Medway Colts 54 Edenbridge 0
This was due to be an U17s only fixture but with next seasons Colts in mind they were joined by the U18 Colts. It was a worthwhile experiment, Edenbridge arrived low on numbers but Medway had a squad large enough to help them out and the referee agreed that rolling subs was fine.
John Mudd and Dave French wore the opponents shirts for the first half but couldn't stop Medway from taking the upper hand quite early. Kurt Turnlund had plenty of time to weigh up his options because Dan Paffard, Martin Drobka and Tim Abbott won all their scrum ball and nicked plenty against the head, this didn't change when Andy"Fijian" Gordon came on, in fact he helped open up the game with his South Sea Island style of play.
Turnlund opened the scoring after a neat scissors move with Charles Chung and Jamie Palmer. The back row added the second when Glen Stapleton crossed the line after Rhys Brookes secured the line out throw, in fact he and James Wilkinson were immense in that department all day. Luke Burns was put into space by Jack Packwood and went over next from centre, followed by Francis Gutierrez who was unlucky not to get a second after a deft grubber worthy of rugby league put him through but he was blocked short of the line. A poor pass gave Tom Evernden a gift of an interception, he still had 100 yards to run without falling over, which he managed, that was more than Pete Farrow did from only 3 yards out after Sam Clarke had run the first 97, he made up for his error later with the final try of the day.
Paffard put his name on the sheet with a crash ball penalty move, in fact it was only him that moved, everyone else looked on. Turnlund bagged a second when he took the ball from the back of a maul that Tom Farragher, Matt Petch, Shaun Woolard and Luke Ellis had driven 30 yards down the pitch, either Alfie Gardner or Sam Parkes looked to be the recipient of a pass which never came as Edenbridge bought his dummy. Although the score line showed 8 tries and 7 conversions, Edenbridge, with their various Medway Barbarians kept working all through the game to make it an entertaining one to watch.
Medway Colts 5 Sidcup Colts 15
The referee had to look long and hard at the pitches at Priestfields to find one that was playable before the game could start. Rain, wind and a wicked slope greeted the players when he finally gave the ok.
Medway intentionally had a very large squad available as they introduced some of the current U17s in preparation for next season, this was never going to make things easy for the team as subs were continually rolled on and off.
However, the team led by Rob Longstaff, worked hard and after conceding an early try were deservedly back on level terms shortly after when Kurt Turnlund picked up a loose ball from a lineout and went through a hole in the Sidcup defence. Regardless of the changes Medway kept trying to go forward, Simon Rumsey, Bob Ellis, Tom Evernden, Sam Clarke, Alfie Gardner, Francis Gutierrez were either stopped by good defensive work or the last pass eluded them as they got close to the Sidcup line, Charles Chung, Sam Parkes and Luke Burns from the U17s came on for their first experience and, although they could not get over the line either, acquitted themselves well.
Early in the second half Sidcup went ahead from a penalty in front of the posts, Medway just went straight back at them. Glen Stapleton, another of the U17s, had a good day working alongside Ryan Joy, John Mudd, Danny Williams, Mark Seager and Tom Farragher as they all tried to turn defence into attack, the back row trio of Billy Humphrey, Spencer Lancaster and Rhys Brooks did the same turning over Sidcup ball, but things never happened for them and eventually Sidcup drove a maul over Medway's line for the final try, which was converted.
James Wilkinson came on and completed the U17 line up, Dave French and Ryan Murphy joined him as the last of the substitutions were made, all three were involved in a last attempt to put more points on Medway's sheet, but were beaten by the referees whistle.
Thames Colts 3 Medway Colts 5
This was far from an open flowing game of rugby, in fact it was a very scrappy, untidy affair which Medway managed to win in the end by making better decisions than their opponents, who were in a determined mood having lost narrowly at Priestfields earlier in the season, and by making the most of some good defensive kicking.
