Medway 32 Sittingbourne 5
Following a below par performance against Gravesend in mid week, Medway Colts bounced back with an impressive performance in the return match against Sittingbourne.
Medway started strongly and immediately put Sittingbourne under pressure. From a 5metre scrum, Simon de Lange picked up from No. 8 and drove over for the first score. Medway again attacked from the kick off and moved the ball well; however were prevented from scoring again quickly by a series of handling errors. Medway kept up the pressure, putting together a good passage on interplay and support between forwards and backs, with Michael Davies taking a pass to make the score. Medway’s last score of the 
half resulted from a line out on the 5 metre line. A clean catch and a strong drive set up an ideal position for Simon de Lange to break off and force his way over again. Sittingbourne rallied during the last five minutes and put previously unseen pressure on Medway, but their defence held up. Half time saw Medway 15-0 up.
Medway started the second half as they did the first and immediately attacked Sittingbourne’s line. Their back line began to dominate more of the game with first Jack Townsend and then Sam Kille both scoring in the corner. Simon de Lange secured his hat trick of tries with a strong solo drive for the line despite having three defenders attempting to take him down. Jon Rumsey converted. During the last fifteen minutes Medway eased off and 
allowed Sittingbourne to attack their line for the first time during the half. Medway’s defence was breached and Sittingbourne got a deserved try. Despite further Sittingbourne pressure, Medway’s defence held out and there was no further score.
Medway scorers:
Tries: Simon de Lange (3), Michael Davies, Jack Townsend, Sam Kille
Conversion: Jon Rumsey (1)
Medway 12 Gravesend 29
Match abandoned.
Tries: Matt Wadhams, Simon de Lange
Conversion: Jon Rumsey
Despite dominating much of this game, Medway lost out due to their own mistakes. They started strongly but failed to score and allowed Maidstone to get into the match. However, after 30 minutes, Medway’s Jon Rumsey chipped the ball over Maidstone’s backline and their full back failed to secure the ball. Tom Willoughby was able to kick through and controlled the ball, scoring under the posts. Jon Rumsey converted. Maidstone responded by taking the game back to Medway, who defended strongly to retain the lead at half time.
Medway failed to secure the kick off at the start of the second half, immediately giving Maidstone the advantage. They used a strong pack to challenge the Medway line, eventually forcing their way over; the try was converted to level the game. Medway tried to raise their game again, but further errors allowed Maidstone to remain on top. They took advantage of the possession and scored again through a strong piece of backs play.
Medway’s forwards continued to battle for possession and began to get the upper hand. Handling had become very difficult in the wet, muddy conditions, so Jon Rumsey began to test the Maidstone full back and wing with searching kicks into space, which Luke Burns followed up at pace. The tactic eventually paid off when the ball was spilled and kicked through by Burns, with Willoughby picking up the loose ball to score his second. The conversion was missed, leaving Maidstone ahead 14-12. Medway continued to press, but Maidstobe’s defence held firm denying Medway the win.
Scorers:
Tries: Tom Willoughby – 2
Conversion: Jon Rumsey - 1
Sittingbourne 5 Medway 32
The game kicked off in heavy snow. Both the conditions and the size of the Sittingbourne pack suggested this was going to be a forwards game. Medway got the better of the early exchanges with Michael Smith breaking free from a maul and giving a well timed pass to Matt Robson whose speed was too good for the defence to give Medway the opening score. This rallied Sittingbourne who came back strongly to pressure the Medway 22. A blind side break saw Sittingbourne go over in the corner to level the score.
Despite the conditions, Medway were confident to move the ball along the line and challenge the Sittingbourne defence. One of the attacks gave Luke Burns enough of a gap to use his speed to break the defence and score.
The second half continued with strong forward play from both sides, but Medway started to dominate, winning more ball giving the back line opportunities to run, but the Sittingbourne defence held up. The next score went to Medway, Simon de Lange picked up from a ruck to drive over. Medway then started to dominate the play. Dan Smart drove over following a line out and strong Medway drive; then Luke Burns got his second under the posts from a well worked overlap. Dan Smart converted. Medway’s final try came from another Simon de Lange break, a cheeky chip over the defence and a friendly bounce put him clear to the line.
Scorers:
Tries: Matt Robson, Luke Burns (2), Simon de Lange (2), Dan Smart.
Cons: Dan Smart (1)
Upminster 5 Medway 10
Medway Colts travelled to Essex again this weekend to play Upminster under testing wet and very windy conditions, in what turned out to be a bad tempered game.
The muddy field made this essentially a forwards match. Medway were unable to benefit from having both the wind and the slope in the first half which ended without score. The second half continued in the same vain until Medway were able to move the ball quickly along the back line and only a strong, slightly high, tackle stopped the try. A minor disagreement between two players ensued, but escalated when one of the Upminster forwards decided to intervene by flooring one of Medway’s backs with a punch. He was immediately dismissed by the referee.
Medway were able to attack having the one man advantage, but a dropped ball resulted in Upminster kicking ahead and winning the chase for the line to open the scoring. Medway came back immediately from the kick off working their way into the opposition 22, creating an overlap which gave Luke Burns a clear run into the corner.
Upminster’s forwards continued to work hard and limited Medway’s opportunities. However, the pressure of the extra man eventually told, with Medway again creating a clear overlap and Luke Burns took advantage for his second try and the winning score.
Rochford 13 Medway 12
Following the U17’s success winning the Kent U17 Plate, they have now formally amalgamated with the U18s and U19s to form a Medway Colts side.
