Gravesend v. Wanstead 12th October 2019

With Wanstead kicking off straight into the hands of Matt Hewitt, Gravesend could run the possession right back at their opposition. First blood came just three minutes into the match, with a Gravesend penalty at the boot of Rhys Betts sailing straight over the post.
Gravesend’s scrum was strong all afternoon, with a solid one on their own put in for the first of the match and the second being won by the boys in black and white, against the head. The lineouts were also an area of success for Gravesend, looking comfortable in winning their own or stealing Wanstead’s ball. A kick from Betts up field into touch and, subsequently winning the lineout to gain possession back, led to the first try of the match; Ben Kite running the try in and Betts converting to take the score to 10-0.

A yellow card for John Valetri after a high tackle saw Gravesend have to rethink their strategy a little for ten minutes, but still no harm was done and Gravesend took all the possession and attacked Wanstead’s defence despite being one man down. A second try, this time for Matt Brady, taking the ball into the corner, stretched Gravesend’s lead even further, with the score now 15-0.

Wanstead looked to intercept the ball as it came out of the back of a ruck, but knocked it on to hand their limited possession back. It wasn’t all straight forward for Gravesend: the slippery conditions meaning they had their fair share of knock ons too. However, more stolen lineouts and Wanstead penalties that they couldn’t make the most of meant the first half finished with the score still at 15-0.

Bad news for Gravesend at the restart as Valetri saw a red card for a no arms hit on his opponent, meaning they were back to being a man down, this time for the remainder of the match. Loose passes from both teams – probably due to the weather – were frustrating for a while and a missed penalty opportunity meant the score couldn’t be added to in the immediate future.

A strong run for Kite and a passage of excellent team work did lead to a third try, however, this time from Ashley Frampton, with Betts adding the extras and the score a rather healthy looking 22-0. The Wanstead winger looked quick enough to produce something for his side, but he was tackled into touch and the ball found its way at the opposite end of the pitch quite quickly, with Stan Dadson going over for a try on his first team debut. Betts again managed to hit the target and the score was suddenly 29-0.

Gravesend found some fire in their bellies on what was becoming a cold afternoon in the rain and a superb penalty kick into touch just inside the 22 made way for Charlie Cutting to cross the whitewash. Credit to Wanstead who, losing 34-0 with 15 minutes or so still to play, never gave up the fight and their winger, once again, went on the attack. The ball was turned over, although an eventual penalty to Wanstead for a high tackle, with the referee sending Gravesend back a further 10 metres for whatever was said to him in the process, saw the visiting team with a little more possession than they had enjoyed previously.

Even with high tackles and ill-discipline creeping in to the Gravesend side, Wanstead still couldn’t break through the attack and it was Gravesend who scored the final points of the match, with a try from Matt Bruce, and subsequent conversion from Betts to seal the final score at a rather compelling 41-0.

Debutant try scorer, Stan Dadson, was delighted to have got on the score sheet for the day. Having played at the club for 12 years he was happy to have been part of a team that seemed to dominate from the beginning. His parting comment was that he needs to work on his fitness for future matches!

Next week see's the return to league action away to Beccehamians RFC.

Match report written by Fran Holmes