The development squad travelled to rural Cranbrook at the weekend on the back of a stern lesson from Sevenoaks the week before. Last week the team were drawn into Sevenoaks style of play, this week however was a totally different story. Medway tackled aggressively around the fringes of the break down, line speed forced errors from the Cranbrook backs and when we had the ball the speed of the rucks aligned to the excellent depth in the backs created space on the outside with ease. We didn't have it all our own way though as from the start the Cranbrook lads started strongly, they clearly had a game plan which involved picking and going, then attacking the fringes of the breakdowns with the next phase. Medway withstood the challenge though for phase after phase in the opening 10 minutes. Eventually turning the ball over and getting it out wide to Matt Davolls who made serious ground on the right hand side. The speed from the resulting break down and the support inside meant that Tom Holland was able to break a couple of tackles in mid field and score to the left of the posts. Converted by Arron. 0-7. Then followed a similar pattern for the next ten minutes, strong forward work by Cranbrook, valiant tackling my Medway. Eventually an infringement on the floor by Cranbrook led to Medway penalty. Kick to touch, a well organised line out and Medway were back in Cranbrook's half on the attack, eventually leading to a darting run by Aaron and a try under the posts converted by Aaron. 0-14. The remainder of the first half followed a very similar pattern, great tackling by the Medway lads in the forwards backed up by excellent line speed in the backs. Cranbrook struggled to get close. Half time 0-14 Medway.
The second half saw a slight change in tactics by the Cranbrook lads. Kicking for position rather than forcing through what was a Medway brick wall. In some ways this was part of their downfall for the next score. They kicked through high into the 22. It was caught by Matt Davolls who immediately passed the ball inside to Rich Coney, and injection of pace and spread wide to Billy Gallagher ( who had an excellent game at 13). Picking the exact moment to release the ball before contact Leo took the ball at pace and sprinted to the line. Attack from defence in one play. Worth the admission in one play. Conversion missed 0-19. Cranbrook to their credit didn't stop, they combined a kicking for position game with power through their forwards and for a period in the second half won a series of penalties for infringements by Medway players (or Cole). It was from one of the penalties that Cole was yellowed, they kicked for the corner, took the lineout and drove inside and over the line from the 5m. Converted. 7-19. Medway could have folded at this point but instead they rallied together and it was not long before Paul Redgrave, the player of the match for Medway, picked from the base of the scrum on the half way line and started what would be a decisive run. Bouncing players and avoiding tackles they could not stop him. Try to the right of the posts converted by Noah. 7-26. final core.

On a day when four players had to be introduced to the rest of the team and the coaches, the team played some of its best rugby of the season. Aggressive defence, quick line speed in defence aligned with fast rucks and great handling and pace out wide. The way we have strived to play all season. Well done to the whole team on the day. Special thanks to crusaders Rich Coney, Paul Redgrave, Tom Holland and Rob Still. Also thanks to Leo from the colts who made a try scoring debut and Matt Davolls who returned to the team to help out and had an excellent game on the wing.