The early exchanges painted a picture of what was to come, hard aggressive running from all quarters of the pitch was cancelled out by strong tackling. Missed catches and knock ons led to plenty of opportunities for the packs to test one another, Medway, as they often do, had the upper hand at this set piece and Pete Farrow used all of his experience at hooker to win his ball and plenty against the head, Andy Gordon held things steady at number 8 until Kurt Turnlund was ready either to find the tireless Sam Clarke at fly half or pick up the ball and snipe at the defence himself, ably supported by his two flankers Rhys Brooks and, captain for the day, Spencer Lancaster.
Despite the errors, pressure was always going to tell. Francis Gutierrez took a clean catch from Mark Seager and ran up the wing before being knocked into touch, from the line out, which was a set piece that Medway also dominated all game, Deano Morris and Tom Farragher lifted their jumper clear and Medway's pack drove closer to the line, Ryan Joy kept the ball at the back until, in the tradition off all good props he saw the line and dived over in the corner. For the next 10 minutes Medway remained in the ascendancy, Tom Evernden, Simon Rumsey and Rob Ellis linked well to threaten the Thames try line again and again but their defence would not be breached.
The second half began with Medway holding on to this slender lead, Rob Longstaff came on for his first game back after injury along with Alfie Gardner, Ryan Murphy and Dan Nurse who replaced the hard working John Mudd in the front row, having this sort of quality on the bench meant that the team kept its shape and despite conceding three points from an early penalty, were always the more inventive of the two teams. For the last five minutes Medway showed that they could defend as well as attack. Thames came close many times but found that Medway were blocking their way, eventually Medway were awarded a scrum from a knock on, a clean heel, pass and kick saw the ball sail into touch and the end of a hard won game.
Southend Colts 12 Medway Colts 24
This victory was all down to a huge team effort, especially as a large number of the boys had been involved in the game against Greenwich on Saturday. Southend were looking to revenge their defeat earlier in the season at Priestfields and made a game of it right to the final whistle. Medway struggled in the scrum but Billy Humphrey and Kurt Turnlund were alive to this and linked well to allow the backs to run through their moves, when these broke down Medway's forwards cleared out their opposition vigorously to keep the phases of play going. Tom Evernden and Mark Seager worked well together in the centre and regularly broke through the Southend defence, both were unlucky to be brought down close to the line.
It was looking inevitable that Medway would score first and they did. Francis Gutierrez was fed a pass by Pete Farrow who had picked up the ball after Deano Morris and Tom Farragher had carried it forward from a maul, he dummied, stepped in off his wing and touched down. Humphrey then had probably the silliest of sin bins when the referee, after he had stopped the game for an injury, forgot who was in possession and gave the resulting re-start scrum to Southend, the moral being, never question the referees decision.
This could have been a dodgy period for Medway, but instead they took advantage and scored again. Simon Rumsey, as he did all game, caught the ball and ran straight, Rhys Brooks took a little inside pass, found Sam Clarke with another and he went over close to the posts, a try which he also converted. Close to the break Southend found some space near the wing and crossed the line, 5 12 at half time.
Where the scrum struggled the line out was dominant, Ryan Joy and John Mudd lifting their jumpers clear of Southends to secure the ball time and again, this domination led to the third try, Spencer Lancaster took the ball found a gap, ricocheted off two defenders and crashed over the line. Clarke converted. Ryan Murphy and Alfie Gardner, back after a month trying to find himself in Thailand, came on to replace Humphrey and Gutierrez and almost immediately set up Medway's final try for Rob Ellis who had moved in to the centre, he wasn't going to be stopped from close range. Southend scored a late consolation to give a final score of 12 - 24.
Medway Colts 3 Haywards Heath 29
Two hard senior matches on Saturday had taken their toll on more than half of this Colts team, who all said afterwards that this had been an even tougher match. Four players wore the captains arm band, Rob "water boy"Longstaff having to give it up before the game started as he was still feeling the effects of a knock on the head from the day before.
