Kentish Express Ashford & District
Win makes it two from two
Rugby
Ashford built on their successful opening weekend London 3 South East win against Pulborough by running in six tries in a 38-10 victory over Park House at Kinneys Field on Saturday.
The game started at a cracking pace with the visitors seeking to make an early impression, but their efforts came to nought.
After five minutes Ashford took the lead when the pace and the strong running of Andy Ticehurst proved too much for the Park House defensive line, allowing Henry Hall to touch down. The conversion was missed.
Over the following half hour, Ashford sought to extend their lead but a lack of precision in execution and wayward passing held them back.
On the half hour, Park House lost a front row player to injury, and this resulted in unopposed scrums being employed for the rest of the game.
The change benefited the visitors more in the short term, and Park House came up with an equalising score.
A consistent theme from Ashford’s director of rugby, Chris Dengate, is that successful teams score just before and after half- time.
The home side lived up to this as first Tom Perkins, with a barnstorming run through the Park House defence that ended with a touchdown under the posts, and Charlie Colman’s first of three conversions established a 12-5 half-time lead.
This was added to immediately after the break when a drive into the Park House 22 was rounded off by a clever chip ahead by Ben Cooper that was collected by Callum Stuckey.
Two more scores followed in quick succession. The first was sparked by clever interplay from Dan Sherrin and Adam Knight that culminated in Stuckey securing his second try.
The second stemmed from a strong break by Jamie Farris that took play deep into the visitors 22 before being halted, but quickly won ruck ball provided an opportunity for Sherrin to go over.
As the game approached the hour mark, Ashford were in full control of the game, holding a 31-5 lead.
In the closing 10 minutes, there were two more scores, with Park House registering a second try, before Ashford completed the scoring with a try by Ben Cooper.
The result leaves Ashford, Gillingham Anchorians and Aylesford on 10 points, and Bromley on nine points as the only unbeaten sides in the league to date.
Ashford travel to Vigo this Saturday before returning to Kinneys Field on October 5 to host Bromley.
Ashford: Fussell, Woolford, Hall, Beech, Ticehurst, Cooper, Gray, Stuckey, Remington, A Knight, Perkins, B Knight, Norman, Sherrin, Huxted. Replacements: Vidler, Farris, Colman.