Castaways make history by clinching final spot

Faversham men’s first team sealed a place at the Kent Salver finals day for the first time in their history with a 29-7 win over Sittingbourne on Friday night. Tries from Billy Egleton, Dave Tabor, Sam Payne and Ben Gray saw Faversham come from behind to stay in the hunt for silverware. A tight opening to the contest included the Castaways holding firm and denying their opponents from setting up a maul from a lineout in their search for an opener. The visitors did eventually take the lead when a loose pass was picked off by Sittingbourne’s fly-half, who raced through to the try line. Faversham responded immediately when Egleton breached two tackles to stretch over the line following a powerful solo run from No.8 Aaron Mills. Their first try of the game triggered a period of dominance in which their intensity proved too much for Sittingbourne to match. Scrum-half Tabor extended Faversham’s advantage when he spotted a gap in defence to sneak through to the whitewash following a driving maul stemming from Payne’s initial kick into touch. The prominent Payne then added his name to the scoresheet when he slipped through a split in the defence to capitalise on the lineout that his kick had led to. He followed this up by kicking the extras to hand Faversham a commanding 19-7 lead. Craig Garnham threatened to add another shortly after with a bursting drive, before his eventual offload was knocked on just shy of the line. Faversham’s lead did increase moments later when Payne kicked between the uprights after Mills had won another penalty. An emphatic victory was rounded off by a fourth try courtesy of Ben Gray as he breezed beyond the remaining defenders and placed the ball over the line having been found by Payne. Reflecting on the display, director of rugby Rob Dengate said: “The club is building momentum at just the right time of the season.” Captain Rhys Mcdermott added: “You could see straight away from the boys’ faces in the changing room how much they were up for it. “We had great game management and the decision making from our backs combined with us forwards dominating the collision zones around the park.” Faversham’s next game is a league meeting at home to Brockleians on Saturday as they search for promotion to Kent 1. Their cup final is scheduled to take place at Charlton Park on Sunday, April 28, and will be against either Cranbrook or Southwark Lancers. n Faversham 2nds lost 22-17 in their clash with Sheppey. Having gone behind, Faversham turned things around through tries from Ollie Jaynes and Dan MartinsQuintal. Sheppey then drew level ahead of the break, before scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. Debutant Dodge Campbell added a score but Sheppey held on for the win.