Medway were no push over despite their aching bodies and for twenty minutes the result looked like it could go in their favour. Haywards Heath, riddled with Sussex county players, appeared a little stunned that they could not get through Medway's defence or even over the half way line. John Mudd, Ryan Joy and Pete Farrow had an outstanding afternoon in the front row, with Andy Gordon and Tom Farragher providing the second row power that drove the pack forward in most scrums. Haywards Heath eventually scored but fairly soon after Dave Ruffell kicked a penalty to keep the scores close at 5 - 3. That was to be his last contribution as he suffered a serious knee injury attempting to stop a second try just on the stroke of half time and was stretchered off. Kurt Turnlund came on to resurrect his old partnership with fly half Sam Clarke and Howard Thompson replaced Billy Humphrey who injured his shoulder in a heavy tackle.
Haywards Heath upped the level in the second half and were superb at standing up in the tackle and offloading to players running at pace, Medway's tackle count was huge and flankers Spencer Lancaster and Rhys Brooks, who both dominated the lineout, needed help from Danny Williams and Mark Seager in the centre to stop the opposition back row which was constantly bolstered by an ultra mobile front three. Farrow and Lancaster had to be substituted due to the fact that they were ready drop and as Lancaster handed Williams the arm band he became the fourth captain and sixth flanker on the day. Tom Evernden came into the centre and was playing well until he was harshly judged to have played the ball on the ground for a second time, and was given a ten minute rest by the referee. One man down and Medway's resolve hardened, committed tackling by Simon Rumsey, Francis Gutierrez and Rob Ellis stopped the team conceding more than the five tries that they did. As Haywards Heath became more and more frustrated with Medway's determined defence the penalty count against them rose, the resulting kicks allowed Medway to continue to threaten the try line right up to the final whistle.
This was a much needed match the week before the Colts travel to Haywards Heath in the National Cup. It was a fairly unpleasant afternoon at Priestfields, the recent rain making the second team pitch both sticky and slippery in places. Both teams were in a determined mood, and the early exchanges showed that the game was going to be hard fought which, despite the score line, it was. The first try was not long in coming, and was the result of the back line running hard at the Canterbury defence. Rob Ellis, playing his first Colts game, created a gap by committing his opposite wing, passed back inside to Sam Clarke who fed the ball to Kurt Turnlund and he was not going to be stopped from ten metres out. Captain Rob Longstaff stepped up and converted.
The next fifteen minutes were hard work for both teams, especially the forwards. Dan Nurse, also playing his first Colts game, Pete Farrow and Ryan Joy scrummaged hard in the front row to create a platform for the backs, who found the Canterbury defence to be solid. Ryan Murphy, back after injury, tested them once or twice with his pace, but it was Tom Evernden who broke the stalemate with excellent timing to intercept a pass and run nearly half the pitch for the second try. The conversion was missed.
With half time approaching Canterbury attacked the Medway defence and broke a couple of tackles for their only try of the game which they converted. During the break Longstaff eloquently pointed out what needed to happen in the second half. A few changes, John Mudd for Nurse, Francis Gutierrez for Murphy and Mark Seager for an injured Evernden and the game re-started. Medway's back row of Billy Humphrey, Spencer Lancaster and Andy Gordon had another long half battling for the ball and did well to dig it out time and again, Deano Morris and Tom Farragher carried the re-cycled ball a bit further until Turnlund was happy to release the backs. With the conditions worsening, good hands were needed to hold onto the passes and Simon Rumsey joining the line from full back did just that, his pace was too much for his opposite number and he touched down the third try of the afternoon.
Medway knew that now was the time to take control of the game, and for the remaining fifteen minutes they did and played some of the best rugby of the afternoon in doing so. A speculative kick looked to have been covered by the Canterbury winger, however he lost control and Medway kicked the loose ball towards the line, Seager won the race to touch down for the last score of the match.
Many thanks to the supporters who braved the elements to watch.
