Bromley RFC VS Dover RFC Kent Shield Final

GREAT CUP WEEKEND FOR BROMLEY

The seconds have not had a home tie in this competition and earned their right to face Dover after two very hard away wins over Beccehamians and Vigo. The team selected was mainly very young with a few old heads in the shape of Loughman, Griffiths, his replacement Moore and Pillow appearing on the bench after long term injury. In contrast, Dover had a very experienced side who looked massive in comparison to most of the Bromley players. So it was the heavy artillery versus the young guns and being the last of the four finals on the day it was the showpiece game and what a game it was.

The first half was pretty even Steven with both sides trying to play fifteen man rugby but in contrasting styles with Bromley trying to move the ball swiftly to utilise the pace they had and Dover crashing it up and then spreading the ball down their backline. On eight minutes Dover were penalised for a high tackle and Milne slotted the kick beautifully. Ten minutes later after heavy pressure Dover got over the whitewash and with the conversion they were 3-7 ahead. Bromley worked their way back up the pitch and from a scrum they manoeuvred the ball right through several pairs of hands to the wing and they were over. A few minutes later Dover were in for their second try. Bromley responded to this with a terrific try of their own working the ball up the left wing at pace and with skill to score near the corner and this was complimented by another glorious conversion by Milne to leave the halftime score at 15-12 to Bromley. It had been a tremendous scrap with no quarter asked or given and expertly refereed by Mr Steven Randall who was very clear with his decisions and allowed the game to flow along at a rare old pace.

In the first twenty minutes of the second half, Bromley went into overdrive and seemed to have taken the game away from their opposition. On forty six minutes substitute Pillow got his hands on the ball and danced past a couple of defenders and slipped a delightful offload to a supporting team mate to cross for an excellent score which was converted. Three minutes later from a penalty about thirty five metres out Milne sent the ball soaring between the posts. Three minutes later Bromley were in again when having withstood a heavy barrage of attacks the Bromley winger appeared in centre field and snapped up a loose ball and sped off on seventy metre charge towards the try line and no one was catching him not even Mr Randall who showed a nifty turn of leg action. The conversion was good and Bromley 32-12 in front but still twenty five minutes to play. 

Dover had a mountain to climb but they changed tactics to one out runners charging at their opposite numbers and slick offloads to the next big runner meaning that Bromley had to put in a massive physical defensive effort. On sixty one minutes after being repulsed on numerous occasions Dover eventually crashed over and with the conversion, it was 32-19 with nineteen minutes to go. The next ten minutes were a fierce battle with Dover mainly in control of the ball. The Bromley curse the penalty kicked in as they were so desperate to get their hands on the ball or stop Dover in any way possible they kept infringing. Dover seemed in two minds as to what to do with these penalties either tap and go or kick to the corner and they wasted their time by taking penalties from the wrong place and were called back several times. With exchanges this intense tempers became frayed and Lowe and his opposite number were asked to leave the field of play for ten minutes. This did not help Bromley as Rowley was also serving a ten minute binning but he was soon back.

Going into the last five minutes another penalty to Dover was kicked into the corner. Lineout won and clever play released a runner to go in close to the posts. Conversion hits the post and Bromley is still ahead 32-29 with minutes to go. The Dover support was in full cry and the Bromley supporters were crossing their fingers, looking at watches and praying. Bromley kicked the ball long from the kick off and managed to contain Dover in their own half for two or three minutes. The match is now well into injury time. Last play and Dover are about sixty metres away from the Bromley line. They revert to type and use their big runners to crash and marauded down the field. Bromley frantically defending. A Dover player is brought to the ground and in a now or never moment Bromley attacked the ruck and turned the ball over and in a blink of an eye it was hoofed into the stands to seal the win. Elation for Bromley but deflation for Dover.

This was a terrific game and very, very worthy of a final. Bromley had worked so hard for the win against a good hard nosed Dover team. Perhaps unfair to pick out players as everyone who wore the Bromley shirt on the day gave everything but Milne at scrum half was terrific, Rowley and Croft in the forwards set the tone and captain Forey was an inspiration constantly charging into the Dover pack scattering bodies and inspiring his teammates. Massive result for this group who covered themselves in glory and represented the club in true Bromley never say die style. I would take my hat off to them except I haven’t got one. Can the firsts emulate this?