Borough Win At Deal & Betteshanger

Match Report written by Rick Howe
Written long distance without attending the Drill Fields in Deal.
With a little help from his friends !

With two wins and a draw from their first three games of the season, Crowborough travelled two hours, into another time zone; to Deal on the North Sea coast. Next stop Rotterdam!
Crowborough’s away record to the garrison town side has not been a happy one in recent years, with ‘Boro unable to record a victory. With neither side having played against the same opponents so far this season, there was little meaningful information to determine how this contest would unfold, between the third placed visitors on 11 points and the home side in sixth on 10 points.
As it turned out, both sides delivered a spectacle for the home support, with a tryfest that amounted to 11 tries in all with the visitors edging it 7-4.
The game was played on a revised pitch layout, which appeared shorter than ‘Boro are used to , but probably best suited to the home side.
Deal & Betteshanger opened the scoring with a penalty that was soon matched by Jonte Fraser. 3-3 after 12 minutes it was all equal.
Deal added two more penalties for ‘Boro infringements , 9-3
As ‘Boro settled into the pace of the game and put the memories of the journey behind them, they put together several crisp passages of play with the first resulting in try for the impressive, Will Pitman on the far side, before the pack got in on the act with a well taken Andy Kidd try from a 5 metre scrum, with Jonte Fraser adding the extra points. 9-15.
Deal pulled back 5 points , but with ‘Boro in control the scoreboard continued to tick over. 14-15.
With the ‘Boro pack dominating in the tight, Alex Purnell was robbed of a personal 5 point haul when a penalty try was awarded.14-22
With the clock running down towards half time, and with ‘Boro controlling the narrative , first Toby Bailey then Harry Marchesi crossed the line with Jonte Fraser once more adding the extras. 14-36 Half Time.
Clearly the Deal coach had stern words in the huddle, as Deal came out of the blocks determined to reduce the deficit and soon scored two quick tries that concentrated the minds of the visitors, who may have had illusions that the game was over as a contest. 28-36.
Jonte Fraser kept the ‘Boro side of the board ticking over with a penalty before first Will Creasy and then Tom Boddy, crossed the line with Jonte Fraser adding the extras. However as soon as daylight was put between the sides , so Deal came back again , but it was too late and the game was brought to an end 35-53 Full Time.
After this result, and with several players unavailable to make the trip to Deal, there is inevitably going to be serious competition for a limited number of places going forward.
This result sees Crowborough climb one place into second on points difference, behind Canterbury 2nd XV. This Saturday 14th Oct, Crowborough welcome Dover to Steel Cross, fresh from their first victory of the season over Charlton Park, whom will no doubt be keen to capitalise on this momentum, in front of what is expected to be a large and vocal crowd, boosted by attendees to the Past Players Lunch. KO 15.00pm