Slow start saved by last minute penalty

The Gannets welcomed Dartfordians to Gravesend for a friendly match to set the day's double header of rugby under way. The occasion also marked the arrival of the teams new shirts, so a strong Gannets line up took to the field in their fresh and new kit emblazoned with their very own logo.
Unfortunately the frustratingly typical slow Gravesend start followed the optimism around before kick off and the Gannets found themselves 21-0 down after the first 20 minutes or so of the first half to three well worked tries from a more than capable opposition backline.
Following this, Gravesend woke up and begun to play to their strengths through the forwards. This lead to a try each for the forwards and the backs, through Mitchell Dorsett and Oliver Karabardak, to cut the deficit by 10 points. A further try before half time by Will Garland was converted by Dan Bromley to leave Gravesend trailing 21-17 down at half time.
The first half saw more good performances from Martin Riley, Will Garland, Dan Bromley and Dan Grant to build on the strong start they have each made to this season. Half time was meant to see the withdrawal of Mitchell Dorsett to an inconveniently arranged appointment but he convinced himself that he could stay around for a further 10 minutes given the unusual sight of John Sargent leaving the field with an injury, following another of his typical surging runs. When Mitchell eventually left Gary Curran was coerced into switching to the front row to allow Gravesend to continue enjoying the upper hand in the scrums, thanks to the scrummaging work of Brian Williams and Ralph Walpole, aided no doubt by the second rows and rest of the pack whose work throughout the second half ensured that Gravesend enjoyed the lions share of territory, when not conceding numerous penalties to allow Darts to relieve the pressure.
Gravesend scored a penalty through the boot of Aaron Rayner early in the second half to reduce the Dartfordians lead to a single point and appeared to be in a position at that time to push on and secure a decent win.
Credit must go to the opposition defence and lessons should be learnt in relation to decision making, given that the final few minutes of the game saw Gravesend still one point down, following a missed penalty kick with around 10 minutes to go.
Fortunately, the spirit and determination to win that has seen the Gannets win a number of close matches in the last few weeks was prevalent once again and saw the team awarded a penalty from the last play of the game. Aaron Rayner made no mistake with his second chance to push Gravesend into the lead and the final whistle was blown.
The side can be pleased with the win against a good Dartfordians team and will be looking forward to the return of the league matches against Lordswood at Gravesend next week. There should also be a return fixture against Darts for both teams to enjoy later on in the season.