Sunday 26 September 2010
Whitstable 0 - Medway 43
Tries: Brown, Wardzynski (2), Rawlins, Christodoulou, French (2)
Con: Wardzynski (4)
Cougars Squad:
Brown, Chalmers, Christodoulou, Fenton, French, Gowdy, Kennedy, Irons, Last, Lazell, Marchant, Marriott, Morgan, Rawlins, Reynolds, Simpson, Stone, Wardzynski and Whitnell (C)"Won in real team style!" "What a fantastic match!" "They played with real verve!"
Just some of the words Head Coach Mark Marriott used to describe an awesome display as the Cougars opened their competitive account with a victory at Whitstable.
On Sunday 26 September the Cougars went to Whitstable to play in the first round of the East Kent Cup. This was the first time the Cougars had entered such a competition and to draw Whitstable (the organising club) at home in the first round was a challenge the team relished. A strong 19 man squad arrived in the morning to find a biting wind blowing down the pitch forcing the Captain on the day, Tom Whitnell, to think carefully about his tactics. He won the toss and played into the wind, instructing Flyhalf Charlie Wardzynski not to kick the ball.
The early exchanges saw Whitstable strong in defence but the visitors hitting the ruck hard. The Cougars dominated the opposition forwards by playing with unity and always attacking the ruck and their opponents in groups of two and three, where as the opposition, Whitstable, were attacking the same breakdowns as individuals. It did not take long for Medway's forward power to shine and Tom Brown, the number 8, tried on the narrow side after 5 minutes to score, the conversion being missed. Then a 15 minute passage of play where Whitstable dug deep defending stoutly against the crushing Medway attack (generally through the forwards) although in particular the centre, Conor Chalmers, broke the line regularly to gain territory and put his marker down for man of the match. The next try came through Wardzynski with the conversion missed and Medway continued to pen Whitstable back. Even though the home side had the strong wind at their backs, they could not break free of the attacking Medway players. The next attack saw, just before half time, Thomas Rawlins complete a fine forward move scoring a try by the posts which Wardzynski converted, the half time score 17-0.
At half time Whitnell left the field as a precaution because of a dead leg, to be replaced by Max Fenton who went on to have a superb day in the engine room of the forwards. 17-0 ahead and with the wind at their backs, Wardzynski scored a superb individual try that was converted making it 24-0. The Whitstable hearts were broken and the balance of the match was all about Medway and their superior forward power. An unfortunate injury to Full-back Connor Reynolds, saw him leave the field with a bang on the head, but with cover Medway continued to express themselves and Whitstable had no real defence to the passion and hunger showed and displayed by the Medway Cougars. Man of the match, Jake Christdoulou scored next, reward for his tireless work at Flanker, converted by Wardzynski, and then the poacher extraordinaire Dominic French scored two further trys, picking up scraps following forwards and backs linking up to conclude the match 43-0 to Medway.
With notable performances from Alex Morgan, Daniel Stone, George Simpson and Matthew Kennedy, Medway look forward to the next round of the East Kent Cup and their first ever league match away to Maidstone next Sunday. Coach Gordan Stone summed the day up with this comment in the changing room afterwards - "lads that was total rugby, well done."
(Match Report by Mark Marriott)