Saturday 4, Sunday 5 April 2009
Welsh International Rugby Festival
On Friday 3 April Medway travelled to Prestatyn in North Wales to take part in the two day Team Tours Direct Welsh International Festival of Rugby. The competition promised to be hot with sides taking part from Eire, North and South Wales, Cheshire, Northamptonshire, Sussex and of course, Kent. Our boys could look forward to three games on the opening day's play having been drawn in the same group as Ebbw Vale, Pulborough and Greystones.
Saturday 4 April 2009 (Day 1)
RTB Ebbw Vale 25 - Medway Cougars 10
Tries: Fitzpatrick (2)
In their first match the Cougars came up against a very strong South Wales side but managed to hold their own in the rucks and mauls and there were some good tackles as the Ebbw Vale team piled on the pressure, eventually leading to their first score. The resultant Medway kick off was deep and into space, being touched on its way through by an Ebbw Vale player. The resulting line out was won well but the attack was stopped short and the Welsh side came back again. The Cougars defended well but Vale broke through for a second score. Medway then had a good spell of pressure with Sam Nicholls making good ground before off loading for Liam Fitzpatrick to drive over making the score 5-10 at half-time. The next score of the second-half was always likely to shape the final result and although Medway were playing some solid rugby it was Ebbw Vale who pounced on a missed tackle in midfield to score. A Vale steal and another missed tackle led to a break down the wing and the Welsh side's fourth try. Medway pushed forward hard looking to get back in the game but an interception and break away led to a fifth Ebbw Vale try. The Cougars kept on fighting and after chasing down a long kick-off were unlucky not to score when the referee was unsighted and refused to give a try to Fitzpatrick despite the assurances of the touch judge who had confirmed that Fitzpatrick had grounded the ball. Stranger was to come shortly after, as the referee awarded a Medway try even though the Cougars were 5 metres short of the line, only to chalk the score off following Ebbw Vale protests. However, Medway were not to be denied and their constant pressure led to Fitzpatrick forcing over again. In the dying moments of the game Charlie Wardzynski picked up off a line out ball and evaded several tackles to make some 70 metres only to be stopped just short of the line by some fine Ebbw Vale defending. Despite the defeat Medway would eventually be able to take some comfort from this result as Ebbw Vale would go on to win the Cup Competition without conceding another try, making Medway the only side to breach the Welsh defence.
Medway Cougars 0 - Pulborough 5
Second match up at 11:45am was against the side from Sussex, Pulborough. This was a very even, hard thought match with attack and counter attack from both sides producing some excellent rugby. There were no clear cut chances in the first half, which ended scoreless. A technically gifted Pulborough put Medway under a lot of pressure in the second half but solid defence kept them out. Unfortunately for Medway, the last move of the game saw Medway spin the ball out through the backs for a final attack, but with the inside centre isolated and unable to get the pass away, Pulborough piled through to steal and break away to score the only try of the game.
Greystones 5 - Medway Cougars 5
Try: Gowdy
The third and final game of the day was against opposition from Eire which kicked off at 12:55pm. Medway dominated the first half and had the beating of the Greystones side but just weren't consistant enough to make their advantage count. It was 5-5 at half-time, a try made by Sam Nicholls taking on players down the wing before popping the ball up to Luke Gowdy as he was eventually tackled. Luke ran the last 20 metres to touch down. Greystones thought back quickly and levelled the score through a forwards drive. They continued to pressure Medway but a resolute defence held out. The second half was hard fought with the Cougars best chance coming from a cross field kick by Gowdy which Nicholls chased down into the try zone but was beaten by the run of the ball. Final score 5 each.
