Medway forward power overwhelms D's backline guile

Medway's pack, in particular their tight 5 were the decisive factor in this clash and as scrum parity turned to dominance for the visitors, this weapon was applied ruthlessly to nail down a result that had been in the balance for an hour. Medway kept it simple but effective, the ball never moving far from the breakdown as their runners stayed narrow and hit it up hard. They were met by equally robust D's defence and with both sides contesting possession via a ferocious commitment to the counter ruck, a tight contest was promised. When D's did get it wide they scored an excellent tries and were denied two more by the referee whistle and a professional foul.

D's were on the board first when a charged down kick bounced kindly for an early seven pointer. Medway got on the board with a penalty, before taking the lead courtesy of a self inflicted wound. From a chip ahead following a D's attack, Medway dotted down for a 22 drop out. The kick was fielded, spilt and perhaps went marginally forward. The referee thought so, D's did not, words out of turn were spoken and the resultant penalty was kicked to the corner where a well executed catch and drive resulted in a try. D's had lost 80 yards in territory and 5 points in 2 plays. Committed defence kept the visitors out as no less than three times Medway forwards were held up over the line. D's were about to take the lead when the Medway centre deliberately knocked on what was a nailed on try scoring pass to earn a yellow. The offence was probably too far from the line to warrant a penalty try but there is little doubt that had the pass been caught 5 points were guaranteed. To add insult to injury the resultant kick was missed. On the subject of injury, earlier in the half outstanding open side Jacob Davy was lost to a gruesume finger injury that'll surely sideline him for the rest of this campaign, a big loss.

The second half saw the old boys start brightly and in defending a D's drive, Medway's loose head suffered a serious concussion and the game halted for 15 minutes whilst he was attended to. The stoppage was managed much better by Medway who put D's under pressure immediately, their substitute prop putting a D's scrum that had been hanging on into disarray. Exploiting this advantage, Medway scored two tries, the second a penalty try as the D's scrum tried again to illegally evade the pressure the visitors set piece was applying. Just when Medway appeared to have D's where they wanted them, the hosts scored the try of the match. Dallalana as always was prominent as his break put Antonio in space. The wingman had plenty still to do, but he chipped his counterpart and gathered beautifully to score, capping an excellent performance in both attack and defence.

Medway added a fourth score as their forward juggernaut trundled over again though D's thought they had scored as the Dallalana - Antonio double act appeared to have struck again, only for the referee to pull back the play for an infringement. The game finished 27 - 12 in a deserved win for the visitors, though this was a brave display from the old boys that on a luckier day might have been worth a bonus point.

Next week, D's travel to Heathfield, opponents to whom they lost by only the odd point at home pre Christmas, a result they know they have the potential to improve upon.

The Medway match report, a very fair synopsis is here http://www.mrfc.net/seniors/firstxv/match_reports/2012-13.html . Best best wishes for a speedy recovery to both Jacob Davy and the injured Medway prop.

On Sunday, things looked up as the old boys, showing their resilience to play two punishing fixtures in a weekend , shaded Sheppey, pushing for promotion from the league below 15 - 14 in the Kent Plate.