Will power sees Gannets home

It was 1st vs 2nd as the defensively solid Gees hosted high scoring Lordswood and what transpired was a dour,attritional tetchy game where it could be argued that the home side should have taken more,such was their superiority in both set pieces and territory.

A strong southerly wind was going to make the Gees accurate long passing game difficult but as luck would have it,they don't have one so smashing it up the pitch it was.Early inroads were made inside the Lords 5 metre line where they were met with fierce resistance,thus setting the tone for the game.A neat chip through from Dan 'dantackle' Grant was cannoned back towards the Lords line where Dan Bromley was inches short of touching down.Following that,two attempts from Perce were repelled before James Kurszewski was bundled into touch just shy of the line.

After a promising start,a hamstring injury to Steve Wootton brought his game to a premature end but with the visitors offering little in the way of an offensive threat,the Gannets stuck to their 'bosh it up the middle' game plan.

A penalty for holding on gave Lordswood a shot at goal in front of the posts just outside the 22 and this was expertly despatched despite the swirling wind for a 0-3 halftime score.

Having come back from a 3 try deficit last week,the Gannets certainly weren't panicking and a slight tweak to the game plan soon gave its reward.

With the Lords defence holding firm the home side elected to spread the ball wide and it was Jetski that slashed his way inside the 22 where the Lordwood tackler elected to go for the big hit rather than the safe tackle.A pinball move later,Jets found Dan Grant who in turn spotted the overlap for Will Garland to go over in corner.

The Gees continued to camp out inside the Lords 22 until the game eventually descended into the all too inevitable handbags,resulting in the visiting 8 receiving a yellow but to their credit ,this seemed to galvanise Lordswood and they threw everything they had at the Gees for the final 15 but it wasn't until the final play of the game that they finally made it to the 5 metre line with a kick to touch.

Granted,the wet and windy conditions didn't make handling easy today but with calmer heads and better decision making,the score could have reflected the home sides superiority,especially in the scrums and line outs.

Next week it's the long slog through the fence to visit our good buddies at Old Gees and a chance to consolidate first place.But anything can happen in this league (Medway) so rest assured,your favourite social rugby team are taking nothing for dangranted

Until next time...