Gillingham Anchorians 29 v 13 Old Gravesendians

Rugby Union Kent League One

Report by Les Beven

HOW many referees does it take to organise the Kent League One match between Gillingham Anchorians and Old Gravesendians?

Three, apparently.

This fixture was due to be played in December but with the teams waiting to start the match it had to be cancelled as the appointed referee could not attend.

The revised January fixture had to be called off at half time with the Old Gs leading 5-3 as the next referee had to retire due to a calf muscle strain.

So thanks to referee Matthew Sennett for getting the show on the road this time.

With this uncertain lead-in, as well as a larger than usual number of personnel changes for both teams and the start of the Six Nations as distractions, there would have been no surprise if the match struggled to interest the two sets of partisan supporters.

The game ebbed and flowed with both teams swapping possession and territory on a regular basis.

Old Gs' pack featured the welcome return of Nick Troon to the second row, the debut of Steve Jarrett at wing forward and Matt Coomber ably standing in as captain.

The back line was also much changed including Michael Hodge moving to fly half and Matt Oakley starting at centre.

Old Gs' scrum was solid and there were passages of good driving play and recycling from loose play.

However, quality possession could not be guaranteed from line-outs and there were a number of handling errors.

Planned moves often resulted in mistakes and were often executed poorly.

Of greatest concern for the Old Gs was the defensive tackling.

Until this match the Old Gs have made a virtue of good coverage should the first tackle be missed.

But the Old Gs struggled with the strong running and offloading of the Anchorians' fly half and inside centre in particular.

The Old Gs conceded tries via Anchorians back play after five and 10 minutes (neither were converted).

Old Gs replied with a try from winger Luke Comer in the right hand corner after 20 minutes.

Unfortunately Luke had to leave the field shortly after with an injury to his midriff.

He was replaced by young debutant Matthew Johnson who acquitted himself reasonably well for the rest of the match.

Anchorians counter attacked on 25 minutes and scored a converted try after an Old Gs backs move broke down near halfway.

After a period of forward dominance and a drive from a scrum near the Anchorians' try line Old Gs flanker Matt Coomber scored an unconverted try on 35 minutes.

The Anchorians no. 8 was sin-binned shortly after following a series of infringements by their forwards near their line.

Michael Hodge kicked a penalty for the final play of the first half to make the score 17 to 13 in favour of Anchorians.

In the second half Anchorians added a converted try after 55 minutes and an unconverted try after 65 minutes after Old Gs failed to deal with pressure in their 22 metre area.

The Old Gs pack gradually ran out of steam and so did the match.

A few players needed increasing amounts of medical attention - Nick Troon was replaced in the second row on 70 minutes by Malcolm Oates and Stuart Coleman replaced Phil Boyer in the front row with five minutes to go.

This late reshuffle changed very little in terms of the fortunes of the match and Anchorians were worthy winners at the full time whistle.

The match left Old Gs coach Colin Crowe frustrated and stressing the importance of attendance at training to improve performance.

Old Gs will need mental as well as physical strength to return to winning ways in the remaining fixtures of what is proving to be a very competitive Kent League Division One this season.