Rugby Dings chief hails match-winner Plummer
DINGS director of rugby Stean Williams singled out his skipper Steve Plummer for special praise, following a fantastic team performance, after the half-back held his nerve to slot the match-winning penalty with the last kick of the game to claim a 23-20 victory over Canterbury at Shaftesbury Park.
The win brought to an end a fourmatch losing streak and got Crusaders’ National League Two South campaign back on track.
Williams said: “You have to take your hat off to Plum for keeping his cool and landing that penalty from a long way out. There were some fantastic performances out there today, and there were plenty of candidates for the man-of-thematch. But Steve’s kick at the end got us the win, and he deserves a huge amount of credit for nailing that one.
“I thought we deserved to win today, and anyone who watched the game would probably agree that it wasn’t a fluke or that Canterbury didn’t show up. Earlier in the season, before our blip, we had the second best defensive record behind runaway leaders Rams, and today our defence was back on song.
“Canterbury had far more ball than us, but we managed to keep them down to two tries, which a lot of other teams don’t manage to do. Nobody expected us to win today, so our sole objective was to deliver a performance to be proud of. As is often the case, if you produce a decent performance the result usually takes care of itself.”
Crusaders got off to a flying start with centre Marcus Brooker muscling his way over the chalk on eight minutes for an unconverted try.
But Canterbury came storming back to dominate territory and possession for the next 25 minutes. Stand-off Ollie Best slotted two penalties to edge his side into a 6-5 lead on 21 minutes before adding the extras after flanker Fredrick Edwards scrambled over from close range to make it 13-5 on 31 minutes.
But the home side bounced back four minutes later with Brooker barging his way over for his second try of the afternoon to make it 13-10 at the turnaround.
The high-tempo expansive nature of the game continued in the second-half, with Canterbury running from all over the pitch, stretching the Dings defence to the limit. As the game went on, Crusaders grew in confidence and started to look like they believed an upset was on the cards. Dings took the lead on 58 minutes, with hooker Joe Hawkesby crashing over from the back of a driving maul. Plummer landed the touchline conversion to make it 17-13.
Plummer landed a 45 metre penalty on 64 minutes to increase the lead for Dings, but the sides were back on level terms on 74 minutes after centre Johathan Murray spotted a crack in the Dings defence to cross for a try converted by Best.
But neither team appeared content to settle for a draw and threw caution to the wind as the clock ticked down. Canterbury, though, were penalised in the final minute for not releasing in the tackle, and Plummer stepped forward to cooly slot the penalty to secure Dings’ first win in five matches.
Canterbury coach Andy Pratt, said: “All credit to Dings today - they defended very well and took their chances.”
Clifton moved up to tenth in the table after a resounding 49-29 win at Worthing. Matt Salter’s men held a slender 21-19 advantage at the interval, but powered on in the sec- ond half to collect the maximum five points and complete the double over their West Sussex opponents.
Worthing had opened the scoring inside five minutes when George Hammond intercepted and raced home. Clifton hit back with the first of four tries scored by centre Sam Goatley. Fly-half Thomas Francis added the extras to nudge Clifton 7-5 in front. It was déjà vu for the Raiders as another interception led to another try this time for wing Harry Barlow and then, as if by magic, it happened again when full-back Matt McLean ran in a third try for Worthing and booted two conversions to open a 19-7 gap.
Then it was Clifton’s turn. Goatley grabbed a second and Will Pomphrey also crossed. Francis landed both conversions to give the visitors a two-point lead at halftime. Clifton continued where they left off in the second half with scrum-half and Skipper Mitch Spencer darting over. Goatley completed his hat-trick shortly after, with Francis again on target with both conversions.
The Raiders did try to stage a comeback with Hammond going over for his second try, converted by McLean, who had earlier knocked over a penalty to bring them back within a converted score. But Clifton took control in the closing stages, and tries by lock Henry Harper and Goatley’s fourth put them out of sight.
Old Redcliffians played their trademark running rugby and achieved a try bonus-point victory over London Irish Wild Geese at Scotland Lane. Saul Nelson’s men made a good start, but the visitors battled back to make for an uncomfortable final quarter during Reds’ 37-22 win.
Two tries in the opening five minutes, the first from James Clements, the second from Christian Gervais, both converted by fly-half Kieran Hill, gave Reds an early 14-0 lead.
Hill slotted a penalty on 13 minutes to extend the lead before the Exiles hit back with a try from Brandon Baker, from the back of a driving line-out. The comeback was shortlived, however, as a break by captain and man-of-the-match Dan Fry put Clements in for his second try - Hill’s conversion attempt this time striking the posts. But the home side went into the break leading 25-7 after Hill successfully landed a penalty to extend their advantage. Shaun Cunningham pulled points back with a try, converted by Liam Prescott, and a shudder went through the home crowd as Prescott, with a penalty and a converted try from Ryan Bayfield brought the score to 25-22 in the home side’s favour.
The attacking flair, however, returned to Reds, with the league’s leading try scorer Henry Bird adding two more scores to his tally to take him to 18 this season, and secure the spoils for Reds.