4th March 2007
Another fixture cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch (this time at Upminster) again led to the Medway under 10’s training at Mote Park with the Maidstone RFC under 10’s followed by 2 matches.
The first game was a normal 9 a side match using rolling substitutes and Medway made their intentions clear from the start. Daniel Kinrumni was Second receiver and threaded his way through the opposition to score with less than 20 seconds on the clock. The Maidstone defence stiffened up slightly but two tries from Charlie Medhurst and one from Archie Keep soon had the score at 4-0. For once Medway were not dominant in the scrum but their open play improved and the 5th try of the game was one of the most impressive. Some good passes from a ruck brought the ball to hooker Timothy Bourne who was running wide at an outside centre position. He drew the last 2 defenders in to tackle him and as soon as they did he off-loaded the ball cleanly to Tom Cowdrey on the left wing. Tom managed to 
keep clear ground behind him all the way to the try line to take Medway into the interval 5-0 up. Things slowed down slightly in the second half with better defending from Maidstone. The next try came when Charlie Medhurst took a penalty quickly and ran the ball ½ the length of the pitch to be stopped just short of the try line by 3 Maidstone players but he had Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel in support who received the short pass and touched down. Maidstone then put in a concerted period of pressure which gave them their only try of the game. They kept the pressure on and had regained possession when they were turned over in the ruck and Jack Cowdrey picked it up and ran it down the left wing to finish the second half in the same way his brother finished the first. Final score 7-1 to Medway.
The second game was 12 a side to give the teams a taster of the game they will be playing next season with a 5 man scrum. With an extra 3 players on each team it was harder for any player to find a gap in the oppositions defence. Daniel Kinrumni was again the first to open the scoring with some excellent weaving a dodging through the opposition. Prop Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel scored the second when he picked up a turn over ball on the half way line and charged in his usual style straight down the middle shrugging off any tacklers. In the second half Charlie Medhurst received the ball from the scrum half off the back of a good Medway scrum and managed to score making it 3-0. To round the game off Daniel Kinrumni caught the ball in a line out on Maidstone’s 7 metre line turned to charge through span off the first tackler and dived over the line to score his third of the day and making the final score 4-0 to Medway.
11th February 2007
The Medway mini rugby teams’ fixture at Tunbridge Wells was cancelled late on Friday due to a waterlogged pitch. With the majority of the pitches at Medway already in use for youth games this left the minis teams scrabbling around to find somewhere to play or train. The Under 10’s coach decided to train the team at Mote Park in Maidstone where there are some council owned football and rugby pitches which seem to be rarely used. On arrival it was discovered that Maidstone minis were using the rugby pitches for their joint training session with Bromley and New Ash Green because Maidstone’s own pitches were also waterlogged (the council pitches are at the top of the hill so were OK). Medway elected to train down the hill away from the others but were soon invited by the Maidstone Under 10 coach to come and join in for some matches at the end of the training session.
Medway played against both Bromley and New Ash Green who were both short of players and borrowed 2 Medway players to make up the numbers. The first game was against Bromley and Medway dominated the game throughout particularly in the scrums rucks and mauls with the most of their trouble being provided by David Howard and Augustine Carnell who they had loaned to Bromley. Medway were playing downhill in the first half but it was some minutes before they could make full use of the advantage. The break came when scrum half Archie Keep took the ball from the back of a maul and ran through the opposition to within a couple of metres of the try line where he was tackled, the ball was then picked up by Fly half Charlie Medhurst who dived over the line to score. Less than a minute later Matthew “Rocket” Gladwell charged ¾ of the length of the pitch dodging through the middle of the Bromley defence to increase the score. He then followed this with a run down the left wing just before half time to score his second try so that Medway went into the interval 3 tries to nil up. In the second half Medway found it harder to make progress going uphill but their defence held firm not letting the Bromley team through. Finally it looked like the Rocket was going to complete his hatrick with another superb run up the hill when he lost his footing evading the last defender, he managed to plant the ball cleanly on the ground as he tumbled head over heels and it was picked up cleanly by Euan Simpson who ran it the last 20 metres to bring the final score to Medway 4 Bromley nil.
