Medway RFC Cougars

Saturday 30 April 2011

TTD French International Festival

Cougars Squad:

Eighteen fit Cougars made this end of season tour trip to France, supported by the three injured players, 'Feisty' Wellard, 'Mad' McManus and 'Samson' Last, and a whole host of travelling parents. Medway's Under 17 Cougars returned from Arras where, after two days of fierce competition and led by their Captain 'The Thespian' Fitzpatrick, they took the silverware. In a pulsating finale the Cougars won the French International Festival Challenge Cup with the final play of the game to secure a 10-5 victory over Wirral. This followed two days of competition that had seen Medway take on Letchworth (Hertfordshire), Wirral (Merseyside) and Old Brodleians (Halifax) in the group stages, before a rollicking semi final victory over London Scottish by 30 points to 10.

Group Stage

Letchworth 20 - 0 Medway Cougars 0

Letchworth Pictures by 'Smudger' Paul

Captain 'The Thespian' led the team out for what was a close game despite the score line. The game didn't flow at all mainly due to the 'Napoleonic' referee's love for the whistle and some strange decision making that saw Medway concede 24 penalties against 3 in a 24 minute game. Letchworth got the game underway making the 'Ginger Peril' Gowdy clear high and long but Letchworth's return found touch just short of the corner flag. On their own five the referee penalised Medway for not putting the ball in straight at the line out and as Medway waited on the 15 for the scrum that should have taken place Letchworth took a tap free kick and scored. This was the first of many strage decisions during the game. Despite the Cougar's protests the score stood. Medway then put together a great drive and crossed the Letchworth line where everybody could see the ball grounded except the referee who declared it held up. Letchworth's next drive was slow progress but a break through run saw them go two tries to the good. As we moved toward half time the Cougars were on the attack again but were stopped short. In the second half Letchworth's progress was helped tremendously by penalty after penalty. One foray forward was stopped when '95%' Stone kicked clear but their next penalty assisted move made it over the line albeit that great cover prevented the ball being grounded. Unfortunately for Medway, the referee gave the try despite being some thirty metres away. Medway continued to apply pressure with a good move from 'The baby faced assassin' Chalmers and 'Crom' Rawlins which was stopped only a few yards short. Another try saving moment saw 'Flag Face' Morgan have to leave the pitch with a throat injury. Letchworth then pushed us all the way back down the field and scored their fourth and final try just before the final whistle. A little disheartened by the way the game had got away from them the Cougars were able to take great heart in having given a huge Letchworth side a great match.

Group Stage

Medway Cougars 10 - 5 Wirral

Tries: French 2

Wirral Pictures by 'Smudger' Paul

Medway kicked off their second game and instantly got in the groove forcing a Wirral fumble which led to a penalty that 'Chatterbox' Wardzynski put towards the corner. From the line out a rolling maul was formed and the Cougars drove beautifully for 20 metres to allow 'Junior Frenchie MkII' French to go over. The teams were evenly matched and there followed a period of stalemate with neither side making much progress then Medway drove a maul again with French finishing it off once more. Medway continued to pressure the Wirral line until they won possession and kicked clear. Wirral then put together some moves and found a gap in our backs which they capitalised on and pulled back to 10-5. Half time came none too soon as the heavens opened and the storm of all storms settled over the Arras pitch. The heavy rain made conditions very difficult and decisisions too as coaches, management and supporters struggled to find shelter under something that wasn't made of metal. The storm continued throughout the second half which Wirral started off well driving for the Medway line. The move was stopped by a fine tackle from Fitzpatrick. The ball moved back and forth but not by much for the rest of the half and there was only the sin binning of 'Churchill' Whitnell to report who excused himself by saying that he "didn't like Scousers much". There were no other major events and no further score. A tough game for the Cougars against another big side, but one from which they came away victorious.

Group Stage

Medway Cougars 0 - 5 Old Brodleians

Old Brodleians Pictures by 'Smudger' Paul

In between games the Cougars had entertained themselves and all the other teams and supporters by 'Singing in the Rain'. With the rain still pouring down, the final game of the day saw the Cougars take part in a very even hard fought battle against the Old Brodleians, another huge side. OBs threatened early and put Cougars under pressure with some good pick and drive phases and they looked like scoring but a game saving tackle from 'Care Bear' Irons stopped them in their tracks. Most of the game was played with OBs a man down as a red card was shown for a purple moment when a forward landed a punch under the ref's nose as he got up from a ruck. The rest of the half was push and shove with no score. Early in the second half OBs were making ground again with their pick and drive tactics, this time 'The Thespian' was at hand to stop the flow with a great tackle. OBs did get to the line shortly afterwards and were awarded a try despite a definite double movement. Cougars piled on the pressure as the minutes of the second half ticked away but despite the man advantage they just couldn't break through. Another tough game and a game the Cougars certainly didn't deserve to lose. At the end of Day One the Cougars finished third in their group, qualifying for the Semi-Final of the Challenge Cup.

