Gravesend return to winning ways!!!

The whole of England’s rugby community came together in holding a minute’s applause and retiring the number 11 shirt for today’s matches. It is only fitting, therefore, to begin by saying that all at Gravesend RFC are keeping Jack’s family, friends and teammates in their thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.

That said, when play began, the only thing on Gravesend’s mind was securing the ball, which they did and made a strong start. With Storm Eunice still hanging around, the wind was taking the ball in every direction except the one it was supposed to go, so Charlton Park had the chance to attack early on. However, their kick was far too long and the ball was carried over the dead-ball line.

Gravesend kept building pressure and, although Charlton Park did turn the ball over, possession was once again with Gravesend from a penalty kick to touch and a driving maul heading in the right direction. It wasn’t to be but Gravesend gained themselves another penalty so they could reset and go again. The result, sadly, wasn’t points on the board, but Gravesend’s pressure forced Charlton Park into giving away a lot of penalties.

Whilst a kick to touch didn’t quite make it (that pesky storm, again), Gravesend did still get the ball back in their own hands to keep the momentum on their side. Charlton Park did find some life and a scary moment when Eunice reared her ugly head and sent a kick behind the kicker could have been a lot worse had Charlton Park not knocked the ball on in the chase.

With nearly 30 minutes on the clock, Andrew Hampshire managed to get over the try-line and score for the hosts. A decent attempt at the conversion from Rhys Betts went just wide of the posts and the score was 5-0.

After giving away penalties early on, it was Charlton Park’s turn to capitalise on mistakes and they were awarded a penalty try on the stroke of half time to give them the lead at the break: 5-7.

The second half began with a penalty for Charlton Park almost immediately, but they knocked the ball on in front of a delighted home crowd and Gravesend broke through the defence to score a try through Ben Watkins, giving Gravesend back the lead at 12-7 after a successful conversion.

Two penalties to Gravesend put them in a very strong position and Terry Papworth ran in under the posts. Another successful conversion took the lead out further to 19-7.

Charlton Park were fighting hard and were more dominant in the scrum, earning them penalties and possession. But they were also frustrated with themselves and after Gary Gray – the original wind-up merchant – got into the head of a Charlton Park player, a quick punch to the face in front of the referee saw the visitors seeing red and down to 14 men for the remainder of the match.

Despite Gravesend still turning the ball over, they were also still regaining possession and another try and conversion took the lead to a very convincing 26-7. Josh Smith decided that lead wasn’t big enough and ran in just four minutes later to make it 31-7.

At this point, the supporters – who had rather enjoyed themselves at the pre-match lunch – were getting a little rowdy and The Spartans, particularly, were enjoying ‘supporting’ some of the players on the pitch. Charlton Park were getting even more annoyed with themselves, especially having to go to uncontested scrums, and could only sit back and watch as Hugh Bryant ran in for the sixth try of the day. Rhys Betts added the extras and the score stood at 38-7 with five minutes left to play.

Charlton Park did not give up and pushed to get into a good position. They were struggling to break through the defence but got the ball out wide to score in the corner. A difficult conversion attempt very nearly went over, but hit the crossbar and left the final score at 38-12 – an excellent win for Gravesend in difficult conditions!

Man of the Match - Harry Brooker

Match report written by Fran Holmes