In the game against New Ash Green Augustine Carnell again volunteered to play for the opposition and was this time joined by Medway’s hooker Timothy Bourne playing in the centre. Medway again started downhill but did not have quite such an easy time of it as against Bromley. NAG’s defence held firmer and they made a number of counter attacks but were unable to complete a try. NAG also had one of the biggest under 10 props around and dominated the scrum and mauls but Medway were better in the rucks. Once again it was Charlie Medhurst who opened the scoring making a run down the left wing with a turn over ball from a good Medway ruck. He then scored his 3rd try of the day when NAG won a line out but Medway prop Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel tackled the big NAG prop causing him to drop the ball and creating a gap for Charlie Medhurst to run through with the ball he had recovered. In the second half it was Scrum half Archie Keeps turn to dominate the scoring getting his first try of the day within a minute of the restart following some concerted Medway attacking pressure up the hill. And shortly after getting his second after stealing the ball straight from the hands of a NAG player. NAG however managed to respond straight from the restart almost catching Medway unawares as one of their players ran straight through the middle. NAG’s defence held firm from this point and in fact after taking the ball back off Medway Timothy Bourne made a couple of good charges through his usual team mates getting NAG well into Medway territory where they remained for the rest of the game but were unable to score any more tries. Final score Medway 4 New Ash Green 1.
Medway are training and playing at home for the next couple of weeks and would welcome any new players who wish to attend. Full details can be found on the club website at www.mrfc.net
28th January 2007
With a number of the squad playing rugby for their school later that day Medway under 10s took just 10 players with them to Sidcup on Sunday giving them enough for 1 team and 1 substitute. Sidcup fielded 2 teams and the other visitors, Thurrock, had 1.
Medway lost 3 tries to nil in what was a bit of a rough game against Sidcup A. Punches were swung from both sides at separate times in the second half but the referee quickly took control of the second incident. Medway substituted their scrum half at that point to protect him as he had appeared to be a victim. Despite the score Medway had put up a good game with a number of players having improved their tackling skills.
The second game was against Thurrock and was very similar to the first. Despite a good defence Medway again conceded 3 tries and were not passing the ball enough in open play to finish off any attacking moves.
Some consolation came in the third game against the second Sidcup team. The players had been swapped round to give them experience of the different positions and some seemed to do quite well in the changed team. Twice Medway scored to level the scores. Once from Jack Cowdrey peeling off the back of a maul to go over in the left corner; the second from Thomas Josling charging from the restart after Sidcup’s 2nd try all the way through the opposition. Unfortunately for them Sidcup scored again just before half time making it 3-2. Medway seemed to have the better of the 2nd half but their best scoring opportunity was foiled when Arjun Joshi received a heavy tackle just short of the line causing him to lose the ball forwards.
28th January 2007
With a number of the squad playing rugby for their school later that day Medway under 10s took just 10 players with them to Sidcup on Sunday giving them enough for 1 team and 1 substitute. Sidcup fielded 2 teams and the other visitors, Thurrock, had 1.
Medway lost 3 tries to nil in what was a bit of a rough game against Sidcup A. Punches were swung from both sides at separate times in the second half but the referee quickly took control of the second incident. Medway substituted their scrum half at that point to protect him as he had appeared to be a victim. Despite the score Medway had put up a good game with a number of players having improved their tackling skills.
The second game was against Thurrock and was very similar to the first. Despite a good defence Medway again conceded 3 tries and were not passing the ball enough in open play to finish off any attacking moves.
Some consolation came in the third game against the second Sidcup team. The players had been swapped round to give them experience of the different positions and some seemed to do quite well in the changed team. Twice Medway scored to level the scores. Once from Jack Cowdrey peeling off the back of a maul to go over in the left corner; the second from Thomas Josling charging from the restart after Sidcup’s 2nd try all the way through the opposition. Unfortunately for them Sidcup scored again just before half time making it 3-2. Medway seemed to have the better of the 2nd half but their best scoring opportunity was foiled when Arjun Joshi received a heavy tackle just short of the line causing him to lose the ball forwards.
21st January 2007
The Medway mini rugby teams played at home on Sunday with visitors from Ashford and Sittingbourne. Medway and Ashford Under 10’s each fielded two teams and Sittingbourne one.
