After two good wins on the road, Medway were at home on Saturday hosting Old Colfeians.
A win would guarantee them second position in the league, and the play-off game for promotion. At the end of the day, it was mission accomplished, but Old Colfeians made the locals work hard for their victory and the score line remained close up until just a few minutes before half time. A good second half performance followed a rather indifferent and frustrating first forty minutes.
Medway had the advantage of a strong following wind in the first half and although they enjoyed plenty of possession and kept Old Colfe’s pinned in their own half, they just could not get over the try line. Lots of scoring opportunities were created but either good scrambled defence by the Old Boys or errors from Medway, prevented them from crossing the white wash.
Dan Harvey kicked a penalty after 20 minutes to give Medway a slender 3-0 lead, but they had to wait to the 38th minute before scoring their opening try. Frustrated by what had gone on before, Dan Huntley chose to take the direct route, smashing his way through tackle after tackle and scoring a good individual try. Harvey added the extras and Medway led by only 10 at half time and needed to play into the wind during the second half.
Following stern words from Taff Gwilliam and Ginger Longstaff Medway played much better in the second period. The forwards dominated the set piece and won a constant supply of possession for the backs to run. Christian Bennison got the score board moving after only 2 minutes when he carved through the Old Colfe’s defence to score under the posts. Minutes later, Dan Harvey and James Dance combined well to set up a ruck under the OC’s posts and Max Easton scooped up the ball and dived over for another converted try, 24 – 0.
Old Colfeians scored a try after 17 minutes following a period of controlled possession where they kept the ball close to their forwards. However, the constant pressure from Medway took its toll on the visitors and in the final quarter, the Medway went on to score a further three tries from Dan Harvey, Leo Liua’ana and Christian Bennison.
Luke Burns was awarded man of the match for his outstanding robust ball carrying. Christian Bennison played well, scored two tries and had his best game so far in a Medway shirt. Dan Harvey kicked well and registered a personal tally of 16 points. The foundations of the win was another solid performance from the pack and the speed and tempo of the game plan.
Medway have two league games left and wins in both remain important as they count towards who gets home advantage in the play-off game. Next week Medway play away against an in-form Beckenham team.
Medway team;
Brice, Sandison, O’Leary, Easton, Rutherford, Huntley, Beaumont, Humphrey, Dance, Harvey, Burns, Liua’ana, Fussell, Hamilton, Bennison, Subs; Flanagan, Mataapa, (used), Catlin.