Crowborough welcomed Thanet Wanderers to Steel Cross last Saturday for their penultimate League fixture of the season.
This was to be the fifth time the two sides have met in the past eighteen months, with the home side winning all four previous encounters. This match up had further significance, as a win would ensure that ‘Boro maintained a record of not having lost at home for seventeen months since 29/10/22, whilst Thanet desperately needed a win to help stave off the threat of relegation. Was this to be a potential banana skin for the Sussex side?
Within five minutes of the first whistle, ‘Boro attempted to run out of their own 22, when, an injudicious switch, was knocked on into the hands of the Thanet centre, who broke through the first up tackle , resulting in a two man overlap and a simple score out wide on the left which went unconverted. 0-5
Crowborough regrouped, and applied their well tried and tested expansive game plan, with Sam Marchesi darting through a gap only to be dropped to the ground some 15 metres from the line. Dave Bennett continued the charge supported by Will Creasey, who drew in much of the defence allowing Jonte Fraser to make space for Connor Hand to drive through the last line of defence to score and convert his own try 7-5
From the kick off rather than clear into touch, the ‘Boro backs slung the ball out wide to the left where Sam Eyres latched onto the final pass some 30 metres from his own line. Backing himself to break the attention of his opposite wing, he found 70 metres of open ground in front of him, with most of the defence trailing in his wake as he scored in the corner for an unconverted try.12-5
Most match ups this season, have shown that there are no easy games in this league, with lack of precision and concentration providing those fine margins between winning and losing.
Needing another quick score to kill off the Thanet challenge, Crowborough were wrong footed by a series of blatant crossing moves that the official missed, and when the ball was then swung out to the right the Thanet centres exploited the dog leg that appeared in the ‘Boro defence, to score a converted try to level the score.12-12
At this point captain Alex Purnell sustained a Knee injury and was replaced by Josh Groocock on the flank, who was soon in the action when Will Creasey took a quick tap penalty that he popped up to Groocock on the charge. That charge was halted but the pack latched on and allowed Sam Marchesi, to release Jonte Fraser. With the defence closing down the space he held up the pass for a fraction of a second before popping the ball to Harry Marchesi to crash over for the unconverted try. 17-12
With 28 minutes of the half gone, and with ‘Boro now settling into their well tried and tested rhythm, Sam Marchesi sniped through close to the scrum but in the act of being stopped, and with a delightful sleight of hand, off-loaded to Will Creasey who with his trade mark pirouette, crossed over for another try with the conversion hitting the post.22-12.
Crowborough were now controlling possession and able to attack almost at will. With three minutes of the half remaining, Jonte Fraser spied a gap in the Thanet defence. Dummying to his left he broke right through the 12/13 channel and sprinted the sixty metres to the try line chased all the way before scoring wide on the right where the kick was pulled, bringing the half to an end at 27-12HT
Crowborough effectively ended this match as a meaningful contest with their next score when Toby Bailey finished off a training ground backs move that was converted by Hand. 34-12. Toby Bailey was then shown yellow shortly after for a high tackle.
At this point Dave Bennett left the field as a precaution with a Hamstring worry, to be replaced by the diminutive ( comparative! ) Errol Munoz in the 2nd Row, having been brought on the previous week at Prop in the second half. For the rest of the match he was to show that the number on the back is irrelevant, as he went on to play a significant role, leading the charge to the breakdown, and holding his own in the set piece.
Two final scores from a Josh Groocock 30 metre sprint, and Will Pitman in the dying minutes, but not before a well taken consolation try by Thanet brought the game to an end at 44-17.
Callum Main also had a great game stealing many balls at the break-down all afternoon, and was awarded M.O.T.M by the opposition.
The game was played in a good spirit and it is sincerely hoped that Thanet avoid relegation as their absence in this league would be sorely missed. This result keeps Crowborough in 5th position although they have closed the gap on 4th placed Bromley to just 4 points, but that is where it is likely to stay after the final round of games in April.