Sunday 13 February 2011
Bromley 29 - Medway 15
Tries: Stone, Brown
Con: Gowdy
Pen: Gowdy
Cougars Squad:
Brown, Chalmers, Christodoulou, Clarke, Fenton, Fitzpatrick (C), French, Gowdy, Irons, Kennedy, Marchant, Marriott, McManus, Morgan, Nebbs, Rawlins, Simpson, Stone, Wardzynski and WhitnellIt was a nervous group of Cougars that made the 60 mile round trip to Bromley for this Kent League Plate Semi-Final. Their trepidation was nothing to do with the fine opposition that awaited them and that had beaten Medway earlier in the season. In fact the players were quite upbeat about the game sensing the chance to gain revenge for that defeat. No, the cause of their concern was in the form of their Manager, Dave 'The Real Frenchie' French, who was on the prowl for Tour funds. In the build up to the game vast sums of money would leave the wallets and purses of the parents to disappear into Frenchie's magic black briefcase. Even the players were unable to withstand this onslaught as the 'Wing Commander' Tom Brown was instantly fined for bringing his girlfriend to the game. WC's Father, 'Captain Birdseye' made a mental note to set an even harder than usual quiz for the forthcoming Race Night (Friday, 18 February at 7:30pm. Call Pat on 07904 208120 if you haven't confirmed your attendance yet). 'Arkwright' Gordon Stone, having seen the Harry Potter films many times, tried to redistribute the wealth by hovering over the 'Tardis' like case and muttering chosen spells such as "alohomora caseoius". Unfortunately, Frenchie's security was resolute to 'Arkwright's' wizardry ('Mrs Frenchie' (Barbara) having knitted him a Medway coloured padlock) and the monies remain in the case to be safely banked on Monday.
Having been warmly welcomed by Bromley, their players leaving many air biscuits in the Medway changing room before closing the door just before the Cougars arrived, it was time to turn our attention to their Show Pitch where we would be playing the game. Now, we're not saying it's got a slope or anything but based on this, Priestfield's 'DS' pitch is positively flat and even. Not to worry, as our Talismanic Head Coach Mark 'He's got to release it' Marriott had had the foresight to ensure that some of the lads had undertaken altitude training at Kilimanjaro (has Alex 'The Mop' Morgan told you he's "done Kili?") so that they would be better prepared to defend the [ski] slope. This coupled with shiny new mountain boots and crampons for the whole squad meant that Medway were well prepared.So to kick off. A final good luck message from the 'Tindall' like Under 15s Head Coach Geoff Kempt (he should have retired long ago but just can't stop playing) was relayed to the squad and Medway kicked off down hill (and hill and hill and hill).
Medway started well competing for the kick off and putting Bromley under pressure. Less than two minutes on the clock and the referee pinged Bromley for hands in the ruck. Step forward the 'Ginger Peril' Luke Gowdy for a long range effort at the sticks from out wide. 'GP' caught the ball brilliantly and it sailed over to give Medway a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Medway over the next twenty minutes as the man in the middle proved himself a definate apple man, taking an instant dislike to all things orange. Your scribe thinks he may have been tangoed in a previous life. On seven minutes Bromley, from a tapped penalty 15 metres out mauled and drove. The maul collapsed short of the line but from the ensuing ruck, Bromley picked and drove and scored for a converted try. Bromley's back line moves were well drilled and timed to perfection, albeit sometimes the ball looked forward, and the 'Ginger Peril' and the 'Nice South African' James Clarke were working overtime in the centre putting in some great cover tackles. However, aided by eleven penalties on the bounce, Bromley had all the territory and a 5 metre attacking line out (from a penalty) saw them catch and drive over for another try, the conversion going in off the post. It was now 14-3 to Bromley. On sixteen minutes Bromley had another penalty inside Medway's fifteen. They elected to scrum, moved the ball well from the back and good hands saw them go over in the corner for another try, this time unconverted. 