Tough afternoon in first preseason outing for the Gannets

18 players from Gravesend's 4th team made the short trip to Gillingham on Saturday hoping to get some rugby fitness back into their legs with a competitive friendly match against the Anchorians second team who we shared a win apiece with in two matches last season.
Unfortunately what we encountered was a squad of possibly 25 players who had already played a couple of friendlies and had plenty of preseason season training in the bank over the last few weeks.
In the end the result of this match will be of little relevance for either team going forward with their respective seasons.
Positive points for the visiting team will be that the forwards matched up to their opponents for most of the match and all players will benefit from the fitness that can only be gained by playing rugby.
The Gannets can also be pleased with two classicly forwards rugby tries: the first scored by Tom Williams on his return to the game after many forward phases within the opposition 22. The second scored by Gary 'Paddy' Curran at the back of a strong Gannets scrum that had driven over the line from 5 metres out.
Thanks also to the referee on the day who had a good game in what can't have been an easy mismatch to take charge of and for the mini army of Gravesend supporters watching from the touchline - your support is appreciated.
It may be interesting to see how many of the team we met this weekend show up for the league fixture in a couple of months time when Anchorians need to field two sides on the same day.
More immediately the Gannets now have a match under the Gravesend floodlights on Friday night to look forward to, when hopefully the tough 80 minutes from this Saturday will serve them well against the Cookham Wood Invitational XV...