Medway A played Sittingbourne first and things started out fairly even with Medway dominating the set pieces and Sittingbourne doing slightly better in open play. Neither team was able to make a breakthrough until a Medway player was penalised for coming into a ruck from the side. A free pass was awarded to Sittingbourne with Medway being moved back almost onto their Try line. Sittingbourne found the gap in the Medway defence and scored a good try. In the second half it did not take long before the ball was passed to Matthew Gladwell on the wing for Medway. The “Rocket” cut diagonally across the pitch building up speed and outpacing most of the opposition with a sudden side step at full speed round the last Sittingbourne player to level the scores. This seemed to galvanise the Medway team and the started to take control of the game keeping the ball for most of the time in the Sittingbourne half until one loose ball enabled Sittingbourne to almost level the score as one of their players ran most of the length of the pitch only to be stopped 5 metres short of the line. Medway regained possession and returned the ball to the other end to be stopped in a similar position but from the resulting ruck the ball went to fly-half Charlie Medhurst who dove over the line to take the lead. The Medway defence then held out for the last few minutes to keep the score at 2-1.
Meanwhile Medway B were playing Ashford A on the other pitch and despite a lot of hard work by half time they found themselves in the same position as last week being 2-0 down. In the second half they had the slight advantage of the slope and wind behind them and their defence improved with them conceding no more tries. Unfortunately while they came close they were unable to score as the Ashford defence was equally good. And a 2-0 victory for Ashford was a better score line for this Medway side than the 4-1 game of last week.
After both teams had a short rest Medway A then took on Ashford A while Sittingbourne played Ashford B. Medway were clearly dominating the game in terms of territory and in the scrums however the Ashford defence remained strong and Medway were not entering the rucks with enough conviction to keep or regain possession when the ball went to ground. This improved slightly in the second half after a word from the coach but despite a good game of rugby by both teams it ended with no score.
Medway B then took on Sittingbourne and there defence seemed to falter in the first half with it ending 4-0 to Sittingbourne. Medway rallied in the second half and started winning some of the scrums and managed to score 2 tries from Alex Davies and Alex Sokolow. However Sittingbourne also scored another 2 making the final score 6-2 to Sittingbourne.
Medway A were at the same time playing Ashford B and it took Scrum half Archie Keep 5 seconds to score the first try of the game running and dodging through the Ashford defence. The Medway boys were probably still congratulating themselves on how easy this game was going to be when Ashford woke them up by levelling the score in exactly the same manner and in about the same amount of time from the restart. Both teams then got down to the more serious side of playing rugby and the hard work started it was some time into the first half when Archie Keep again managed to put Medway back in front which is were they stayed for the rest of the game although it was no walkover. In the second half Medway again had the advantage of the slope and the wind but it was some minutes before winger Jack Cowdrey managed to capitalize on it and score Medway’s third try. He was then followed 15 seconds later by prop Tom Josling. There then followed a good attacking period of play from Ashford but with good defensive work from Medway with some fine tackles by centre Arjun Joshi and hooker Timothy Bourne. Ashford eventually got to within a couple of metres of scoring until they lost the ball to Medway prop Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel who ran the length of the pitch to score the final try of the game. Final score 5-1 to Medway.
14th January 2007
The Medway mini rugby teams travelled to Ashford on Sunday as did Tonbridge Juddians RFC. There was a joint training session to start followed by a few games of rugby. All three clubs fielded 2 teams each although medway were playing 8 a side instead of the usual 9.
Medway B’s first game was against Tonbridge B and it started slowly. Medway were using a more inexperienced pack of forwards in this team and it showed in the scrums in the first half while they were still getting used to working together. It was only a few minutes into the first half when Tonbridge managed to open the scoring with a very good try. However Augustine Carnell for Medway managed to weave and push through the entire Tonbridge defence straight from the re start to level the scores. Tonbridge though continued to dominate the first half winning all the scrums and keeping most of the possession but good defensive work by Medway restricted them to just one more try with the score 2-1 at half time. In the second half the Medway forwards had taken on board advice they were given in the interval and their technique improved and started to hold their own in the scrums winning a good proportion of them. Alex Sokolow soon levelled the scores for Medway with a long run to the right corner. Euan Simpson then nearly scored shortly after but was tackled round the neck as he crossed the line and dropped the ball. Medway were awarded a free pass from 7 metres and Dane Symonds pushed through to score. Medway continued to dominate and Dane made another fine run passing when tackled to Augustine Carnell who scored his second. Tonbridge then scored to close the gap but Euan Simpson ran in a quick try to put Medway 2 ahead again. There was then a very long period with no score until Tonbridge finally pulled one back to finish the game 5-4 to Medway.
