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No step up for Gravesendians
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| Phil Timewell goes on a run against East Grinstead. JOHN OXTOBY. |
Old Gravesendians 8-14 East Grinstead
OLD Gravesendians miss out on promotion to the London area leagues after a disappointing defeat against Sussex One side East Grinstead.
This was certainly a game Old Gs should have won based on the huge territorial advantage they had throughout as well as controlling the majority of the possession. However, two long-distance tries, both against the run of play, proved their undoing.
East Grinstead won the toss and surprisingly chose first use of the slope and the wind.
These advantages were not used much in the opening minutes as the visitors were pressed back in their own 22 and had little use of the ball.
Gravesendians could not get the important first score.
They were close on a number of occasions, but the visitors just about clung on.
After 15 minutes of siege warfare, East Grinstead finally managed to escape.
From a scrum in their own 22, they ran blind and spun the ball quickly to their winger.
He was given far too much space to run and ran the length of the field, swerved past three attempted tackles and touched down under the posts.
The conversion was successful to give Grinstead an unlikely 7-0 advantage.
More disappointment was to follow.
Old Gs were running a backs' move when the ball was spilt near the East Grinstead line.
With Gravesendians' full back up in attack, the Sussex side took their chance and hoofed the ball down field into open space.
There were further kicks ahead and a desperate foot race to secure the ball.
An East Grinstead player won the race to pick up a friendly bounce and score.
The conversion left Old Gs and their large band of supporters stunned.
After 25 minutes, they were 14-0 down having had nearly all the play,and being camped in the East Grinstead half almost throughout.
Old Gs have been in this situation before and often prevailed when all seemed lost.
They returned to their opponent's half and finally put together a try-scoring move.
Richard Oxtoby fed Phil Timewell, who made the running before offloading, via Marcus D'Cunha, to Matt Holdstock.
The winger, proving strong under pressure, managed to touch down in the corner and the mome side's relief was audible.
However, the second half was an anti-climax.
Old Gs again spent most of their time in the visitor's half and never gave up in their efforts.
The pack, led by Matt Coomber and with the ever-willing workhorses Brett Buckingham and Iain Potter to the fore, drove hard at their opponents.
Now and again the driving of the pack made good yardage, but in the end not quite enough to break open their visitor's resistance
Gravesendians' backs were also heavily involved, although there was too much lateral running and too many unforced errors for them to achieve any real penetration. Michael Hodge, Marcus D'Cunha and Phil Timewell all threatened spasmodically but none of them could break through the visitor's well-organised defence.
Even the use of the chip ahead against a flat defence ultimately failed through Gravesendians players dropping the ball or failing to seize the opportunity.
There were also a few missed penalties at goal, although the swirling wind made these difficult to convert.
A penalty was finally converted by Richard Oxtoby, which gave his team some hope and an opportunity to win the game in the last 10 minutes.
A converted try would have done the trick but as always in these situations, it is difficult to keep calm when the clock is against you.
East Grinstead had the sense to use up many of these minutes in continual recycling of the ball in a small space.
The final whistle brought great relief to the Sussex side and their travelling support because they had been tested to the limit and had the good fortune to survive for most of the game.
Old Gs will now have two weeks to restore their battered morale before taking on Medway in the Kent Vase final at Canterbury Rugby Club's ground on May 11.
Kick off is at 2pm.
1:48pm Tuesday 29th April 2008
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