Kentish Express Ashford & District
First win comes at a canter
Ashford overturned a three-point half-time deficit to record an historic first ever London 2 South East win, at Kinneys Field on Saturday.
The game was the first meeting between the clubs since both clinched promotion last season but the downside to the victory was the loss of Ashford pair flanker Elliot Cohen and fly-half Henry Hall. The latter returned later, shrugging off his discomfort, to finish with five conversions and a penalty.
Teenage flanker Cohen suffered a dislocated elbow, while fly-half Hall went off still feeling the effects from the neck problem sustained at Tunbridge Wells the week before but returned to the fray later.
It forced the home side into a reshuffle, with Shaun Woolford switching to centre and Dan Bushell ASHFORD THANET WAND playing out of position in the back row.
Three converted second-half tries did the damage as Ashford moved into a commanding lead.
The home side had the best of the first quarter of the game but missed chances to take the lead before Peter Walsh scored.
However, Thanet recovered to dominate possession and territory to score 15 unanswered points, in a spell when Cohen and Hall were injured, before Ashford winger Chris Baker went over to leave Thanet 15-12 ahead at half-time.
The home side looked revitalised in the second half, boosted by Hall’s return, spreading the ball wide and stretching the Thanet defence.
A scuffle close to the Ashford line led to Aaron Sage and a Thanet player being yellow carded, which proved a significant turning point as Grant Burdon, Rhys Fussell and Baker scored successive tries from broken play to open up a commanding lead.
Thanet continued to try and power their way over the line, allowing Ashford to move the ball at pace, exploiting gaps in the Thanet defence with Ben Cooper and Rory Beech adding further tries, Hall’s kicking helping the home side to complete an impressive turnaround in front of a big crowd.