Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Blistering Blues back at the summit
a challenge like that to them they respond.
“Dartford are a decent bunch, they’re organised but we were just far too good for them.
“We know our game and stick to our structures. A lot of the tries were scored out wide which is an indicator of how we play.
“In the past we might have held onto the ball for too long but now if we’ve got it, it goes along the line and it’s great to see.”
Whitstable scored 46 points in the first half and 34 in the second, with hooker Ben Cliff helping himself to six of the tries.
Will Reid and James Garland grabbed two each with the others coming from Graves, Marc Harris, Andy Till and forward Rob Hudson.
Andrew Huey’s five conversions completed haul.
Graves was pleased to see Hudson back in the squad after a long-term ankle injury and he also praised lock Tony Cairney and prop Ryan Crane.
He said: “The two of them added dynamism to the pack who worked hard to deliver a constant stream of good, clean ball for the backs. It was just a good all-round team performance.”
Whitstable travel to third placed Foots Cray on Saturday and while Graves expects a tougher test than they got last weekend, he still expects them to come through.
He added: “Foots Cray will be one of the harder games, because they’re always there or thereabouts but we’ve had the upper hand over them on the last two occasions.
“When I first came here and we played them it was like men against boys but now my lads have matured and we know we can go toe to toe with them.
“We’re exactly where we want to be at the moment and the good thing is that we’re in control of our own destiny.” the home points National League 2 South
PWD L F A Ps Cinderford..... 17 16 0 1 668 342 80 Chinnor ......... 17 15 1 1 575 357 76 R’dingensian . 17 13 0 4 587 368 67 Taunton T’s .. 17 12 0 5 616 368 63 Redruth ........ 17 10 0 7 474 342 52 Henley .......... 17 9 1 7 475 513 50 Bury St Ed..... 17 9 0 8 477 442 49 Worthing ....... 17 8 0 9 484 579 47 Canterbury .... 17 9 0 8 408 408 46 T’bridge Jud . 17 9 0 8 432 407 45 London Irish .. 17 6 0 11 505 537 37 Barnstaple .... 17 6 1 10 362 495 35 Clifton ........... 17 4 1 12 383 538 27 O R’cliffians .. 17 2 2 13 389 602 22 Broadstreet ... 17 3 0 14 319 569 18 Wimbledon ... 17 2 0 15 339 626 16 Results: Chinnor 20 London Irish Wild Geese 35, Broadstreet 12 Canterbury 7, Cinderford 34 Henley 6, Barnstaple 12 Taunton Titans 53, Old Redcliffians 24 Bury St Edmunds 14, Redingensians 39 Worthing 26, Tonbridge Juddian 17 Clifton 10, Wimbledon 33 Redruth 28. Fixtures: Redingensians v Chinnor, Worthing v Redruth, Clifton v Broadstreet, Bury St Edmunds v Barnstaple, Canterbury v Old Redcliffians, Henley v Tonbridge Juddian, London Irish Wild Geese v Cinderford, Taunton Titans v Wimbledon. Shepherd Neame Kent 2
PWD L F A Ps Whitstable .... 10 9 0 1 403 74 46 Brockleians ... 10 9 0 1 342 83 43 Foots Cray .... 10 8 0 2 298 130 40 Lordswood .... 10 6 0 4 226 105 26 Bexley .......... 10 5 0 5 298 248 24 Faversham.... 10 4 0 6 138 216 20 Dartford Vall.. 10 4 0 6 156 379 18 Askean ......... 10 2 0 8 108 428 12 Greenwich .... 10 2 0 8 75 170 2 Snowdown.... 10 1 0 9 61 272 -2 Results: Bexley 24 Foots Cray 61, Greenwich 19 Askean 24, Lordswood 22 Brockleians 14, Snowdown C.W. 17 Faversham 20, Whitstable 80 Dartford Valley 0. Fixtures: Askean v Snowdown C.W., Brockleians v Greenwich, Dartford Valley v Lordswood, Faversham v Bexley, Foots Cray v Whitstable.