Tonbridge Juddians 15 Gravesend 20
Report from Geoff Pettitt
The sun was shining, the advertising banners leant a touch of colour, the spectators arrived and TJ’s league season began on Saturday with a match against old rivals Gravesend. Some of the recent matches between the two clubs have been pretty dire affairs and it was to be hoped that this season there would be an improvement. Five new, young faces were selected in the TJ’s line-up. It would be interesting to see how the new-look team shaped up.
Gravesend started the game on the attack in a game that was played at a fast pace. It was only gradually that TJs came more and more into the game but it was an interception by Gravesend’s wing forward Lines which first threatened TJ’s line. Fortunately he was halted by Wilczek. This attack put Gravesend in a good field position and they forced a penalty out of the home side straight in front of the posts. Full back Grey made no mistake with the simple kick and put his team 3 - 0 up – a fair reflection after just ten minutes of the match.
TJs were winning their fair share of possession from the set pieces but they were often unable to hold onto their passes or they lost the ball in contact.
Gravesend’s half-backs Nolan and Ballard were a lively pair and had made a number of darts at the TJ defence. At a scrum near the half-way line they managed to break down the blind side and although Mitchell put in a good tackle on the rampaging wing-forward, Gravesend’s right wing Goss was backing up and on hand to take the scoring pass. Full back Grey converted the try and put Gravesend 10 – 0 to the good.
The visitors had started the game with more pace and purpose than TJs and they were very quick and decisive in the tackle. This, together with TJ’s early-season rustiness in passing and catching, meant that the home side was finding it very difficult to get themselves out of their own 22. With a degree of growing confidence, however, and a quickly taken penalty TJs began to make inroads into Gravesend’s half only for the visitors to turn defence into a telling attack.
It was very unlucky for TJ’s wing Tanner that in attempting to keep the ball in play on the touchline he succeeded only in knocking the ball into the path of his opposite number Oxford. Tanner recovered quickly and running back he beat Oxford to the ball, which had been hacked on over the goal line, but as he fell the ball squirted out from his grasp allowing Oxford to score a simple touch down – one which, according to TJ supporters behind the dead-ball line, was more than a little suspect. The conversion kick failed but the try had been a blow to TJ’s slowly emerging self-belief.
TJs made some strong incursions into opposition territory and they continued to improve for the remaining 10 minutes of the first half. But it was Gravesend who went into the interval with a deserved 15 – 0 lead.
The half-time team talk must have had an enlivening effect on TJ’s players for they came out very enthusiastically and immediately came very close to scoring on a couple of occasions – one ruled out for a forward pass, the other when the ball went to ground. Allen came on to replace Williams in the front row and straight away he added some much-needed aggression to TJ’s play. Just two minutes later fly-half and kicker Smyth suffered a shoulder injury and had to be replaced. TJs kept up the pressure and it was now Gravesend who found themselves penned in their own 22 and becoming not a little anxious with the way in which TJs were dominating possession and initiative.
From a penalty kick to the corner TJ’s forwards drove hard and it was Allen who broke off and touched down when the melee crossed the line. With kicker Smyth injured and off the field it was skipper Mitchell who took on the kicking duties and on this occasion the kick from wide out failed to hit the target. Now, almost half-way through the second half TJs had recorded their first score and were looking confident. Could they possibly turn the match around?
For most of the match TJ’s passing had been ragged and slow but from a tap penalty on the half-way line the ball was successfully moved to Farmer who produced one of his fast, mazy runs to cut through the visitor’s defence and to touch down under the posts. Mitchell did not miss with the conversion and in the space of ten minutes TJs had reduced the significant half-time deficit to a promising position of 12 – 15. There was yet more belief that TJs were going to pull off a win.
However, in probably their only serious thrust into the TJ half of the second period fly-half Ballard managed to take advantage of an untimely and most unfortunate lapse in TJ’s defence and wriggled over in the right hand corner. The kick at goal hit the post and bounced out making the score now TJs 12 Gravesend 20.
The final quarter of the match saw TJs battering at Gravesend’s defence but they were rewarded with only a successful penalty kick for offside in front of the posts taken by Mitchell for their efforts. It was a much-relieved Gravesend with one player yellow carded and in the sin-bin who welcomed the final whistle with the score at TJs 15 Gravesend 20.
TJs will be disappointed with this defeat which largely resulted from a slow and poor performance in the first half. It was encouraging, however, to see a number of young players making their mark in the first XV. As usual, No 8 Carroll was commanding in the line out and his work rate in tackling and driving in the loose was outstanding. Fellow second row Howell was also prominent at the line out and replacement prop Allen added plenty of vigour in both tight and loose.
TJs will have to start much more positively next week when they play away to Old Dunstonians who themselves registered a good win at Lewes on Saturday.
Tonbridge Juddians: Mitchell (capt); Burgess, Farmer, Wilczek, Tanner; Smyth (Connolly 50), Shoebridge; Stevenson, Wallace, Williams (Allen 45); Underhill, Howell MS; Wagstaff (Higgins 65), Howell MW, Carroll.
