Medway’s first XV returned to action on Saturday following a three week break in fixtures.
Not surprisingly, their play showed signs of rustiness and they were not satisfied with their performance, but they did however, record an important home win against a side who have showed signs of form since Christmas. The bonus point win moves Medway back into second place in the league above Sevenoaks who were without a game this week.
The locals started slowly and their high error count prevented them from stringing phases together. They did however look threatening in possession and after seven minutes were guilty of blowing a clear scoring opportunity. Thanet stopped the score but conceded a penalty. Medway opted for the kick to the corner and from the resulting lineout, the catch and drive was touched down by hooker Billy Humphrey, 5-0.
Straight from the restart Thanet missed a penalty kick allowing Medway to clear their lines and move up field again. The locals extended their lead after 16 minutes when good phase play, involving forwards and backs alike, was finished off by Fred Tila who crashed over for the try. Dan Harvey kicked a fine conversion for a deserved 12 – 0 lead. The remainder of the first half was a stop start malaise littered with injuries, penalties, handling errors and scrum resets. Medway blew at least two further good scoring opportunities and therefore went into the half time break still only leading by twelve points.
The second half was an improvement on the first, and generally Medway played better rugby and scored a further four tries as the visitors tired in the final quarter. Harvey kicked a penalty and three conversions and managed the game well from the fly half berth. Medway’s tries came from Fred Tila, Christian Bennison, a typical James Dance dart through the middle of the Thanet pack and a try from Leo Liua’ana following a good drive from Jimmy Rutherford.
Man of the match was awarded by the match day sponsors to Dan Huntley who had a fine all round game. Ben Johnson had a good game and was outstanding in the line out, Jimmy Rutherford, Tom Beaumont and James Dance all worked hard and made important contributions at key moments.
In conclusion, a solid and important win but still plenty to work on in training as many good scoring opportunities went begging through basic handling errors. The defence from the whole team was excellent and restricted Thanet to very few scoring opportunities.
Medway team;
Brice, Humphrey, Mataapa, Easton, Johnson, Huntley, Beaumont, Rutherford, Dance, Harvey, Burns, Liua’ana, Tila, Garofalo, Bennison, Subs; Petch, Dandison, Meares (all used).