Teamwork and discipline brings just rewards.

The thing with these 4th team games is that you never quite know what kind of team you're going to be up against..and this was indeed the case as the Gees lined up against a vastly different 15 to the one we faced back in October.

Three weeks had passed since our narrow loss to Vigo and the Gees most definitely had a point to prove and a game on the first team pitch in front of a bumper crowd of around 20 would be an ideal place to prove it.However after a couple of jogs up and down the sideline we remembered just how big it was compared to our er,'beloved' banana pitch and resorted to light stretching and line out practice.Best to save what energy we had for the game.

The Gannets lined up as follows:

Big H,Dan Grant,Mitch,Mayhem,Andy Hampshire,Garrick,Sam Holden,Matt Clarke,Ben Baker,Ian Shuttlewood,Terry Papworth,Steve Wootton,James Jetski,Paul,George Corrigan,Paul,Martin Taylor,Martin Drobka,Dan Beazer.

The strong south westerly wind caught Georges kickoff meaning it didn't travel the 5 metres giving the G's an early taste of the powerful Medway scrum.Strong tackling and rucking soon had the ball back in black and white hands and a quick tap penalty from Ben Baker saw him dart through the heart of the Medway defence and offload to Terry Papworth for the go ahead score and 5-0 to the Gees.

From the kickoff the Gannets took it back into opposition territory with some excellent pick and gos and good hands from the backs culminating in Mitch Dorsett barrelling over next to the posts for a well deserved try,his first in first season of rugby.George Corrigan converted for the 12-0 lead.

Medway then began to show the potential that we feared they had with their elusive 13 making headway into the gees half and the big,strong running 12 making ground.Before long they were knocking on the door with some great goal line tackling preventing the try.A tap pen was conceded and uncharacteristically poor defence let the Medway 9 in for a soft try.

Sraight from the kickoff Medway came back at the Gannets only to be met by some tough tackling from Steve Wootton and Jetski the former knocking the ball loose only for it to bobble to the away team who raced away to score in the corner.

This gave the Gees the kick up the arse they needed and after forcing Medway to kick from deep inside their half,Terry Papworth set off on a mazy run before passing inside to Stephen Wootton who powered through next to the posts.

Half time 19-10.

The emphasis at half time was on not conceding early in the second half but in true Gannets fashion we did just that barely five minutes in.

Medways tails were up and they were soon back inside the Gannets 22 but a knock on when it seemed easier to score meant the score remained 19-15.

At last the home side were shook out of their complacency and the discipline returned.Tough metres were gained with big H and Terry the Stand out runners whilst the rest of the forwards supported without over committing.The backs proved a great outlet with Ian Shuttlewood spinning the passes out to a deceptively elusive Steve Wootten and a ridiculously elusive James Jetski.

A well taken penalty was slotted before just rewards came when Ben Spotted an overlap on the left with Garrick offloading to Matt Clarke who sold a quite frankly disgraceful dummy to go in by the posts for ginger George converted try.

A late try from the Medway 12 proved no more than a consolation as the final whistle went shortly after,presuambly because the ref needed another slash.

After a couple of recent close defeats it great to finally be part of a Gannets team that closed a game out.Bar a shaky 20 minutes or so,the discipline and support play from both forwards and backs was excellent.
More of the same against Leigh next week will see us avenge that poxy one point defeat.

Finally a note from our leader,Ben,the Gravesend brawler (and I quote)

'Don't forget Ben Baker sidestep,won a turnover from a big guy and dropped a kick off :-)'

So now you know.

Until next time...