Gravesend under 16s good run of form continued on Sunday with a fine win over Maidstone in the league. G's got off to the perfect start after 2 minutes with Ethan Ramsay providing a trademark finish down the left wing to set the tone of the match. The dewy conditions and wet ball meant plenty of handling errors early on from both sides and a few opportunities missed, but G's made the most of an excellent break from Connor Chambers and man of the match Finlay Luscombe to put Matthew Bailey in for try number two half way through the first half. Minutes later, fly half Ben Fenton-Smith showed great footwork to scythe through Maidstone's defence and before half time George Dyett nipped down the blindside to make it 26-0 at the break.
The second half started the way of the first when Dyett got over for his second try after Jack Stunt had come up agonisingly short following a fine break. Chambers stormed through to make it 36-0 shortly after and Stunt wasn't to be denied again to score Gravesend's 7th try on 52 minutes. The game began to get scrappy and Maidstone had some opportunities in and around the Gravesend 5m line, but some resolute defending kept the clean sheet intact although tempers flared as the hosts continued to be frustrated. G's weren't finished yet and a fine dummy from Dyett created a huge hole in Maidstone's line to cap off a fine hat-trick with an Alan Shearer arm raise as he went under the posts. Fenton-Smith kicked a simple conversion, his 5th, to bring up the half century and the match ended.
It was a fine effort from the lads as we have had many close run encounters with Maidstone with honours shared in previous meetings; so to win in this fashion in the league was a great achievement and sends G's top of the Kent League group 3 after two rounds.
Teamsheet:
1. Steel
2. Reece
3. Singh
4. Clack
5. Chambers
6. Luscombe
7. Stearns
8. Friend (C)
9. Dyett
10. Fenton-Smith
11. Ramsay
12. Bailey
13. King
14. Humphrey
15. Walton
Replacements: 16. Stonehouse, 17. Bennett, 18. Morrison, 19. Stunt
Scorers - Trys: Dyett (3), Ramsay, Bailey, Fenton-Smith, Chambers, Stunt. Conversions: Fenton-Smith (5)