Gravesend 38 Tonbridge Juddians 0
Report from Geoff Pettitt
It was more of the same for TJs in their away match against league leaders Gravesend on Saturday. As on e would expect the home side started the game confidently with a series of driving mauls and with a strong breeze at their backs – so strong that on three occasions their kicks ahead crossed the dead ball line.
Two penalties conceded by TJs put Gravesend into a good position in the right hand corner. TJs resisted the initial drive but Gravesend recycled well when the maul was stopped and they switched the attack to the blind side. TJs were out numbered and it was an easy run in for No 6 S Stevens to score the try. The conversion attempt failed.
Some fifteen minutes into the game it appeared that Gravesend pulled down the TJ’s maul but the referee did not call it. Adding insult to injury, the ball then appeared out the back of the ensuing heap on the Gravesend side. A smart kick ahead by the scrum half enjoyed a lucky bounce for right wing Nolan who caught the ball and ran round under the posts to touch down. This time the conversion by fly-half Ballard was good giving Gravesend a lead of 12 – 0.
It was not long before Gravesend scored again. Following some rampaging running and inter-passing by the forwards the ball was passed out to centre Weighman who, with a quite outrageous side step, sent the whole of the TJ midfield the wrong way and scampered through to pass on to No 8 Z Stevens who crossed to score the third try. The kick for the two additional points failed, this time hitting the post.
For the next ten minutes or so TJs hung just on keeping the home side at bay and hoping that they could turn round and with the wind in the second half rescue something positive from the match.
It was not to be. TJs lost possession of the ball on the half way line and TJ’s defence opened up to let left wing Goss clean through to the line. Full back Gray converted and at half-time Gravesend led comfortably at 24 – 0.
TJs had had little possession of the ball in the first half and had scant opportunity therefore to show any signs of attack. They had shown some spirit in defence where scrum half Mitchell had pulled off several telling tackles. It was clear too that TJs were vulnerable in defence and had been exposed for their lack of speed and positional organisation against a team with fast and clever backs.
In the second half with the wind behind them TJs started to make good use of it to put the ball deep down into the Gravesend half. The trouble was that having made the ground with a good kick TJs could not secure it effectively or for long enough to turn the territorial position into points.
Five minutes into the half TJs lost key player No 8 Carroll to a neck injury. He was replaced by Ure who went on to play a good solid game clearing up and driving from the back of a retreating scrum. A further injury to captain Ravilious meant that the three quarters required a total re-jigging with wing forward Garner moving to the wing and Murphy going to centre.
It was perhaps a consequence of this disarray that Gravesend added to their score. Gravesend won a scrum and a fine dummy pass from the scrum half Clement opened a huge gap for centre Moorey to go through and over for the try. Ballard converted.
Then TJs had perhaps their best spell of the game. They established some control over the tight ball that they won and with a number of energetic charges from the forwards ended up with a scrum on Gravesend’s 5 metre line. They desperately needed a good clean ball from a stable scrum. Unfortunately, they were just not good enough to be able to bring it off.
The game turned into a rather scrappy affair and, luckily for TJs, Gravesend’s handling often let them down when they were on the attack, the ball frequently being knocked on or in one case passed to the desperately covering TJ defence.
TJs returned to the attack and had a line out close on the Gravesend line in the right hand corner. They won the ball and initiated the drive but in the contact they lost the ball. They recovered the ball at the next breakdown and set off with a passing move – their only real move of the match - from right to left. This ended when the ball was knocked down – possibly deliberately – by Gravesend’s right wing. The referee did not see it and with this move went TJ’s last real chance of scoring.
However, Gravesend had one more score up their sleeves. TJs were still well into the home team’s territory but they were spread out expecting to win the ball. They failed to win possession and when Gravesend broke through up the right wing there was little cover to bring off the tackle. Full back Gray touched down under the posts and then converted his own try to take the score to Gravesend 38 Tonbridge Juddians 0.
It was fifteen more minutes or so before the referee’s whistle finally brought to an end a game that had continued TJ’s miserable season and enabled Gravesend to enhance their position at the top of the table.
This was a case of déjà vu for TJs. They have suffered some hefty defeats of late and this match followed a familiar pattern. TJs start with a degree of self belief. They give away penalties and any territory they may have won. They lose a score and then another and their fragile confidence is quickly shattered. More scores against them follow and despite getting themselves into potential scoring positions themselves they simply cannot cross the line.
TJs 1st XV has no league match next week. They return to league action at home on 12th April when they face second placed Dover kick off 3.00pm. They will have to raise their game substantially if a further defeat is to be avoided.
Tonbridge Juddians: Shoebridge; Murphy, Davis, Ravilious (Carlton 45), O’Shea; Smyth, Mitchell; Parrett, Wallace, Underhill, Sharkey, Fitzpatrick, Garner, Foster, Carroll (Ure 45).
