dodgy umpiring decisions to thank for their 1-0 defeat to Cliftonville in Kent div 2. This was a very closely contested game which really could have gone either way. G's attacked well throughout the game and almost made the break-through-only for the ball to be cleared off the line by a clear Cliftonville foot! However instead of G's being awarded a Penalty Flick Cliftonville were given a hit out. As if that wasn't bad enough in the second period the same umpire awarded Clivtonville a short corner instead of a long corner and from that Clivtonville scored the only goal of the game. Despite this though G's held their heads up and fought to the final whistle. This was G's first defeat of the season. Vicky Whitehead recieved the player of the match.
---------------------------------
Gravesend fourths played out of their skins this weekend against Tonbridge Wells and were unfortunate to lose 2-0. G's started quite well but it was Wells who were creating the early chances. Some solid defending and a clearance off the line from Tess Coller keeped Wells at bay. After soaking up some wells pressure G's pushed on in search of a goal themselves and were unlucky not to score through Charlie Avery. three quaters into the first half however it was Wells who opened the scoring despite some excellent saves from G's keeper Susan Goodwin. G's started the second period positively and went in search of the equaliser-spured on by some excellent play by Karen Munns in the centre of midfield. Wells stood firm and were not about to surrender their lead easily. After a bright start to the second period G's seemed to sit back alittle and invite Wells onto them and it took a second clearance oof the line-this time by Lisa Whitehead and some excellent defending fro Alison Bull to keep the score at 1-0. This was short lived however and Wells managed to add to their tally and leave with a comfortable 2-0 victory.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 5ths kept their unbeaten start to the season with a 0-0 draw against local rivals Meopham 2nds. This as always was a closely contested game with both teams creating goalscoring oppertunities. With 4 or 5 of the G's players having already played for the 4ths due to injuries picked up throughout the club last weekend G's did extremely well to get a point from this game. G's were also without their captain Debbie Watson but stand-in skipper Alison Port did an excellent job to ensure the unbeaten run continued. G's were also helped by the excellent display from their keeper Lisa O'Neil-who consequently recieved the player of the match award.
PRINTWISE East Premier League:
Crostyx 4 Gravesend 0
Manager Tracy Atterbury was disappointed with Gravesends performance this week and with good reason as they lost 4-0 to Essex side Crostyx in the Printwize East Premiere League. Gravesend set out with their best foot forward and created a number of good chances but their attacking plans were seriously hampered when midfielder Kerry Jewiss had to retire from the action due to an ankle injury. Gravesend fought hard with only 10 players to enter half time at logger heads with the opposition.
An unsettled second half began with a number of chances falling to Steph Forbes but a resilient Crostyx defence kept the visitors at bay. Player of the match Odette Hosty dominated the midfield for Gravesend but even her brave efforts were not enough to supply Tara 'beaver' Hewitt with any goal scoring opportunities. True to recent form Gravesend then fell apart with several players feeling frustrated and Di Prior seeing a green card. Crostyx then capitalised on Gravesends loss of discipline and fired in 4 goals to walk away with maximum points.
---------------------------------
Gravesends 2nds were very unlucky to to at least gain a point from their fixure against Canterbury 2nds in Kent Premier Div. G's were leading on three occasions but eventually lost 4-3. As the result tells you this was a very exciting end to end game which could have gone either way. It was a very determined effort from G's but goals from Ada Leppard, Alison Shelton and Karen Parnell simply were not enough desipte G's scoring within the first 2 mins of the game. Leppard and Jill Martin shared the player of the match votes.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 3rds produced another excellent team performance to beat newly promoted Deal in Kent Div 2 6-0. G's 3rds have now won all three of their opening fixtures and this week they even had to do it without their skipper Caroline Conroy. G's forwards linked up very well throughout the match and Lucy Allinson bagged two goals, while Mel Armstrong continued her goalscoring form with a superb hat trick. Sweeper Sharron Griffin also managed to get in on the act to score her first goal of the season. Deal continued to battled hard right up to the final whistle but G's managed to keep possesion well to relieve any pressure from Deal. Mel Armstrong was voted player of the match.
---------------------------------
Gravesend 4ths followed up last weeks disapointing result with a 9-1 defeat to Blackheath. Gravesend started quite brightly, putting together a string of good passes and keeping possesion well. With 20 minutes on the clock the match was poised very evenly with both teams having created good opportunities. It was Blackheath however, who opened the deadlock with a very well worked short corner routine. Things went from bad to worse for Gravesend when shortly after conceding the first goal they lost their central defender Rebecca Calver through injury, leaving them with only 10 men for the remainder of the game. With a change of formation Gravesend struggled to get a foothold in the game and after some excellent defending from Karen Munns, Debbie Watson and Alison Ball were very unlucky to find themselves 3-0 down at the break. After a well earned rest Gravesend came back fighting in the second half and things looked to be on the up for G's when Debbie Roach made an excellent run, taking the ball past two Blackheath defenders and provi