20 January 2008
A pivotal match for the 25 strong Medway u14's saw Medway host a very strong Cranbrook side on Sunday 20th January. After a good win last week Medway had to defend the line that was buffeted by wind and Cranbrook poured on the pressure.
Medway defended for 20 minutes and each player gave all they had in thwarting the Cranbrook waves of attack, in particular, Liam, Aaron and Fergus kept themselves busy with new arrival Henry putting in a high tackle count. Two converted tries was the half time concession by Medway which meant that they could use the srong wind and slope to their advantage.......at 0-14 Cranbrook seemed vulnerable to the large crowd.
The u14's played the second half in a very different spirit than the first however, the loss of inspirational captain, Fergus to a knee injury did not assist the cause however Cranbrook played with belief and confidence to run three unanswered and unconverted tries in, a lesson in keeping the ball in hand and attacking space out wide that the Medway boys hope to emulate in future weeks.
The tackle count across the match showed Medway missing too many tackles, allowing Cranbrook to play their fast open game. Medway face Barking on Sunday 27th at Priestfields and will look to improve their game.