Before that match finished Medway A started their match against Tonbridge A on the other pitch. Things were fairly even in the first half with Tonbridge dominating the scrum and Medway the line outs. In open play Medway seemed to have the edge which was finally rewarded when Thomas Josling managed to break away and open the scoring. In the second half a couple of the Medway players swapped places and Medway started to dominate the scrum as well. This gave them the majority of the possession which they used well. Matthew Gladwell made a fine run down the left wing only to be tackled short of the line but Daniel Kunrunmi was on hand to take the ball from the ruck and push over the line to take the score to 2-0. Medway’s defence was then a bit ragged on the restart and Tonbridge were able to take full advantage and score to reduce the lead however Medway got themselves back in order and Matthew Gladwell made another run passing the ball to Daniel Kunrunmi just as he was tackled and Kunrunmi went on to score his second. The game ended shortly after with the score 3-1 to Medway.
Medway B then took on Ashford A. The Medway boys and girl put up an excellent defence and their forwards were doing far better in the scrum than in the first game but Ashford still managed to go 2-0 up by half time. In the second half things looked like going the same way as the first with Ashford extending their lead to 3, but then a sustained period of attacking play by Medway culminated in Jordan Jennings pushing his way over the line and touching down to pull one back. Unfortunately, despite playing some of there best rugby of the day in this half of the game the final result was 4-1 to Ashford.
Meanwhile the Medway A players had been patiently waiting there chance to play one of the Ashford teams but were then told that as it was now 12.00 neither of the Ashford teams was willing to play another match. However they will get there chance this Sunday when Ashford and also Sittingbourne both visit Medway.
26th November 2006
The Medway mini rugby teams travelled to Canterbury on Sunday as did Bromley RFC. Canterbury fielded two teams and Medway and Bromley fielded one each although Medway were only one player short of having 2 full teams.
Medway’s first game was against Canterbury A and Medway used rolling substitutes to give everyone a go. The game started slowly on what can be described as a glutinous pitch and while the ball was being passed well but it was difficult for anyone to build up much speed. Both teams struggled at first to make any impression in attack but finally a Canterbury player broke through towards the end of the 1st half to score the opening try. In the 2nd half Canterbury’s confidence had improved and they were attacking more. This soon paid off with a second try. Medway then went on the attack and after a sustained period of pressure looked like they were going to pull one back when a brilliant interception by a Canterbury player made the score 3-0 which it stayed.
Bromley then played Canterbury B and won that game 3-0. Medway then faced Canterbury B themselves and this time used a first half team and a second half team with one player playing the whole match. In the first half of the game the teams seemed to be fairly evenly matched with both sides struggling to break through the others defence. Finally with the last play of the half there was a ruck on the left side of the pitch just in front of Medway’s try line. Medway turned the ball over and it was passed to Matthew Gladwell who set off on a diagonal run reaching the other side of the pitch just before the half way line. He could see a couple of Canterbury players coming to cut him off but he seemed to find a patch of firmer ground which he used to change gear and accelerate up to his normal “Rocket” speed. He was 10 metres clear when he scored. In the 2nd half the Medway forwards seemed to dominate the game more and rucks, mauls and scrums regularly gave the ball to Medway. It was not long before new player Daniel Kunrunmi had put Medway 2 up. Canterbury came back with a quick try in reply but then Medway went on the offensive again. Guillaume Dumont Vandewinkel and Timothy Bourne both made some fine charges pushing through the opposition defence Bourne getting to within 5 metres of the try line when he was forced into touch. The Medway forwards won the ensuing lineout and they was then a period of rucks right on the try line reminiscent of Scotland against Australia the day before until finally Kunrunmi was able to ground the ball just passed the line to make the final score 3-1 to Medway.