Medway 13 Thames 10
Another unknown team as opposition and another predictable start for Medway. Ten minutes gone and ten points adrift, points scored because Thames ran straight at the Medway defence. Rob Longstaff, back fighting fit as he was later going to prove, had a quiet word with his team and pointed out where things were going wrong. That was enough for Medway and they very slowly started to take control away from Thames, every area was keenly contested, even the touch line banter and advice.
Danny Williams came on as a blood replacement for Simon Rumsey which pushed Tom Evernden back to full back from where he burst onto a pass from Sam Clarke after Kurt Turnlund had exposed a gap in the Thames defence. Rob Longstaff and the Thames full back then engaged in a little ball room dancing which the referee was less than impressed with and spent the next ten minutes rethinking his routine, a fly half in the sin bin, unheard of.
On his return to the pitch Medway won a penalty, Rhys Brooks, Andy Gordon and Spencer Lancaster working well as a back row gained some good ground and took the ball into the oppositions 22, they decided that three points was better to give away than seven and up stepped Longstaff to take them. 10 8 down at half time and Medway had few printable words to say during the break. Tom Farragher who had had a solid first half after 4 weeks touring Russia with his band, gave way for Mark Seager, who together with Sam Geddes, took on Thames from the whistle and it was difficult to seperate which of them spun out of more tackles as they headed towards the line nobly supported by Gardner and Gutierrez, the flying G's.
It was the front row that sealed the game close to the final whistle, John Mudd coming off the back of a maul with James Lillycrap on his back slipped a pass out to Ryan Joy who could see only the line as he stepped, checked and dummied his way round the Thames defence.
This was another game where the Colts proved that they are capable of sorting out their own problems, able to adapt the game they play to suit the situation they are in and still entertain the crowd.
Special thanks to Tony Evernden.
Medway 10 Ruislip 17 - National Colts Cup
Given that the list of injured, sick and unavailable players was nearly as long as the list of fit ones, this was always going to be a tough game. Ruislip remained an unknown quantity until they arrived sporting possibly the biggest set of forwards in youth rugby.
Medway didn't appear too worried by this and took the game to their oponents who used their behemoths to slow down the game to a pace they were comfortable with. Turnlund kept trying to keep things moving but Ruislip repeatedly infringed until Ruffell was given the opportunity to kick a penalty and Medway into the lead. With Brooks and Lancaster winning the lineout battle, and Evernden, Clarke and Rumsey attacking through the centre it was a suprise when Ruislip scored the first of three tries, even if the method wasn't. From the back of the scrum the largest of their forwards trundled over the line like a run away JCB, he managed this twice more, scoring once and passing for another to score the second time, with one conversion Ruislip had a 17 3 lead at half time.
The half time team talk was firm and direct from not only the captain on the day, Lancaster, but from one or two others as well. It seemed to do the trick and Medway were definately the better team for all of the second half. Indiscretion close to their own line and Ruislip had to defend against Joys crash penalty, Williams picked up the loose ball and fed Farrow who was driven over by Geddes, Gordon and Mudd. Ruffell converted. Medway were getting close to the try line time and again and in an attempt to score seven points turned down valuable kicks as Ruislips penalty count rose. Longstaff came on to add a little variation, but time had run out, and as a long pass from Gutierrez slipped from Gardiners grasp the referees whistle ended the contest.
Many thanks to all that turned up to watch and to those that did so much to make the game possible. The team are still in the competition, as soon as the plate draw is made the fixtures will be announced.
Medway Colts 24 Winchester Colts 5 - National Colts Cup Competition
On Sunday afternoon Medway colts welcomed Winchester to Priestfields for the first round tie in the national colts cup. A sizeable crowd had gathered and it was good to see some of the senior players there supporting the colts.
Medway, led by Billy Humphrey, started well and were unfortunate not to put points on the scoreboard in the first few minutes. Good work from the forwards resulted in a penalty which was slotted over the posts by Sam Clarke.
