Late try seals defeat

Faversham

A try in the final play of the game ended Faversham’s hopes in an end-to-end Shepherd Neame Kent 2 clash at Greenwich on Saturday. A couple of tries for Nick Kingdon was not enough to overcome resilient Greenwich, as defensive errors cancelled out some impressive attacking play. The hosts finally put the game out of reach for the visitors with a last-gasp try to make it 21-12. Faversham opened the scoring in unlikely circumstances with a play starting behind their own try line. Dan Martins and Henry Bowsher put a determined effort to chase a huge clearing kick from Billy Egleton to the opposition 22. The two wingers caught the defenders off guard with aggressive rucking and the ball found its way back into Faversham’s hands before being moved to Kingdon who bounced one defender before reaching over the line to score. Greenwich piled forward from the off and launched drive after drive close to the try line, eventually breaking through on three successive attacks only to be held up over the line. They eventually crossed on the fourth attempt, picking up from the base of the scrum and driving through to score. From the kick-off, Faversham immediately planted themselves in the opposition 22 in a period of sustained pressure, led by strong carries from Rhys Mcdermott and Sam Oatley. Jonny Hodges eventually broke through before the ball was recycled to Kingdon to crash over. A further try from Greenwich ensured the scores were level going into the half-time break and the second half continued in much the same way, with determined defence and ferocious tackling. Two penalties put Greenwich ahead for the first time but never looked enough to keep Faversham out of the game and Dan Martins burst through only to be brought down by a high tackle. Despite a strong position from the resultant penalty, the Castaways could not find a way through. With time running out, Greenwich pounced on a loose ball and attacked from their own 22, to eventually put the game to bed and secure a 21-12 victory.