Medway had a break while Bromley played and beat Canterbury A 3-2 in a hard fought game, then Medway took on Bromley. The 1st half was this time dominated by Bromley who managed to score twice despite some determined defending. However once the 2nd half team was on for Medway things started to go the other way. Medway were once again dominating the rucks and mauls and keeping the pressure on Bromley and if they did ever lose possession leading to a scrum they seemed to dominate there as well until Daniel Kunrunmi finally got his 3rd try of the day charging into the Bromley defence from another ruck close to the line. On the restart Medway quickly regained possession and moved back into Bromley’s territory where they again kept up the pressure in a series of rucks and mauls with finally Guillaume Dumont Vandewinkel scoring to end the game 2-2
Next week the Medway teams are training and playing at home with visitors from Dover and Deal/Bettshanger. Any new players are welcome.
15th October 2006
The Medway mini rugby teams travelled to Dover on Sunday as did Sheppey RFC. Dover fielded two teams and Medway and Sheppey fielded one each.
Medway’s first game was against Dover B and Medway started well. They kept the ball moving and put pressure on the Dover defence. The Medway pack also dominated the scrums and the first try came following a Dover scrum 7 metres from their try line. Hooker Timothy Bourne won the ball for his team and it was passed to Charlie Medhurst at fly half and he charged over 2 defenders and the line to plant the ball cleanly. A short while later Dover gained a line out in almost exactly the same position and a Dover prop caught the ball. But Medway Prop Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel drove his opposite number backwards ripping the ball from his hands in the process. The other 2 Medway forwards joined the maul and helped push Guillaume over the line where he grounded the ball under the middle of the maul. Medway made a number of substitutions at half time to give everyone an opportunity to play and it took the new line up a few minutes to find their feet and get properly coordinated. In that time Dover took full advantage and scored two tries levelling the scores. Medway got themselves back together and started to apply pressure until eventually in a move almost identical to his first try although this time from a Medway scrum fly half Charlie Medhurst scored the final and winning try.
Medway were then straight back on against Sheppey in what was always going to be an even match, these teams having met a number of times before. Winger Matthew Gladwell opened the scoring early in the first half with a very fast charge to the right corner. There then followed a period where the both teams swapped possession a number of times and then eventually the Sheppey Winger copied Gladwell’s move but into the left corner just before half time. In the second half both teams had made substitutions. The Medway forwards now consisted of props Charlie Medhurst and Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel and hooker Timothy Bourne. The three of them all looked to be outweighed by the Sheerness forwards but they proved early on at the first scrum that they knew what they were doing driving Sheerness back and winning the ball for their team. This second half was characterised by a number of handling errors from both teams which led to a large number of scrums all of which were won by Medway. Unfortunately there were no further tries scored and the game ended 1-1.
Medway then had a break before facing Dover A in the last game of the day. Once again Medway dominated the scrum with Timothy Bourne hooking the ball back to his team virtually every time. However the Dover scrum half was extremely fast and regularly tackled the Medway scrum half before he could pass and on occasions got to the ball on the Medway side of the scrum first. The first score of the game was an excellent try for Medway following a long series of runs and passes, Arjun Joshi unloaded the ball when tackled to Alex Davies who was racing past and continued on to score. A minute or so later Dover equalised. Medway took the lead again after Guillaume Dumont-Vandewinkel charged through much of the Dover team and passed to Matthew Gladwell when they finally slowed him down. Gladwell then raced diagonally across the pitch easily outpacing the opposition to score in the right corner. Dover replied quickly before Medway had really got their defence organised and they went into the interval with the scores level. The second half consisted of a long period with no score but with possession regularly changing. This was when the majority of the scrums occurred most of them within 7-10 metres of the Medway try line. The Dover scrum half ensured that Medway could not make use of the ball but the Medway team put up a very strong defence and regularly kept Dover from scoring. Eventually though towards the end of the game the Dover pressure finally paid off and they scored the last try. Making the scores 3-2 a reverse of the first game of the day.
Next week the Medway teams are training at home and any new players are welcome.