Sunday, February 06, 2005
Match Report 6th February 2005
Ashford 70 (14 tries) Whitstable 0
Away at Whitstable at the weekend, Ashford Under 12s put in a commanding display and romped to a 14 try victory over the seasiders. For this fixture, Ashford’s forward pack was back to full strength. The power of tight head prop Billy Stevens, the scavenging of loose head prop Glen Caton and the rucking, picking and driving of vice captain Christopher Albrow were just too much for the inexperienced Whitstable opponents.
Ashford got off to an ominously powerful start when they caught the ball from the kick off and immediately drove within 5 metres of their opponents try line. Only a knock-on saved Whitstable the embarrassment of a score within the opening seconds. However, from the resulting scrum Ashford hooked the ball against the head and a quick pass from scrum half Luke Ransley saw fly half Louis Burdon scamper round the blind side and dot down to open the scores.
From the restart, lock Christopher Albrow charged upfield and was caught inches short of a second try. Again, Ashford took the opposition ball from the resulting scrum and this time, centre Adam Batt sprinted to the corner for the touch down. For the third restart, Whitstable kicked high and long. The kick was fielded by fullback Daniel Head who launched a 50 metre counter attack. As the Whitstable defenders closed in Head fed the ball to centre Grant Noremac with a well-timed pass. From 15 metres out Noremac powered over to make the score 15 nil. The pattern of the game was now established. Ashford increasingly dominated the set piece, the tackle zone, the rucks and mauls and the loose. Quick passing meant that Ashford’s backs and mobile forwards were scoring tries almost at will.
As the match came towards a close, Ashford’s ascendance became total. The final score came when prop Billy Stevens charged over from a tap penalty on the half way line. In total, Ashford scored 14 tries without reply. At 70 points to nil the match was stopped early. Ashford’s try scorers were Billy Stevens and Grant Noremac with a hatrick apiece, Adam Batt and Louis Burdon with a brace each, and George Sladden, Harry Atkins, Drummond Clark and Chris Albrow with one each.
Other noteworthy performances were by Alexander Rawlins, who made a sound debut on the wing, and replacement front row Patrick MacEnri. “A” team player of the week was prop Cameron Veitch.
Ashford B 45 (9 tries) Whitstable 0
Ashford’s development squad showed they are developing rapidly when they also achieved a big score against Whitstable. Playing against their opponents "A" team, a much-improved pack produced sufficient ball to run in nine tries. Captain Joseph Brightwell and fellow lock Harvey Piper out shoved and out jumped their heavier opponents. Tackling by the backs was also much improved. Debutant Jason Tong, from Swadelands School, also put in a solid performance. Development squad player of the week was Harry Meredith.
Away at Whitstable at the weekend, Ashford Under 12s put in a commanding display and romped to a 14 try victory over the seasiders. For this fixture, Ashford’s forward pack was back to full strength. The power of tight head prop Billy Stevens, the scavenging of loose head prop Glen Caton and the rucking, picking and driving of vice captain Christopher Albrow were just too much for the inexperienced Whitstable opponents.
Ashford got off to an ominously powerful start when they caught the ball from the kick off and immediately drove within 5 metres of their opponents try line. Only a knock-on saved Whitstable the embarrassment of a score within the opening seconds. However, from the resulting scrum Ashford hooked the ball against the head and a quick pass from scrum half Luke Ransley saw fly half Louis Burdon scamper round the blind side and dot down to open the scores.
From the restart, lock Christopher Albrow charged upfield and was caught inches short of a second try. Again, Ashford took the opposition ball from the resulting scrum and this time, centre Adam Batt sprinted to the corner for the touch down. For the third restart, Whitstable kicked high and long. The kick was fielded by fullback Daniel Head who launched a 50 metre counter attack. As the Whitstable defenders closed in Head fed the ball to centre Grant Noremac with a well-timed pass. From 15 metres out Noremac powered over to make the score 15 nil. The pattern of the game was now established. Ashford increasingly dominated the set piece, the tackle zone, the rucks and mauls and the loose. Quick passing meant that Ashford’s backs and mobile forwards were scoring tries almost at will.
As the match came towards a close, Ashford’s ascendance became total. The final score came when prop Billy Stevens charged over from a tap penalty on the half way line. In total, Ashford scored 14 tries without reply. At 70 points to nil the match was stopped early. Ashford’s try scorers were Billy Stevens and Grant Noremac with a hatrick apiece, Adam Batt and Louis Burdon with a brace each, and George Sladden, Harry Atkins, Drummond Clark and Chris Albrow with one each.
Other noteworthy performances were by Alexander Rawlins, who made a sound debut on the wing, and replacement front row Patrick MacEnri. “A” team player of the week was prop Cameron Veitch.
Ashford B 45 (9 tries) Whitstable 0
Ashford’s development squad showed they are developing rapidly when they also achieved a big score against Whitstable. Playing against their opponents "A" team, a much-improved pack produced sufficient ball to run in nine tries. Captain Joseph Brightwell and fellow lock Harvey Piper out shoved and out jumped their heavier opponents. Tackling by the backs was also much improved. Debutant Jason Tong, from Swadelands School, also put in a solid performance. Development squad player of the week was Harry Meredith.
