Gannets defeated by local rivals

On another unsettlingly pleasant afternoon for rugby at the end of October the Gannets took to the big pitch at Gravesend for a league match against local rivals Old Gravesendians. Lining up with a smaller pack than we have been accustomed to and with yet more tweaks to the backline there was still a decent looking fourth team on paper, a team who should be in a position to match each realistic opponent in the league this season. Unfortunately, it become apparent throughout the course of the day that the Old Gravesendians third team is not a particularly realistic opponent at this level, a point confounded by the news that filtered its way back over the fence that our third team had put 90 points on their supposed second team.

That being said the Gannets started well and matched their opponents for large periods of the game. Following the loss of Sam Holden at the first scrum the Gannets secured good ball through the forwards, building patiently through the phases and making good ground up the pitch. The first ten minutes was controlled well by the Gravesend pack, albeit against technically excellent defence from the opposition limiting the ground to be made from each phase. The ball was eventually turned over however, at which the point the Old G's backs quickly spread the ball wide and their pacey young winger eluded the defence of the home team to score under the posts.

A similar score followed shortly after more well worked play by the Old Gravesendians backs before a third try followed from good support and offloading once the Gravesend defence were able to get a hand to the opposition winger.

Following this rapid onslaught the Gannets were able to regroup and begin to return a degree of control to the game. Some excellent carrying from Gary Curran and Toby Pearce and able support from the rest of the pack meant that their was a platform for the team to build on. Good work by the forwards earned Gravesend a penalty but unfortunately the kick from Ben Baker went the wrong side of the post to keep Gravesend off the scoreboard.

Following further good phase play, a high kick from Ben Baker led to Gravesend being able to put some pressure on the visiting back three and build some phases in the opposition 22. Amongst this however Steve Wootten took a blow to the nose and when we couldn't stop the bleeding, he left the pitch to be replaced by Oliver Karabardak with Dan Beazer moving into the centre.

The second half followed a similar pattern with the Old Gravesendians scoring some good tries out wide through their backs. On a positive note however Gravesend had by now introduced more organisation to their defence meaning that instead of conceding tries to first and second phase attacks the opposition were being made to work harder for their opportunities and were making a few mistakes.

Gravesend continued to enjoy good possession through the forwards and had a couple of attacks from the three-quarters with Ian Shuttlewood and James Kurszewski trying to break the opposition defence, but ultimately did not have too many opportunities to threaten the opposition line in the second half.

A few players did pick up knocks during the second 40 meaning that we saw the introduction of Tom Williams at prop for Mitch Dorsett, the return of Steve Wootten for a bang on the head to Ian Shuttlewood and the replacement of Brendan Kelly, enjoying another great game for the Gannets, with Vid.

As the game entered it's final stages another Old Gravesendian attack was held up over the line by the Gravesend full back leading to a five metre scrum. At this point Matt Abbott had picked up a knock so Ian Shuttlewood returned to the field for the last few minutes and full back and team captain, Ben Baker, self-indulgently volunteered himself to step in to flanker. Three scrums followed, two of which were also held up attempts at a try, before Gravesend were able to clear their lines after winning the third against the head after good work by Martin Taylor and Jonathan Sargent.

The spirit shown by the whole team to avoid conceding another try at that late stage embodied the commitment shown by each and every player who pulled on the shirt yesterday and that spirit and commitment should serve the team well for the remainder of the season.

The Gannets have no fixture next week to allow those carrying knocks to have a brief rest, however rugby is likely to still be available to those that want it with the rest of the club having matches.