It was touch and go that the game would be on after the recent deluge of rain but a bold decision by the club’s Director of Rugby, a bit of luck with the sun coming out and the wind blowing and a small band of volunteers forking the pitch made it possible.
The decision was vindicated by the fact the two sides played with ambition and served up a thoroughly enjoyable game on a blustery Saturday afternoon. The referee played his part by keeping the game moving by using the experience gained from his playing days to manage the game with empathy.
Gravesend were on the score board within five minutes after Crowborough conceded an early penalty. After last week's high penalty count that was an ominous sign. Thankfully it was only a blip as generally Crowborough's discipline was excellent and after that early wakeup call it is fair to say that Crowborough were much the better side for long periods. The forwards played sensibly in the conditions keeping the ball tight with sensitive off-loading to the supporting players. The backs played with ambition and despite the ball being like a bar of soap moved it wide when the opportunity presented itself. Mitch Malherbe and Ali Main pulled the strings with Tom West sniping away to keep the Gravesend back row honest.
Quickly after the Gravesend penalty the backs through Gus Weir took the men in red and white close allowing the excellent Matt Botterman to complete the move by powering over for a try. The conversion by Oli Clinch just went wide of the upright. 5-3.
Despite the swamp like pitch both sides played positively with the ball moving left and right making good ground. Counter-attack after counter-attack made it a thoroughly enjoyable opening stanza. It was 'Borough who made the fewer mistakes and after a powerful run by Tom Kent the ball eventually found its way into the hands of Tom West who breezed through the Gravesend defence for a try under the post. With the conversion by Oli Clinch Crowborough were 12-3 to the good which was the half time score.
Another positive difference from last week was ‘Borough’s first up tackles were hitting the mark. Mitch Malherbe shooting out of the line kept his opposite number on the back foot and helping ‘Borough to maintain the whip hand. It wasn't long before the men from Steel Cross got the scoreboard moving again. A Gravesend infringement allowed Crowborough to get deep into the visitors half and from the ensuing scrum Tom Kent went over for the score. Ollie Clinch grabbed the extra’s, 19-3.
As the game progressed and players tired the game got scrappier. Gravesend still tried to play but Crowborough's defence remained solid and when they got the ball they made fewer mistakes. It is fair to say they also got the better of the referee’s decisions, especially when Gravesend went down to 14 men following a yellow card. One of the Gravesend indiscretions allowed Oli Clinch to slot a penalty to make it 22-3 with 15 minutes to go. He was later to put in an amazing last ditch tackle to prevent what would have been a superb Gravesend try.
It was `Man of the Match`, Matt Botterman who put the game to bed with the bonus point try under the posts with about 5 minutes to go, which was converted by Ollie Clinch. The Final score was 29-3, to the men in Red & White.
This was a really strong performance by Borough, who had stopped Gravesend from scoring any try’s in any of their match's, for the first time this season as well as inflicting their biggest margin of defeat so far…..
Borough’s next encounter in London South East Two is an extremely tough fixture `Away` on 11th January to Old Colfeians, who are equal on points in the league table. Old Colf’s are third, Boro’ fourth.
The large crowd many of whom had enjoyed the club’s excellent Christmas lunch quite rightly applauded the two teams for serving up a quality game in dire conditions. Crowborough go into the Christmas and New Year break in fourth spot and can now look forward to the second half of the season with confidence.