Old Gravesendians 0-83 Brighton (From News Shopper)

Old Gravesendians 0-83 Brighton

12:31pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

OLD Gravesendians suffered their heaviest defeat of the season in a total mis-match against Brighton, reflecting perfectly the difference between a team on top of their game and pushing for promotion and one struggling to survive at this level.

There were periods when Old Gs asked a few questions of their opponents, especially in the early stages and at the end, but in the main it was one-way traffic, with the Sussex side running in 13 tries, nine of which were converted.

There were eight first half tries coming at regular intervals and usually requiring plenty of effort to break down the home defence, which at times looked combative and effective.

It was just the power of the Brighton forwards at the breakdown and on the burst with ball in hand which was difficult for Gravesendians to handle.

The visitors also supported each other in numbers, passed out of the tackle well and recycled the ball quickly when going to ground. This was all very difficult to defend.

Brighton did not seem to have any weaknesses for Old Gs to exploit.

Their backs were fluent and quick and their right wing was of second row proportions and powerful and fleet of foot with it.

At one point, he left four tacklers trailing on his way to score by running straight through them rather than bothering with anything more subtle.

This is not to say that Old Gs laid off their tackles.

They did not flinch from the big hits, with one head on tackle from Adam Keenhan being particularly effective, even causing a ripple of appreciation from the touchline on a day when there was little to cheer about.

Brighton’s defence was solid throughout and Old Gs could not threaten to score at any point, except for one kickable penalty which was missed.

Old Gs were also off song with their kicking out of hand, which did not help them to take advantage when the few opportunities arose.

The half-time score was 54-0 and a century of points looked in the offing, prompting a discussion on the touchline about the size of previous hundred plus hammerings.

It would have been easy for Old Gs to collapse, but to their credit they did not and even managed to dominant the last five minutes of the match, although a consolation score proved elusive. Five tries were conceded but mostly Brighton had to work hard to score them against a spirited defence.

Matt Coomber was his usual hive of activity in defence, ably supported by Ben Brown and others, although it would be unfair to single out too many as no one was less than fully committed.