Bromley RFC VS Canterbury II RFC

BROMLEY HALT PILGRIMS PROGRESS – JUST

Bromley’s first team hosted Canterbury Seconds, nicknamed The Pilgrims, at Barnet Wood Road on Saturday. They came as league leaders winning all six of their games, five played and one walk over, scoring an average of thirty two points in the games played and conceding just eleven points per game. Bromley have had a pretty decent start to the season with four wins, one draw and a narrow loss. This was the last game in a block of four with next week being a rest week so we can all watch another international match. No comment.

For clubs like Bromley, and others in Kent Counties One, it can be daunting playing sides like Canterbury and Sevenoaks with the resources they have at their disposal but also a challenge for the coaches and the players to be as competitive as possible against them. That was the background to Saturday’s game and an expectant crowd gathered to watch what promised to be a cracker if both teams played to their potential and what unfolded was a match full of drama, high quality play and the result in doubt up to the final whistle.

The first team showed several changes from last week with Withers and Taylor starting in the forwards, Rice coming in at centre and Ruston moving to the wing to replace McCracken. An experienced bench of Banfield, Haisell and Gray was chosen and their guile and know how was essential in a big game like this. The front row on the day was Withers, Milne and McFarlane. If you had said at the beginning of the season this was the front row to face Canterbury no one would have believed you but the three selected were terrific with the two props relatively new to first team rugby and Milne who is an experienced operator but has missed most games this season through injury. Other front row players such as Miles, Carroll, Smith, Holland and Banfield (more available than the rest but has to be managed mainly by the physio) would all be pushing for places but have either been injured, carrying knocks or unavailable.

Truth be told I could not attend the game at the weekend for reasons beyond my control and the information I have is a bit sketchy but if I run through the scoring pattern you will get an idea of what unfolded. Bromley scores first as the home team:

3-0           4 minutes
3-7         14 minutes
10-7       30 minutes 
10-12     33 minutes 
17-12     36 minutes 
17-15     39 minutes

Half time

24-15     41 minutes
27-15     44 minutes
30-15     48 minutes
35-15     53 minutes
35-22     60 minutes
35-29     70 minutes 

Bromley played up the slope in a tight and fiercely contested first half with one side in the ascendancy and then the other with only two points between the sides at the break. Canterbury had been hindered by a yellow card in the second part of the half and that certainly helped the home team who had shown themselves to be more than competitive. Turning around at the break Bromley had the slope to assist them but in the past have sometimes struggled to use it to their benefit. Not today as they came rampaging out of the blocks and Canterbury were on red alert all over the pitch. They could not contain Bromley who were playing as well as they have done all season and the points began to flow with two tries, one converted, and two penalties taking the score to 35-15 after fifty three minutes. If Bromley kept playing the way they were Canterbury were in danger of getting blown away.

However, this is Bromley’s first team and they never do it the easy way – always a drama. Within five minutes of getting twenty points ahead, they managed to get two players yellow carded and they were down to thirteen men which changed the whole dynamics of the game. Suddenly Canterbury saw a way back and Bromley from being dominant were now on the back foot. You cannot afford to give teams like Canterbury a two man advantage and not expect to be punished and Bromley duly were with two converted tries and ten minutes still to play. Was this to be another soul destroying last minute defeat like last year or would the team stand up and be counted. They stood up and defended magnificently denying Canterbury the time and space they needed. The away side tried to batter their way through but there was no way with Brown and Scott front and centre in the forwards and Griffiths and Hawkins leading by example in the backs guiding the younger players when needed but the young bucks seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.

It was a long ten minutes at the end plus injury time and there were many shredded nerves on the touchline but the excellent referee finally gave a loud blast on the whistle to end a thrilling contest and signalled a Bromley win 35-29. Disappointment for Canterbury and satisfaction for Bromley on a job well done with the scoreline closer that it really should have been. On the day the try scorers for Bromley were Laws, Tommy Scott, Milne and Pillow with Johnny Griffiths converting three and kicking three penalties. Also, mention to Johnny’s brother Alex who has been filling in for George Scott (long term injured) at scrum half and has done exceptionally well. Man of the Match was Robbie Brown who has been consistently excellent all season and again led by example on Saturday. Next up for the first team is an away trip to Cranbrook on the 9^th November with a two o’clock kick off I believe.

The second team travelled to Cliffe Crusaders for, I would think, the first ever meeting between the two clubs. It was mainly a young side but had the experience of Carroll, Hughton and Holland (first outing) in their ranks. This was another terrific game which could have gone either way but ended up being a draw 31-31. Tries were scored by Richardsonx2, Hughton and Carroll with two conversions by Richardson and one by Neill. Their men of the match were Tom Croft and Joey Richardson. The free scoring third team travelled across South London to play Charlton Park seconds. This was another points fest with the threes emerging winners by 22-36. Tries were scored by Killick, Spencer Todd, Robinson, Harris, O’Driscoll and Cheeseman with three conversion by O’Rourke. Man of the match Graham Tyler.

Next time out the seconds are at home to Canterbury Thirds on 9^th November which promises to be a cracking encounter but the threes do not appear to have a fixture on that date which is a shame as they have a lot of momentum at the moment.

Another good weekend for the club results wise and the spirit and character shown by all the players in the three senior sides and the academy has been exceptional driven on by good coaching, supported by the committee and don’t forget the followers/finishers who offer expert words of wisdom from the sidelines and talk a good game whilst pouring money over the bar and beer down their throat. In the immortal words of GR ‘Is everybody happy?’ – ‘You bet the —- we are’.