19-3 down and feeling like the world was against them Medway showed great character and dug deep. There was a more even feel to the penalty count now and a great tackle by the 'Nice South African' seemed to urge Medway on. Pressure at a Bromley defensive 5 metre line out saw 'Gorgeous' George Simpson react well to steal but Medway were adjudged to have knocked on just short and Bromley cleared their lines from the resulting scrum. Shortly after Medway worked the ball well in field and the resident 'Mimic' Ben Lazell (he does a great Frank Spencer) drove to just short before Medway were again brought back for a knock on. Dan '95 percent' Stone went on for 'Bum Fluff' Alex Marchant with the 'Power' Max Fenton making way for Harrison 'Care Bear' Irons. Medway were now seeing more of the ball and Tom 'Never Surrender' Whitnell bounced his way 'weeble' like (he might wobble but he won't fall down) through two, three, maybe four dispairing Bromley tackles before Bromley cleared. Eventually, Medway's dominance told and they drove from a line out just short of the Bromley line to '95 percent's' try scoring range. He noticed that the Bromley guard dogs were not at home, picked up at the base of the scrum and dived over for a well earned try. The 'Ginger Peril' from out wide again slotted the ball between the sticks and it was game on at 19-10.
Half time came and went. There was frustration at the penalty count, 13 against Medway and 3 against Bromley, and this was causing furrowed brows amongst the players with try scoring '95 percent' in danger of finding his eyebrows knitted together, so frustrated was he. However, 'Laces', the 'Mimic' and captain Liam 'The Thespian' Fitzpatrick built the team up again and sent them back out with renewed vigour. The 'Mimic' made way for Jake 'What me sir' Christodoulou and Matthew 'Teetotal' Kennedy came off for Dominic 'Junior Frenchie Mark II' French. The Cougars crowd wasn't expecting that and neither was Dom, but all believed the game was still theirs to win. Medway came out fighting in the second half and their were big hits from 'Never Surrender' and 'Junior Frenchie Mark II' that shook the Bromley players to the core. 'Chatterbox' Charlie Wardzynski was dumped in the tackle and had to leave the pitch. 'The Power' replaced him with the 'Ginger Peril' moving to fly half. The pressure began to tell and suddenly it was Medway who were being awarded all the penalties, predominantly for hands in the ruck by Bromley or being off their feet. Another penalty in the red zone saw a Bromley player sin binned and with the 'Wing Commander' going over in the corner for an unconverted try there looked like being only one winner at this point with the scores at 19-15. Momentum was surely with the Cougars but the score stayed that way for the next ten minutes as both sides battled hard but couldn't force an opening. The 'Baby faced assassin' Conor Chalmers almost broke through with 'New boy' George Nebbs also going close to breaking through before taking a big hit. Their huge efforts seemed to take their toll and Medway began to flag finding having to attack up hill all the time in the second half desperately hard work. Bromley settled and with numbers even again they ran in two forward based tries to secure the win at 29-15.
So, twice the Cougars have played Bromley this season, twice they've given Bromley a substantial head start and twice they've come back strongly to eventually run out of steam and succumb to defeat. In both games Medway could, and maybe should, have won. Your scribe thinks there's a lesson to be learnt here. A big thank you to excellent hosts Bromley who deserved the win. Bromley made their penalties count scoring three of their tries off the back of penalties gained. In Medway's case they just couldn't get past a resolute Bromley defence often enough to secure the win. Medway had fought hard on a pitch that definately favoured the home side who played regularly on it and were used to it. The whole squad put in a major shift with special mention going to the 'Nice South African', 'Care Bear' and the 'Wing Commander'. However, possibly spurred on by not playing last week and starting on the bench this, the man of the match award goes to our very own mono-browed number nine, Mr '95 percent' himself, Dan Stone - well done Dan, great game.
(Scribe, 'Sir' Pat Nolan)
