Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Match Report 23rd January 2005
Depleted Ashford extend winning run
Away at Aylesford at the weekend, Ashford U12s started the day minus two of their key ball-winning forwards. Matters were further compounded when the team’s most powerful forward, prop Billy Stevens, announced he was carrying a shoulder injury. The selection difficulties were used to blood relatively inexperienced players, Patrick MacEnri and Lukas Warrilow in the A team starting line up. Despite the setbacks the Ashford boys made it wins 17 and 18 on the trot.
Ashford 20 (4 tries) Aylesford 0
Ashford got off to an ominously poor start when they failed to field the kick-off and immediately conceded a scrum just five metres from their own try line. From the resulting scrum, strong tackling saw them put their opponents on the defensive and the lost territory was soon regained. Matters then greatly improved when fly half Louis Burdon picked up a loose ball and sprinted around the blind side of a ruck to open the scores. Although lacking dominance up front, Ashford nevertheless built a solid half time lead with tries from inside centre Adam Batt and scrum half Luke Ransley. Turning round for the second half, Ashford’s forward effort deteriorated when prop Stevens’ injury required resting. With the flow of possession drying up, the team spent long periods on the defensive. As the clock wound down, outside centre Grant Noremac found himself on the end of a short passing movement and outflanked the Aylesford defence to forced himself over in the corner and secure a four tries to nil victory.
Ashford 10 (2 tries) Edenbridge 5 (1 try)
In their second match of the day, Ashford started brightly. Kicking off, they immediately put their opponents under pressure and forced a scrum near the Edenbridge try line. Ashford’s attacking drive was scrambled into touch and from the resulting line out hooker George Sladden pounced onto a loose ball and dived over to open the scoring. A second try soon followed when Adam Batt sprinted in from half way. After this, however, Ashford allowed the gritty Edenbridge side to edge their way back into the match. Ashford found themselves in the unusual position of being pushed off the rucks and saw hard fought possession choked up in a series of poorly managed mauls. In the end, the inevitable happened when Ashford were pressured back towards their own line and conceded their first try in five matches. Despite their under-performance, the team held on for a two tries to one win.
The players know that they can play much better than this and will learn from the experience of managing with less than their usual share of possession. “A” team player of the week was full back Daniel Head.
In a third match, Ashford’s development squad put in a plucky performance before going down three tries to one against Aylesford’s A team. Development squad player of the week was William Mowl.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Match Report 9th January 2005
Ashford trounce Kent Champions in 10 try Rout
Ashford 50 (10 tries) Blackheath 0
Kent Under 12 Champions Blackheath paid the price for bringing an under strength side to Sunday’s official Kent RFU fixture at Ashford. The Ashford Under 12 boys, having built a record of 15 wins in succession, were anticipating a challenging clash against supposedly one of the top Under 12 sides in the country. In the event, the city slickers underestimation of their country cousins ensured an ignominious defeat for the world’s oldest rugby club as Ashford piled on the points in a 10 try rout.
From the first whistle, Ashford dominated all phases of play. At every close quarters encounter the Ashford forward pack drove their opponents backwards – forcing them off the scrum ball and taking the lineout at will. As the Ashford pack rumbled up the field, the high-speed back line exploited huge gaps in the opposition defence.
The Ashford boys asserted their authority from the kick off when the ball was caught cleanly, then driven upfield by the forwards and slickly passed to centre Adam Batt who sprinted past the defensive cover to score the opening try – within 15 seconds of the first whistle. What followed became a record demolition as the Ashford pack led by lock Christopher Albrow and aided and abetted by prop Billy Stevens drove mercilessly into the London side’s forwards. By half-time Ashford led 5 tries to nil.
Turning round for the second half, Ashford had the wind behind them and upped the already impressive scoring rate to a try a minute. The forward dominance became absolute when Prop Billy Stevens bounced his way through a crumbling defence and dotted down the simplest of tap penalties. From the restart, centre Grant Noremac gathered the kick off and nonchalantly galloped the length of the field to score the match’s 10th and final try. With the opposition no longer putting up meaningful resistance, the referee signalled an early finish to proceedings just 5 minutes into the second half. Ashford try scorers were Adam Batt, Grant Noremac and Chris Albrow with a hatrick apiece and Billy Stevens with 1.
In the final analysis, the Ashford team were irritated that the reigning Kent champions put up such a pitiful effort. What was meant to be one of the season’s toughest encounters turned out to be little more than a training exercise.
At the same fixture Ashford’s B team recorded the season’s first victory with a 4 tries to 2 win over their Blackheath equivalents. Try scorers were George Morgan with 2 and Luke Ransley and Lucas Warrilow with 1 apiece. Development squad player of the week was Liam Sohngen.
