Westcliff enjoyed considerable a considerable period of possession but the defensive tackling particularly of Hyland and Brown in the back row was nothing if not destructive. As with last week Gravesend made the most of some limited possession in the first half and when the ball was moved wide to the twinkle toed Nolan he mesmerised the defence with his footwork and managed to off load almost on the try line for Meddings to score the try. Whitehead converted to give G’s a deserved lead.
Westcliff came back strongly and from the first of many mystifying penalties for both sides kicked deep into the Gravesend 22. From the resulting line out the ball was driven on before their scrum half nipped through a gap on the open side defence to score the try. With the conversion made the scores were soon level.
Following some positional changes due to a shoulder injury to skipper Saunders and Hyland breaking his thumb the Gravesend pack began to reassert themselves. Anstey was running strongly and with Rees and McKee began causing problems for their opposite numbers at scrum time.
Midway through the half some strong running from Junior Rocket in the centre created space for Meddings who somehow mesmerised the surrounding defenders and broke free to feed Whitehead to score under the posts. There may have been some issues with the grounding of the ball but the try was given and Whitehead gratefully converted for the extra points.
However back came Westcliff and the G’s concentration and intensity began to slip and they started to fall off first up tackles allowing the strong running opposition to gain momentum. This was soon converted into points with Westcliff scoring a second unconverted try. With the half nearly over Gravesend came back strongly and created space for the hugely promising Otiz, he broke down the flank and was on the verge of scoring only to be robbed by a superb cover tackle. 12 – 10 at half time to the G’s with all to play for.
The 2nd half continued in the same vein with to many first up tackles missed to shut down the Westcliff attack and this resulted in a try from their scrum half going straight through the middle of the breakdown.
But this Gravesend side are nothing but resilient and a try soon followed for Nolan following a box kick from the outstanding Gywnie which rocked Westcliff back on their heels and let them know they were in a game. More pressure resulted in a penalty for Whitehead to take the G’s into a 22-17 lead.
What followed was a period of pressure on the G’s 5 yard line where the defence and commitment was outstanding and epitomised the team spirit building in this side. With Heggs defending as if his life depended on it, Manna making huge hits and McCloughlin generally making himself a nuisance G’s defended 4 line out’s almost on their line with the subsequent drives to really lay down a marker for the rest of the season that they will not lay down to any side.
As the game progressed though more space became available for Westcliffe and as any good side will they capitalised on this with two further tries and a penalty to give them a hard fought win.
Despite the loss there are a huge number of positives to take from the game especially that so many young players are being integrated into the side, the continuity and consistency is coming and that the attitude, intensity and commitment of the players is second to none.
Coupled with the fact that there were many disappointed second team players in the third team side that convincingly beat Vigo 55 – 10 and the league season is starting to shape up nicely for the G’s.
Man of the match was Tony Nolan who as well as being a hugely positive influence on the team was a constant threat in attack every time he got the ball.
Team: Meddings, Nolan, J. Rockett, George, Otiz, Whitehead, Gywnie, Rees, Mckee, Anstey, Heggs, Saunders, Manna, Hyland, Brown. Replacements: M. Rockett, Painter, McLoughlin
Scorers: Tries – Meddings, Whitehead, Nolan
Coversions – Whitehead 2
Penalties - Whitehead
