Sittingboure 27 Anchorians 12

This game saw fourth placed Sittingbourne travel to third placed Anchorians, in what was always going to be a hard-fought match between two sides very familiar with each other. Playing in to a strong wind in the first half, Bourne started the more purposeful of the two sides, with their pack running hard in close and putting pressure on the home side’s defence, by building phases of driving play. However, Anchorians didn’t take long to get their game going and the first 20 minutes became fairly attritional, with neither side producing any clear-cut chances. However, during this period one thing did become apparent, that despite conceding the weight advantage in the scrums, Bourne were starting to dominate their hosts, with the front row of Kev Ford, Ross Cooley & Justin Boyes excelling. Unfortunately for Bourne, it was Anchs that opened the scoring midway through the half, as a series of penalties enabled the home side to gain territory and a kick over the Bourne defence caused some confusion, as the ball ricocheted around, and ended up in the left winger’s arms, who dived over in the corner. This, though, merely spurred Bourne on further and they came storming back from the re-start. With wingers Dick Humphreys and Harry Goodrum running the ball back well and Matt Fender and Chris Nanson constantly in support, Anchs became stretched in defence and found themselves camped on their own line. This pressure led to a series of scrums and, as per the previous domination, the Bourne pack managed to drive over for number 8, Greg Phelps, to get the touchdown. Bourne maintained the pressure for the rest of the half, with centres Sam Catlin and Mark Penny running and tackling hard, and when Anchs cleared their lines, the back three of Humphreys, Goodrum and Roo Nanson took every high ball and returned it with purpose. With Deane Gaunt and Justin Rix doing a lot of the dirty work in close, Anchs really struggled to exploit the wind advantage and the half finished 5-5. Sittingbourne knew that they needed to exert themselves immediately in the second half to gain the momentum and so it proved, with Mark Penny slotting over an early penalty to open up a lead. Bourne were now really in the ascendancy, with their pack, in particular, giving Anchs no breathing space and with scrum half Tim Hold marshalling them well and probing any weaknesses in the defence, Anchs were constantly on the back foot. Bourne extended their lead further after 15 minutes, when a backrow move from a centre-field scrum enabled Hold to make a break and he fed the ever-supporting flanker Matt Fender, who in turn fed Sam Catlin to go over in the corner. Anchorians have always been known for their resilience and they came charging back from the re-start, with some of their bigger forwards making good yardage. Indeed, they closed the gap on the scoreboard when their rampaging prop dived over under the posts for a converted try, to leave Bourne only a point ahead at 13-12. However, Bourne were not about to waste their excellent play and were immediately back in the Anchs half, putting together phase after phase of driving play. As Bourne neared the Anchs line, scrum half Hold spotted an opportunity on the blindside and prop, Kevin Ford, showed amazing dexterity to pick the ball up from his boot laces when in full flow and crash over for a converted try. With all the momentum going into the final 10 minutes, Bourne now needed to make the game safe and this they did when Fender turned the ball over from an Anchs lineout on their own 22, and Chris Nanson showed amazing pace for a second row to sprint clear down the blindside for a try, well converted by Penny in the conditions. With a couple of minutes to go, fly half Scott Truss narrowly missed putting the icing on the cake, when he hit the crossbar with a drop goal, but the final scoreline of 27-12 was ample reward for a superb Bourne performance.

Squad – Ford, Cooley, Boyes, Rix, C.Nanson, Fender, Phelps, Gaunt, Hold, Truss, Humphreys, Penny, Catlin, Goodrum, R.Nanson, Prett, Shepherd, Nutley

Man of the match – Chris Nanson (superb defence and support play, culminating in a well-taken try)