Bexley Vets 20 Moles 14

On another glorious day for rugby, the Moles made the short journey down the A2 to Bexley. A weekend free of league fixtures (aside from the Gannets’ rearranged fixture at TJs) saw the Moles ranks boosted by the likes of Stuart ‘Cabin Boy’ Harrington, Gary Gray, Ginger George and Wilko.

A wily Bexley pack made themselves known from the off by bossing the rucks and using the Moles’ pack’s studs to plough up the pitch. Over time though the Moles began to settle with Wilko punching holes through the Bexley gain line and Cabin Boy having a great first half at 10 clearing lines and directing plays.

However, it was Bexley who drew first blood as the Moles did a great a job of helping them to do so by racking up the penalty count in as many different ways as possible. A lineout 10 metres out was successfully won trundled up the remainder of the field for Bexley to score wide on the right as confused Moles’ forwards who thought they were pushing the maul into touch pondered how they’d really helped push the opposition over the line! A delightful kick from the Bexley fly half into the wind almost secured the extra two points but fell just below the posts.

But as ever, heads didn’t go down and soon after the Moles were in a threatening position themselves. Hard battling to contain the power of the larger Bexley pack, the Moles locked out on their put in to deliver clean ball to number 8 Wilko who drove through the bodies to touch down just to the right of the posts to equal the scores. An straightforward conversion from Cabin Boy with the wind behind him saw the Moles move into a two point lead.

And that wasn’t where it ended. The spurred on Moleys continued to apply pressure and more opportunities came their way. A stronger Moles scrum saw Wilko peel of the back of one 10 metres out to charge over the line. Shortly afterwards, GRFC's very own Geoff Capes: Martin Povey, drove through the Bexley rearguard to touch down between the posts. With Ginger George converting both tries, at 14-5 the Moles had put a completely different complexion on this game.

Indeed it looked as if Adam ‘Tucker’ Jenken was going to extend the lead further but a moment of hesitation saw the gap in front of him closed down by an oncoming Bexley defender.

But Moles being Moles don't know how to make life easier for themselves and at a line out, the final play of the half, they were caught day-dreaming and waiting for Shotgun’s half-time orange segment surprise as the Bexley 9 took the ball off the top and proceeded to run through the static Moley back line to score.

Half-time 10-14

The usual plethora of changes at half-term saw the Moles needing time to settle down again; much as they had needed to in the first half. Notable introductions into the fray included former American footballer Russ Turley, Gary Gray as usual unselfishly using his superior rugby ability to bring on his less able teammates around him and the legendary Velcro who whilst as fighty as usual (he's arguably the biggest football supporter in the Moles) was proving himself a defensive nuisance in the loose.

However the stand out performance of the day came from Neil Miller, who coaches the GRFC under 13s with Shotgun, at full back. Tidy handling and tackling at the back and some penetrating runs from deep to give the Moleys some air to breath, were richly applauded on the sidelines. A worthy Mole-of-the-Match performance !

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more cohesive Bexley unit enjoyed greater share of the second half spoils scoring two tries to finish the 80 minutes as 20-12 winners.

As ever, sausage and chips from BRFC's local chippy were enjoyed and washed down with a few pints before a return to the Gravesend clubhouse to see Mark(et) Day receive his Moles tie.

Line up: Elvis, El Tel, Market, Big Bob, Big Bri, Ork, Posty, Andy Dadson, Mick Terry, Brian Rayner, Cabin Boy, Neil Martin, Velcro, Oily, Lloydy, Shotgun, Gerry Keenan, Adam Jenken, Wilko, Ginger George Corrigan, Smudge, Sam Holden, Neil Miller, Nod, Si Marks, Garry Hodges, Poves, Gary Gray, Russ Turley