February 20^th

Old Dunstonians are a club based in Beckenham with good facilities but only one team below the under 18 level and that team is the U13 side, many of whom used to play for Blackheath last year. The game was always going to be a difficult one and Old Dunstonians particularly wanted to try themselves out against Brighton.

There was an early start from Brighton in order to get to Old Dunstonians in good time for a 10 o’clock training session prior to the scheduled 11 o’clock kick off. The day was cold and the opposition looked both big and well drilled. I personally wasn’t sure how up for the game the team were.

Dunstonians seemed to dominate the early exchange with their pack choosing to maul wherever they could, even within those early exchanges the boys had to pull off some difficult tackles to keep a strong Old Ds pack at bay. Slowly however the Brighton pack fought to gain parity, pack leader James K, using all his guile and strength, seemed to get his hands on the ball at those mauls when we mere spectators couldn’t understand how. Nonetheless the Old Ds N’8 was a very influential player who directed the mauls and also made great runs off the back of the scrum –resulting in the first try to Old Ds.

The Brighton pack started to win some quick ball and provided the Brighton three quarters with the opportunity to move the ball. At times the handling was superb and slick and the midfield of Jack Taggart and Will Duffell put the England centres to shame. They got the ball quickly into the hands of Ollie Richards leaving him with enough time and space to make some deep incursions into enemy territory. Taggart in particular made sure that any untidy ball was cleaned up and reset. It was at the end of one of these passages of play that wing forward Alec Rickard, who was tireless in his support work, made the final carry and drive over the try line for Brighton’s first score. Around this time Louis Frith had to go off after a particularly strong tackle. He was replaced by Adam Benzecrit going into the back row. The pack was reorganized and utility player Matthew Ward, one of the heartbeats of the side, moved to lock. Ward dug deep to make a telling contribution to the forward game.

The Old Ds fought back hard and their No7 rather cleverly targeted Brighton’s inspirational scrum half Harry Leonard often late tackling Leonard after he had passed the ball.

Brighton responded with a terrific performance from the front row, although they were heavily outgunned in both height and weight. Kit Onyett put in what most have been the game of the year for a hooker at any level in the club; eventually taking five balls against the head, assisted by Harvey Packham and Charlie Maltby. Packham scored our second try under the posts after a long sweeping movement by the threes and the back row. The supporters cheered partly because Brighton now took the lead and partly because it’s always a popular score when a prop forward gets a try. This was converted by Chris Byrne. Dunstonians fought back with some driving mauls and some great attacks by their winger who was possibly the biggest player on the pitch. However he was marked by Tom Chan who although much smaller of stature was probably the player with the largest heart on the pitch: result 3-0 in tackles in Chan’s favour.

Sam Smith was at fullback for mot of the game and although of similar stature to Tom he also made critical tackles at important times. Sam also scored a try when he joined the line, unlike his attempted drop goal which was an audacious attempt to increase the lead deep into the second half.

In the second half the Old Ds increased their forward effort and their number eight made a number of large runs upfield and looked certain to score, but new boy Anthony Barger picked himself off the floor to twice bring him down with the assistance of Brighton’s “go every where” No 8 Alex Spurgeon. The game now looked nip and tuck with increased forward effort from Old Ds. The handling of Brighton’s backs began to let them down with a couple of dropped passes and a couple of times the wingers opted to step back inside instead of running flat out on the outside of their men, then Leonard made a couple of telling breaks from fullback after Luke Payne had come on at scrum half. Byrne then made fifty yards to score a try, which Leonard converted. Again the Brighton pack took the game to Dunstonians. Maltby (after a great game amongst the muck and bullets) went off to be replaced at prop by James “Two hands” Thomas. Thomas, normally a hooker, brought fresh energy to the forward exchanges and made the game sure. The final score was 24 – 10 in Brighton’s favour.

After one of the most exhilarating and hard fought matches I have seen the respect the two teams had for each other was apparent, as they mixed and played pool together.