Our Match Report is By Rick Howe
Our Referee - Paul Shepherd
Photo's to Follow - By Denys Clarke

The first of March, and Spring has sprung. After a couple of weeks of weather enforced inactivity, and coming off an unexpected loss to Park House, Crowborough were anxious to get back in the saddle as they welcomed Deal and Bettshanger to Steel Cross.
The visitors, in ninth position, had narrowly beaten the hosts in their earlier encounter and were keen to do the double.
After a two hour journey ,it was not too surprising that the home side took the attacking initiative, and pounded the Deal 22 area for the first ten minutes , but tellingly failed to make this pressure count. Indeed it was the visitors who took the lead with a well struck penalty 15 minutes in. 0-3
However this was to be Deal’s only reward as Crowborough, piled on the pressure, but without delivering that decisive killer punch. Passes were often delivered at an unsympathetic pace, or only vaguely in the right direction.
The loose play was making ‘Boro’s afternoon more difficult than it should have been, and only when the pack started to operate as a collective, did the game start to take shape.
From a scrum out wide on the left, the ‘Boro pack put on the drive forcing the Deal back row to stay bound in. Sam Marchesi looked up to see the Deal backs lined up on the open side, and with a mercurial turn of pace broke to the left supported by Will Pitman.
Pitman put on the after burners. And as the late coverage came across fed the ball back inside to Marchesi, who looked to the open whilst breaking blind, confusing the defence as he crossed the line to score. The kick was pulled 5-3.
Crowborough were now getting back into their rhythm, with forwards and backs operating in concert. From a lineout Sam Skinner released his back line, and with Oscar Thatcher holding up the ball for a fraction, Josh Jarvis entered the line at pace, gliding through the 12/13 gap and galloped the thirty metres to score between the posts for a Thatcher converted try .12-3
In the process Sam Bennett received a whip lash injury, which brought the half to a premature end as he was stretched off for a precautionary assessment.
With Mark Rosier on for the injured Bennett, ‘Boro continued to exert pressure on the visitors, and when the referee awarded ‘Boro a penalty 25 metres out from the Deal line, the visitors expected a simple 3 points attempt. But Sam Marchesi had other ideas, and as the Deal forwards were turning their backs, Marchesi took a quick tap penalty to scoot over the line for the 5 points. The kick was pulled. 17-3
Not to be out-done the forwards were next to get in on the act, as Will Creasy and Andrew Kidd drove over the Deal line, only for the attempt to be judged to be held up. However this was only to be a temporary reprieve, as moments later a scrum was awarded over on the left. As the ‘Boro pack ,once more exerted the pressure, Deal started to back-peddle. Sam Marchesi controlling the ball at the back, waited for the defence to be committed before picking up to score out wide. The kick was again pulled 22-3 with just minutes of the contest remaining.
With the contest already decided, when a second injury to a member of the Deal squad occurred, the official sensibly decided to bring the game to an early conclusion. Both players have now fully recovered from their injuries.
This result keeps ‘Boro in 4th position before their visit next week to 3rd placed Bromley who are flying high in the rarefied atmosphere of the two 2nd XV’s in first and second place!!