The first Saturday match of the season drew another great crowd to Rectory Field.

A match of three ‘thirds’ rather than halves made sure that all players got some game time with
the start of the league season looming.
With Old Emanuel kicking off straight into touch, it was immediately clear that Gravesend’s
scrum was going to cause them some problems. Kicking up field from the scrum gave Old
Emanuel the possession back in the lineout, but it didn’t matter as Gravesend won the ball
from it. Although the first penalty went to Old Emanuel, the resulting lineout was another one
spoiled by the Gravesend forwards. Some lovely field work saw Aaron Rayner collect his
own kick to score the first try, which he then duly converted to open the scoring: 7-0.
Shortly afterwards, Gravesend stole another lineout and a passage of good supporting play
looked to be working in their favour. However, a knock on gave Old Emanuel possession
again, but Gravesend were quick to take it back. This led to Junior Rocket scoring a second
try for the home side, with Rayner converting again to double the lead: 14-0.
Gravesend’s penalty count left much to be desired, with a deliberate knock on sparking a run
of opportunities for Old Emanuel. Luckily, their lineout was a little sloppy which meant there
was a period of mid-field play that didn’t particularly go anywhere for 10 minutes. Old
Emanuel did manage a try and conversion that went in off the post, taking the deficit back to
seven with a 14-7 scoreline. Three penalties for deliberate knock ons will not have pleased
the home side and they had to work hard to gain possession back each time.
Old Emanuel took the restart with a knock on and then gave away a penalty for offside,
which seemed to cause them problems within their squad for a while. Rayner took the three
points on offer from the penalty to take the score to 17-7 at the end of the first third.
The second period started with Old Emanuel’s fly half scoring a try, but the extra points
couldn’t be added. However, a five point gap with scores at 17-12 was beginning to look a
little worrying for Gravesend and their supporters. Particularly as, shortly after, Old Emanuel
took the lead with a seven-pointer: 17-19.
Gravesend kept their sights on the prize though and, after a penalty for a high tackle, looked
to be strong when passing the ball through the backs. Frustratingly, just as things started to
look promising for a try, small errors crept in giving possession over to Old Emanuel. All was
not lost, though, and a well-worked drive from the scrum saw another try scored and, despite
not being able to add the conversion, Gravesend’s lead was restored: 22-19.
Another passage of play being kept in the middle of the field saw Old Emanuel getting
frustrated and giving away a penalty for holding on to the ball in the tackle. Jon Luck looked
to have created a chance for another score but the tackle came in and cut it short: a few
phases later it was Marc Klus who reached over the line for the try. The conversion was
short but the lead was stretching for Gravesend at 27-19 at the end of the second third.

The final third saw both teams tiring but determined to get the win. A quick try from Matt
Bruce extended the lead further, with the conversion taking it to 34-19 within two minutes of
the restart. A dominant Gravesend scrum at the five metre line saw Ziggy Stevens go over to
score the final try of the match and, although the conversion was not to be, with the score
39-19 at the final whistle this looked to be another comprehensive win for Gravesend.
Aaron Rayner, the highest points scorer of the match felt that he had a good performance
personally and that the team put on a good show all round. Communication was outstanding
and, he said, the backs particularly put their training into practice for the win. With regards to
the high penalty count, he told me that was down to complacency over scoring, which
allowed Old Emanuel to get back into the match. Discipline might need to be worked on over
the next few weeks in order to keep the opposition out but he is looking forward to great
contests in the future.

Next week sees the visit of Eastleigh RFC, at home, which promises to be a
fun day out for anyone that can get down to show their support.

Match report written Fran Holmes