Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Late twist is hard to take
Faversham
Faversham fell short against promotion-chasing RBS despite an outstanding performance in Shepherd Neame Kent 2. Having been beaten 43-5 in the away fixture earlier in the season, Faversham came close to surprising their visitors but missed out in the final few minutes to go down 22-13. Buoyed by back-to-back wins for the first time this season, Faversham started well, playing down the slope and using the wind, although RBS defended well. Desperate cover defence from Freddie Iron and Tim Woolf prevented an almost certain breakaway try but RBS were the first to strike with a score near the posts and a simple conversion. Another similar try quickly followed, this time unconverted, with Faversham left ruing crucial missed tackles. However, the home side produced a period of sustained pressure which led to Eddie Stott charging upfield before releasing the backs outside him for Paul Cooper to score in the corner to make it 12-5 at the break. Now facing both the slope and the wind, Faversham knew they had a difficult task ahead but they took the game to the opposition, showing a marked improvement in their attacking play. New signing Rhys Mcdermott, Stacey Woolf, Jack Meadows and Stott all made repeated charges while Billy Egleton and Bertie Sanders were among others making strong runs. With Jonny Hodges controlling well at 10, pressure built on the RBS defence and it finally told when scrum half Dave Tabor sniped from the base of the scrum to score. As Faversham continued to attack, RBS began to give away penalties with Faversham twice opting to kick at goal only to be undone by the wind as kicks from Hodges and Egleton both narrowly missed. Ten minutes from time, Egleton slotted a penalty to put Faversham ahead for the first time but RBS were not to be outdone and won a penalty before sealing victory late on following a tap-and-go near the posts. The conversion made it 22-13. Faversham are at Foots Cray on Saturday. Faversham: R Chipperton, J Meadows, E Stott, S Oatley, F Iron, A Mullany, K Fiddler, R Mcdermott, D Tabor, J Hodges, P Cooper, B Egleton, P Bulteel, B Sanders-champney, T Woolf. Substitutes: S Woolf, L Garnham, J Cheeseman-brazier.
A much-improved Canterbury came away with plenty of credit but nothing else from this free-flowing, high-tempo game.
Their performance was not quite good enough to upset the league leaders but there were strong hints of a return to form.
The disappointment was the city side’s failure to win the bonus point their efforts deserved
It was there for the taking as the pack dominated the late stages but again they were not clinical enough when it mattered.
Canterbury gave notice of their competitive intent with an early try scored by Guy Hilton after Aiden Moss’s clever footwork opened up the space.
Stortford got an equaliser after smart work by their half backs made a try for Nick Hankin but by the end of the first quarter, the city side were ahead again as Will Hilton added a long range penalty goal to his earlier conversion.
It was the next 20 minutes that saw Stortford forge ahead with two tries in two minutes from centre Johnny Neville and full-back Will Simmonds.
Both came from slick hands and use of the inside pass which Canterbury failed to read. Scrum half Tom Banks then won his side a bonus point with the fourth touchdown before the penny finally dropped and the city defence tightened up.
Will Hilton’s second penalty goal cut into the lead but a confident Stortford were not done yet.
Despite a yellow card for lock Jon George, they grabbed a fifth try when Jimmy Rea wrestled his way over.
With Banks adding two conversions, a complete takeover was looming, until a piece of individual skill from the younger Hilton, Guy, hauled the city side back from the brink.
The move was laboured