Kent Bowl Final: Medway 24 Dover 22
A spirited performance saw the Under-14's overcome a determined Dover side in a closely fought contest in the Kent Bowl final.
Dover began strongly, forcing Medway onto the backfoot from the outset. A penalty resulted in some strong offensive running and a Dover score under the posts. A successful conversion led to a seven point lead. However, Medway's defence improved and the game became evenly balanced, especially after a stunning individual piece of evasive running saw Euan Simpson score the first of a hat- trick of tries.
At seven a-piece Medway gifted a second score to Dover through misjudgement in defence. Even so, it was clear that they were becoming increasingly competitive at the breakdowns and were beginning to pass the ball with increasing confidence. Their efforts were rewarded when Euan was once more released for his second try. They finished the first half with a slender 2 point lead.
The second half continued as a close contest. However, it seemed that Medway had broken away from Dover as first Euan and then Joe Walsh ran in ties after some slick handling following hard graft by the forwards. However, having established a 24-12 lead, they found themselves under pressure from a determined Dover fightback. Astute kicking and direct running saw them claw back two tries before the game had to be halted due to a knee injury to Joe Walsh which saw him driven from the field of play for treatment.
The final minutes of the game proved tense as Dover pressed for the score that would give them victory over a tiring Medway side. Again the developing Medway side showed great spirit and defended resolutely to reach the final whistle as winners by 24 – 22.
Team: Scot Robinson, Guillaume Dumont- Vanderwinkle, Jay Kang, Augustine Carnell, Ajay Uthayashankar, Vasko Lozanov, Alexander Sokolow, Archie Keep, Charlie Medhurst, Euan Simpson, Joe Walsh, Lawrence Tungatt, Kieran Butler, AlexMitchell, Tiarnan O'Shea and Matt Stanley.