Gravesend hold on at the end to secure hard won victory away to Tunbridge Wells

The latest league game of the season for the Gannets saw them needing to make the trip over to Tunbridge Wells with a bare 15 of fit and available players. Those players who had made the same trip in the middle of last season were grateful to see on arrival that the apocalyptic conditions of snow, sleet and mild flooding from last season had subsided to leave a decent looking afternoon for a game of rugby.
The 15 fit and present players proceed to throw a ball around and get set for action a good 20 minutes before the scheduled 2 o'clock kick off, meaning when the referee showed up ready to get things started it was with slight surprise that we noted that their were no post protectors and flags marked out on pitch. A quick change of location meant that things eventually got underway with Tunbridge Wells enjoying much of the early pressure and only strong defending from each of the Gravesend players meant that the score after the first 10 minutes remained 0-0.
With enough players absent from injury and other commitments to form another whole team the Gannets on the park demonstrated the best of Gravesend rugby in it's purest form. Textbook phases of forward play were strung together with incisive running from the backline, marshalled by the ever improving Dan Bromley at scrum half and the steady control of Ian Shuttlewood at 10. By building the pressure in this way Gravesend were able to create a 1 on 1 opportunity for Dan Grant close to line which he succeeded in making the most of to secure the first points of the afternoon. The conversion was missed to leave G's advantage at 5 points.
Gravesend were able to continue making ground in the first half with more strong forward carries from the usual suspects of Mike Percival, Martin Taylor and John Sargent. This lead to another opportunity close to Tunbridge Wells line where Dan Grant showed good timing in the pass to leave Oliver Karabardak a one on one chance which he exploited to finish a well worked team try close to the corner. The score at this point was 10-0.
Shortly afterwards a young Tunbridge Wells supporter summed up what we have all thought at some point with the comment "That Gravesend 13 is a right pain, isn't he mummy?". I can only assume that Dan Grant takes that as a compliment for an afternoon where he had a mostly positive effect on the match, albeit including an extravagant New Zealand-esque piece of skill when he managed to catch a low pass and immediately throw the ball between his legs to the winger.
Strong scrummaging from Mitchell Dorsett and Mick Woodbine, and the second rows Rich Mayhew and Martin Riley meant that Gravesend always looked relatively comfortable at the scrum and this led to Gravesend's third try of the first half from Mike Percival.
Strong carried from Stephen Wootton and Sean Dean, and threatening running from Connor Mould at full back threatened to present Gravesend with more chances to score, but as the half time whistle blew the score remained 15-0.
With no replacements available for the Gannets the message at half time was to keep doing what had been successful in the first half and to rely on the upperhand being enjoyed by the Gravesend forwards. This was effective for the first 20 minutes of the second half as the score stayed 15-0. Unfortunately an injury to Sean Dean while performing good defensive work in his own 22 meant that the Gannets were reduced to 14 men and Tunbridge Wells managed a converted try from the extra space taking the score to 15-7.
With 10 minutes to go, Connor Mould also had to leave the field due to injury meaning that the Gannets were down to 13 players for the final passage of the game with only an 8 point cushion and speedy Tunbridge Wells backs to contend with who should have enjoyed the extra space available on the field. This was demonstrated with a great try from the young Tunbridge Wells fullback who broke through to score under the posts to move the score to 15-14 with a few minutes to play.
Gravesend were fortunate to be awarded a couple of penalties which allowed them the chance to kick to touch and try to retain the ball. Good ball won in the lineout by Sam Holden saw another penalty awarded about 40 metres out. Dan Grant indicated that he thought be might be able to score the resultant kick, but unfortunately this went just wide to leave the gap at 1 point. A further penalty from distance followed when Dan Bromley tried the same with similar lack of success.
Into the final play of the game Tunbridge Wells were awarded a penalty and they opted for an ambitious 40 metre penalty attempt themselves, in a winner takes all conclusion to the game.
Gravesend escaped on this occasion with the kick going wide and with the ball dead they had held on for a win full of spirit, character and determination.
Hopefully the injury list and work rotas will allow a few more players to join in next Saturday when the team return to Gravesend for a match against Vigo, but for this week the 15 players involved in this match can ignore the disappointment of other rugby ganes this weekend and enjoy their hard won victory against a good Tunbridge Wells side. Praise must go to Tunbridge Wells for showing the potential of matches in this league to be hard fought, good spirited contests between equally matched teams, given the absence of a fixture for their second XV on Saturday, and I am sure both sides will look forward to the return fixture.