Medway kept the pressure on and spent long periods in Winchesters half. Kurt Turnland scored Medway’s opening try and this was converted by Rob Longstaff.
Winchester stuck in there and by half time had scored a try themselves leaving the score at 10 – 5.
The second half saw Medway produce quality rugby that was a pleasure to watch scoring two more tries, one from Pete Farrow and a second for Turnland, both converted by Longstaff. Winchester made several unsuccessful attempts to break through but good solid defending by all the Medway players ensured that they did not increase their score.
The next round of the cup sees Medway drawn at home against Ruislip. This game to be played this Sunday 22nd Oct 2.30 p.m. kick off.
1st October 06
Chelmsford Colts 12 Medway Colts 24
Medway started with confidence playing with the wind and a slight slope in their favour. Skipper Rob Longstaff got the game under way and his pack showed their intent to dominate by forcing Chelmsford into an immediate error, the pack continued to smile as they shoved the resulting scrum forward and the backs started to profit. The adventurous side of Kurt Turnlunds game soon found a gap in Chelmsford's defence and he seemed certain to score the first points of the day until a last gasp tackle knocked the ball out of his hands. Tom Evernden actually touched down first, joining the line from full back and taking a crisp pass after centre Sam Clarke had broken a tackle and created some space.
Medway again took control from the re start, Ryan Joy and John Mudd rattled the Chelmsford forwards and Pete Farrow burrowed in and came up with the ball which Turnlund, with Andy Gordon driving him forward, held onto as he crossed the line. Longstaff made sure of the extra two points. Medway then made the mistake of easing off, Chelmsford didn't and some scrappy play followed as Medway tried to sort things out, silly penalties and Deano Morris taking an enforced ten minute breather helped Chelmsford pull seven points back for a 7 12 half time score.
The chat in the break seemed to have worked, until a couple of missed tackles gifted Chelmsford their second try to level the scores. Medway knew they had to raise their game and that is exactly what they did, Sam Geddes on for Tom Farragher and Mark Seager led by stopping any player that came their way and allowing Rhys Brooks to steal ball after ball. A clever cross field kick from Longstaff after Francis Gutierrez, Simon Rumsey and Alfie Gardner had put him in space had Danny Williams and Ryan Murphy in a foot race to touch the ball down, Williams won by inches and only the post prevented the conversion.
With the rain now pouring down the ball was becoming hard to hold onto, Spencer Lancaster was lifted high at the line out and taking the ball in two hands called on the forwards to drive towards the line, Billy Humphrey peeled off with two metres to go and put the game out of Chelmsford's reach, Rob Longstaff making sure with his second conversion.
25th September 06
Medway Colts 20 Southend Colts 10
This was the first time for nine seasons that a colts side had played a game in Medway colours. Medway started nervously which allowed Southend to score the opening try after five minutes. Those points had the desired effect and Medway, who were led by Rob Longstaff, started to take control.
The forwards provided a solid platform for Turnlund who varied his options from scrum half, enabling the backs to open the game up out wide. Murphy, playing on the right wing, scored Medways opening try after the ball had travelled along the line to him, he gathered the ball at the second attempt and beat his man on the outside.
From the re-start Medway gathered the ball and worked their way forward, Southend were penalised in front of their own posts for killing the ball and Longstaff kicked Medway into the lead.
Southend lost two front row players in quick succession and the resulting un-opposed scrums slowed Medways progress from that set piece so they turned to the line out as a platform, Brooks and Lancaster catching their own ball and spoiling much of Southends, clean ball to the backs from one, set up another attack which disrupted the Southend defence and created a gap for Comerford to burst through, Longstaff converted.
The game was largely about Southends determined defence from this point, Evernden, Seager and Clarke all made breaks which were stopped but invariably the support created another phase, eventually Rumsey was able to gather a loose ball, sprint down his wing and over the line.
With just a few minutes to go, there was confusion over a penalty close to Medways line and Southend took the chance to score their second try.