Sunday 5 April 2009 (Day 2)
CHALLENGE CUP SEMI-FINAL
Ellesmere Port 0 - Medway Cougars 60
Tries: Gowdy (3), Fitzpatrick, Nicholls (3), Irons, Johnston, Whitnell, Wellard, Morgan
The semi-final was played against a spirited Ellesmere Port side from Cheshire who had lost heavily in the group stage. Medway found it relatively easy to run in tries and scored eight in the first half. The first was made by Jack Johnston feeding Luke Gowdy and then Liam Fitzpatrick benefited from a Max Fenton drive to get Medway's second. There was some good handling giving Sam Nicholls the opportunity to score down the wing. The fourth was hard fought for by Harrison Irons after Fenton drove through the entire Ellesmere Port pack before going to ground. Gowdy then had a good run, feeding Nicholls who didn't quite have enough room to score himself but was able to off-load back to Gowdy who had followed up well for try number five. A lovely take from Matthew Kennedy at a Medway line out fed Johnston for the sixth and another Gowdy, Nicholls combination gave Nicholls his second, albeit a penalty try as the Ellesmere number eight was penalised for shoulder barging rather than tackling. The last play of the half saw Tom Whitnell run fully 40 metres for a good individual effort. Ellesmere Port refused to give up and intercepted Charlie Wardzynski after a clever run. However, all the Cheshire side could really do was slow the Cougars up and Gowdy was able to score the ninth before turning provider again for Nicholls who made it ten tries, both boys celebrating their hat-tricks in quick succession. Aaron Thompson made good ground in the next attack and combined with the ever active Gowdy who fed Alex Williams who was tackled just short of the line. It took a couple of scrums well defended by Ellesmere before Ben Wellard finally broke through to score the eleventh try. A great solo run, picking the ball up in midfield, by Alex Morgan saw him hand off and break Ellesmere tackles before displaying enough strength to take the tally to twelve tries, his first for the club. Even at this stage Ellesmere were still fighting and had their best chance of the game when their tall number 5 broke through down the wing looking like he was going to score until he was brilliantly tackled by a diving Wardzynski. Final score then was 60 points to nil to the Cougars.
CHALLENGE CUP FINAL
Greystones 5 - Medway Cougars 20
Tries: Fitzpatrick, Wardzynski (2), Stone
So to the final which saw the Cougars facing Greystones again. Having had a hard fought draw on Saturday Medway knew they had a match on their hands. And so it was to prove as the team from Eire came out very strongly. Medway, under pressure, had to stop their opponents twice on their own touchline defending well and successfully. Charlie Wardzynski relieved the pressure with a clever chip clearance which Alex Williams collected making a great run well into the Irish team's territory. It was Medway's turn to threaten, and to good effect as Liam Fitzpatrick picked up and drove over from the back of the scrum. The Cougars then had some good phases of play with Max Fenton gaining good yards with two strong drives. The drive for the line continued and when Harrison Irons collected he reached the line but was held up. Greystones then cleared and the pressure switched back onto Medway. The Cougars were forced to defend hard which they did, and from well inside his own half, Wardzynski picked up a loose ball before sprinting and dodging 70 metres to take the Medway lead to 10 points to nil as the first half came to a close. Greystones came out strong again in the second half and kept the play close to the Medway line. Again solid defensive work held the ball up twice, Medway finding it difficult to clear. The pressure was beginning to tell and after several infringements in close succession by Medway, George Simpson found himself sin-binned for coming in from the side. Down to 14 men for 3 minutes spelled danger for Medway but Wardzynski put his boot through the ball to clear the lines and ease the pressure. Medway pushed forward and fed the ball to Wardzynski from a scrum who sold a clever dummy and out sprinted the rest of the Greystones's defence to score his second brilliant try. Medway kept up the pressure with two good runs from Aaron Thompson, then with great support from Jack Johnston and Luke Gowdy, Dan Stone made it a fourth unanswered try to Medway. Greystones kept coming though and one break through was stopped by a superb Matthew Kennedy tackle. Williams had a good run supported yet again by Johnston but to no avail and then in the final move of the game Greystones got the consolation try their hard work and effort deserved, breaking through to make the final score 20 points to 5 in favour of Medway. All in all a fantastic effort by the lads and great team work. A great weekend with the weather very kind to us. Well done everybody.
(Report by Pete Cornell and Pat Nolan)