This was the first formal Colts game away to a strong Rochford side which included an England U18 prop. Medway were unlucky to lose this game on the last kick of the game.
This was a well contested game which saw excellent play and basic errors from both sides. It was a pleasure to watch.
Rochford made the initial breakthrough in the first half scoring as a result of missed tackles. Medway came back strongly and won good ball which they used sensibly, attacking down the back line and through some deft kicking from Jon Rumsey. The Rochford defence was good, but eventually broken by a long pass from Dan Smart out to Alex Thompson who outpaced the defence to score in the corner.
Medway continued to be the stronger team and their pressure paid off when Tom Willoughby broke the defensive line to score under the posts. Jon Rumsey converted to make the score 5-12 at half time.
Rochford came out stronger in the second half and made a number of scoring chances only to be thwarted by Medway’s strong defence or their own poor handling. Medway also managed to break the Rochford line on two or three occasions but also failed to score through poor handling. Eventually the stalemate was broken by Rochford from a good break. The conversion was missed leaving the score 10-12 in Medway’s favour. Rochford continued to pressure Medway during the last ten minutes, but Medway’s defence was strong. The very last play of the game resulted in a ruck just short of Medway’s line at which the referee penalised Medway for handling on the ground. The Rochford kicker was successful to snatch the win.
Medway were disappointed but not disheartened as this was a strong performance and provides a good base from which to build for future games.
Medway 19 Alton 21
Short on numbers the Colts were very thankful to the eight U17 players that turned out for them, Hindsight is 20 -20 and with this in mind perhaps the way the replacements were used by Medway could have been better. There will always be an argument as to whether you use your replacements to keep everyone happy or whether you let a lad stand on the side line for an hour or more and say "thanks for coming!" Not to say that the U17 lads diminished the team in any way, far from it in fact , Alex Thompson (U17) playing at full back had a great game and was voted man of the match , it's just a case of do you change a winning team, half way through a game? The game was played in blustery but thankfully dry conditions and Medway opted to play with the wind at their backs for the first half. That said, Alton for the first 15 mins of the game seemed well on top with their forwards and backs combining nicely to keep the Medway defence busy. Completely against the run of play Shaun Woolacott found himself with the ball in hand and went off on a characteristic strong run up the centre of the pitch committing many of the Alton defenders, a couple of nice passes later saw Francis Gutierrez slide over the line for Medway's first try, Woolacott converted and Medway led 7-0, the game evened out with both sides attacking and defending in equal proportions. Medway's second try came, half way through the first half, when following an unfortunate mistake by one on the Alton centres, Jamie Palmer intercepted a loose ball to run almost unopposed to the try line, and Medway seemed to be cruising, although the conversion was missed; 12 -0 at this point was looking good for the home side. A further try scored by Ryhs Brooks, after some hard work to turn over the ball, and the successful conversion by Woolacott saw the home team leading 19 - 0 shortly before the break. Alton hadn't travelled all this way to sit back and accept defeat and fought hard before one of their number crashed over to score their first 5 points, the succesful conversion at least gave the half time score of 19 -5 some resemblance of what had actually happened in the game so far.
With the wind at their backs Alton came out fighting and quite deservidly scored another try and successful conversion to peg the score back to 19 - 12. Following changes Alton were now more dominant in the pack and they had the advantage, but Medway continued to press and Tim Abbott was unlucky to see his try disallowed for an earlier knock on. Changing both scrum half and fly half at this point wasn't possibly the best tactical decision ever made, Alton continued to press and were rewarded with a fine try just 10 mins from the end which they converted to make the score 19 - 21, Try as they might Medway could not cross the whitewash for the all important winning points. When you look back, perhaps the decision making on the pitch, where kicking for points rather than tapping the quick penalty, might have been the better option, and perhaps if the Medway coaches hadn't made so many changes to a winning team, the final result might have looked a bit different for the home side, but hey thats hindsight for you!
This was only the third game the Colts have played this season, and was a great improvement on their last two performances, If only we could get decent numbers turning up for training I'm sure that the results would take an up turn, there is so much potential in this Colts side but its up to them what happens next, with the right attitude and aptitude they could very well be a good team.
Medway 5 Basingstoke 55
21 October 2007
Having been beaten heavily in their last game by Shelford, this was far from the result that we were hoping for. It is now obvious that the Colts are reaping what they have sown. With only 6 or 7 turning up for training each week they cannot expect to compete against teams who obviously train together week in, week out.
Basingstoke played as a team, they had no super stars they just worked hard for each other and their support play was a joy to watch, and this only comes from practicing together - a lesson that Medway Colts would be wise to heed.
Medway on numerous occasions spurned the opportunity to turn good field position into points by getting turned over constantly at the rucks or needlesly getting off side. The one time in the whole game that they kept it together and the forwards were able to give a solid platform for the backs they scored, point proven!
Basingstoke on the other hand worked hard and built steadily on their lead. They were more aggressive and fitter in all areas. This was obvious with Medway losing three players in the first half with shoulder injuries. The game was held up for quite some time before being moved to another pitch so that Martin "Meatball" Drobka could be treated for a suspected neck injury following a collapsed scrum. He was taken off to hospital in an ambulance and thankfully discharged later suffering from bruised ribs and sternum.
Medway now move into the Plate of the National Colts competition,
and if more lads don't turn up for training I fear that the next report
may well echo this one!