Milestone passed in big victory

Ashford smashed through the 1,000-point mark for the season on Saturday when they swept to a crushing victory over Kent 1’s bottom club.

The win was Ashford’s 19th in as many outings and they will finish the season with a 100% record if they win at HSBC on Saturday, April 6.

In contrast, struggling Sheppey have not registered a win this season, but to their credit have fulfilled every league fixture and stayed together as a team with relegation looking likely.

The Ashford squad was largely that which beat Southwark Lancers to secure promotion two weeks prior with an unchanged starting pack.

Henry Hall replaced Danny Bushell to partner Rory Beech in the centres, while Will Alkin switched to fly-half and captain Chris Baker went to full-back. John Norman, Owen Piper and director of rugby Chris Dengate provided cover from the bench.

The first of the game’s 131 points came from Sheppey, who kicked a penalty from in front of the posts, but Ashford countered quickly as Farai Myezwa raced down his wing to dot down in the corner.

Ashford continued to apply pressure in all areas of the pitch, and added a second try following a break from skipper Baker searing through the defensive line and feeding scrum-half Rhys Fussell to score between the posts.

Alkin added the conversion to make it 12-3.

The physicality of the Ashford forwards – epitomised by the the Knight brothers Adam and Ben – has been of a different standard to previous years and unfortunately Sheppey felt the full force with players leaving the field after sustaining injuries.

Ashford’s next try came from prop Charlie Norman, who gathered the ball around the halfway line then broke through some would-be tacklers before racing away to score under the posts. Alkin again converted.

Good interplay between the backs created three quick tries for Fussell, Hall and Myezwa with Alkin converting two to make the score 38-3, and secure the bonus point inside 20 minutes.

Callum Stuckey was next over the line, showing Sheppey a clean pair of heels down the wing to score in the corner, and just a minute later winger Andy Ticehurst got on the scoresheet after belting down the same wing.

The half finished with two more tries, the first created Myezwa and finished by Baker and the second – arguably the try of the match – scored by Marc Huxted who broke through most of the Sheppey team showing his familiar power and speed to score in the last play of the half. Alkin added another conversion.

A huge amount of respect is due to Sheppey, who despite going down to 13 men through injuries, battled on and didn’t give up.

Ashford quickly opened the second half with Fussell characteristically finding holes in the defence and scoring his third of the match and an impressive sixth hat-trick of the season.

Accurate lineout throwing from Dan Sherrin plus relentless tackling and carries from Mason Pilcher and Lewis Remington allowed the backline to impose themselves further with scores coming thick and fast; two further tries each from Fussell and Myezwa (putting their personal tallies on five and four respectively).

There were also welltaken tries from Rory Beech and an additional try from Ticehurst.

The last quarter of the game saw the introduction of veterans Norman and Dengate who were able to stretch their legs and contribute positively to the game. First tries of the season were scored by Will Alkin and Norman – both thoroughly deserved.

The Ashford matchday squad can boast 16 out of the 18 players coming through the junior section of the club. This has been a positive theme for the last several years and the club will continue to look to their youth section to develop the talent in that area.

Ashford 2nds avenged their earlier defeat against Gravesend 3rds by easing to a 48-7 home victory.

They were ahead inside five minutes as Danny Bushell charged his way over for a try, converted by Steve Tanner.

The second try followed a loose offload from Gravesend which gave Harry Norman the chance to fend off the cover defence and charge in.

By half-time Shane Redman had also crossed the line to give Ashford a 17-0 lead.

A penalty try saw Gravesend cut the deficit to 17-7 but this proved to be the jolt that the Ashford side needed and continued possession in the Gravesend half saw Bushell crash over.

His hat-tick duly followed after Norman had held the ball up long enough for support to arrive.

Winger Harrison Kemp helped initiate the next try, stepping inside before feeding Tanner from whose pass Will Blyth sprinted clear from 30 metres out.

Tanner converted to make the score 34-7 leading into the last 15 minutes of the game.

Craig Coggle then crossed for his first try of the season after which Gravesend discipline cost them as they had two players yellow carded for a trip and a kick respectively.

This created plenty of space for Ashford to attack with Tanner beating the cover defence and then adding the conversion to complete the scoring.

Ashford’s standout player was Aaron Bowes, who controlled the attacking shape of the team and led the way in defence.

Bushell also played brilliantly out of position at No. 8 while Redman continued to cause problems.

Ashford’s Farai Myezwa scored four tries against Sheppey