Sunday 1 May 2011

Challenge Cup Semi-Final

London Scottish 10 - 30 Medway Cougars

Tries: Cornell, Brown (2), Lazell, Wardzynski, Gowdy

London Scottish Pictures by 'Smudger' Paul

Day Two and the Cougars, after a night and in some cases a morning on the 'Hit and Miss', turned up and played with freedom, expression and gay abandon that was a joy to behold for the travelling support. Our semi-final tie was against London Scottish who in the early stages looked like they were going to be tough. With Medway kicking off, Scottish cleared their lines and a Cougar's drive reached their 10m line before being spoiled and again kicked clear. Medway pushed back again but lost possession and Scottish found space to break through and put the first points on the board. From the kick-off Cougars put together a great move which ended with the ball going down the backs and 'REG' Cornell going over only to be pulled back for a forward pass. Scottish tried to work the ball out but fumbled in the backs and 'REG' intercepted and this time was rewarded with a try to level the score. The Scottish restart took them down to the Medway 10m line and when their prop gathered the ball from a line out we seemed to watch as he side stepped his way through our static defence to give Scottish the lead back. It didn't last long though in this end to end encounter today being played in brilliant sunshine. The Cougars next drive saw Scottish awarded a 5m scrum but Medway took it against the head and 'Eing Commander' Brown picked up from the no 8 slot and carried over, all square again at 10-10. Scottish scrum half continually tried to put young '95%' off his game by nudging him as he fed the ball into the scrums but Stone didn't get rattled, instead he turned the other cheek or rather squeezed it and a rather affectionate grope of the opposite number's cheek as he bent down to feed the scrum put him right off interfering any further. As Medway pushed forward again the last move of the half saw Medway win another important scrum 18 metres out with 'WC's' pick and drive blocked, he popped it up to 'Mimic' Lazell who was supporting well and took it over to give Medway a narrow 15-10 lead at half time. The Cougars made a strong start to the second half with a drive that took them to within 5m of the Scottish line but it was defended well and eventually kicked clear to half way but Cougars sent it straight back with a great run down the wing from 'REG'. A brilliant double reverse pass move from '95%' to 'Chatterbox' and back again, earning Wardzynski the new pen name of 'Champagne', enabled the 'WC' to get within 2m as Medway pressured the Scottish line, they couldn't hold out and Brown got his second of the game. 'Flag Face' put in a great try saving cover tackle and then on the attack showed how he got his name as he was not once but twice bundled into touch, collecting flags as he did so. Scottish didn't seem to have the reserve and with a break through the backs from 'REG' the pressure was back on the Scottish line. The Cougars recycled well and as the ball was fed from a ruck 'Champagne' spotted a gap and went through for a well deserved try to take the score up to 25-10. Our final score came from a lovely chip through from Wardzynski who had the 'GP' in support, a well timed pass and Gowdy rounded the game off. A great win for Medway against their distinguished opponents. Almost total forward domination, supported by the ever willing backs set up a rematch with Wirral in the Final.

Challenge Cup Final

Medway Cougars 10 - 5 Wirral

Tries: Chalmers, Simpson

Wirral Pictures by 'Smudger' Paul

So to the Final that saw Medway up against Wirral again. A really close, hard fought gutsy game with both sides giving away very little, it was taken to the wire. Medway kicked off and Wirral came back at them with purpose. The move broke down with a knock on in the tackle and Medway drove back. There was a period of stalemate around the Wirral 22 with neither side making much of the possession they had but it was the Cougars who finally got the break with the 'Assassin' finding a gap and punishing Wirral with the first try of the game. The Cougars kept the pressure on Wirral playing most of the first half in their territory but their defence was steadfast and when Medway did get through to the line they were solid and held the ball up to give a half time score of 5-0. The second half started fairly evenly again with neither side making much ground then Wirral threatened and got to within 10m of the Cougar's line. It was well defended and 'Champagne' made good distance with his clearance. Wirral continued to press though and were rewarded when from a scrum they fed the ball across their backs and scored in the corner to draw level. The final phase of the game was hard. Both sides finding their last ounces of energy to keep each other at bay. 'Churchill' managed to get himself sin binned for the second time against Wirral albeit through mistaken identity on this occasion. He muttered 'I still don't like Scousers' as he left the pitch. With most of this period played deep in Wirral's half but no sign of a break through it looked like it was going to be stalemate and then with less than 10 minutes to go Wirral broke away and finger nails were lost but the move only made it to half way following some great cover work by the backs. With only a minute left on the clock and 'Churchill' back on the pitch Medway pushed back again and 'Champagne' found touch with a drilled penalty just a couple of metres short of the Wirral line. The line out was won and with the last move of the game a great set play forwards maul opened a gap in the Wirral defence which 'Gorgeous' Simpson took full advantage off as he went over for the winning try that saw Medway crowned French International Challenge Cup Champions.

Medway saved their best this season till last with this fantastic weekend's performance. The victory over London Scottish will live long in the memory. Every player played brilliantly but the two stand out men this weekend were Dominic French and Harrison Irons who were the engine room in the pack all weekend long. Well done guys, brilliant. This latest victory sees the Cougars end their stint in rugby's youth section with an impressive haul of silverware as follows:

2007-08 (under 14) Kent Festival 11-a-side Plate winners
2008-09 (under 15) Welsh International Challenge Cup Champions
2009-10 (under 16) Kent Festival Plate Winners
2009-10 (under 16) LBA Anglo-Irish Challenge Cup Joint Winners
2010-11 (under 17) French International Challenge Cup Champions

Well done one and all. C'mon Medway!!!

(Scribe 'Dirk Diggler' Cornell)