With such a large audience and with many of their peers in attendance, the Gravesend XV were hoping to impress, at the end of the game, many loyal supporters went away feeling depressed from Gs loss and disappointing performance.
On today’s performance, Gravesend must hope that the points gained in the first half of the season will be enough to keep them from relegation from National 3.
All this will be in the balance and depend on the results from the teams below them, most of whom have an easier run in to the end of the season.
Gravesend have to play seven of their remaining fixtures against clubs that are above them in the league at present, and the loss to Havant, who until today were bottom of the table does not auger well.
Those who have seen Gs progress, from London One South, and their outstanding rise through the first season in National 3, know that they can perform better than was seen in today’s fixture.
The expansive running rugby that led to the rise of Gs seems to have been lost from their game, and with talented wing three-quarters, the sooner this is regained the more likely that the tide will turn.
There was little vision or variation in their tactics. Against the wind, and an early Havant score as Gs stood mesmerised by the dazzling visitor’s fly-half, Joel Knight as he ran through un-opposed to touch-down.
Full-back James Read added the conversion for 0-7 after just eight minutes.
It was the desire to achieve that drove on the visiting XV, ably led by their long term skipper Grant Morris, along with Gs unbelievably high error rate that gave Havant a growing confidence.
It was skipper Morris who added the next score as he was allowed so much space that he could choose where to ground the ball, as Gravesend players stood and watched.
This time it was Pat Gains who put over the kick from the tee to extend the difference to 0-14.
It wasn’t that Gravesend didn’t have chances, the home pack supplied continuous possession, from set scrum and line-outs, but this was squandered in the backs time and again as the ball went to ground.
On the forty-minute mark, repeat offences as Gs were pressing for a score, saw Havant’s Tom Horn sent to the bin for ten minutes.
From the resulting penalty Gravesend comfortably won the ball for Terry Papworth to be driven over for the try. The conversion missed as the ball toppled off the tee, the score at the break was 5-14.
The second forty minutes should have been just a formality as Gs secured eighty percent of the possession and territory.
Perhaps the pattern was set when with a penalty chance in front of the post was spurned, against the golden rule of the game, take the points until you are in control, the resulting move went to ground and Havant were allowed to clear their line.
With an almost complete dominance at the line-out as Irvine and Thompson secured the ball, it was strange that more difficult kicks from the half-way line were taken for goal instead of a position inside the opposition twenty-two.
Having moved Adam Bishop from the wing to the centre from the outset, to make use of his pace in the centre, his talent was spurned as the same telegraphed options were taken time and time again.
Gravesend’s front row, Nathan Lines, Terry Papworth and skipper Jamie Forsyth , had worked tirelessly to get the win that Gs were looking for, and scrum-half Jon Clement put in a huge performance.
Tom Goss showed his strength in both attack and defence and it was his pace, in the first forty, against that of the visitors speedy Dickie Duke, that prevented the latter from gathering to score.
It was often his secure hands under the high ball that allowed Gs to counter attack in both halves of the game, and it was often his vision that took the game back inside the visitors twenty-two.
In the last five minutes Gravesend were camped, where they had been for much of the second forty, close to the five metre line.
A series of penalties against Havant saw two more yellow cards issued to the visitors, as they illegally prevented Gravesend crossing the line.
Unfortunately the referee did not view this, as many others did, as the need to award a penalty try, and as the visitors defence held, the final whistle meant that the victory was theirs.
The losing bonus point from the final 8-14 score line may be a life-line that Gs will be glad of at the end of the season.
Next week Gravesend travel to high flying Ampthill, currently sitting in second position behind the unbeaten Canterbury who are visitors to Rectory Field on 4 February.
Gravesend: Dave Dorton, Jamie Gwynne, Adam Bishop, Josh Smith, Tom Goss, Gary Gray, Jon Clement, Jamie Forsyth, Terry Papworth, Nathan Lines, Dave Irvine, Ziggy Stevens, Reuben Potaka, Tom Weeks, Phil Thompson. Rep: Warren McKee, Scott Curley, Ethan White.
