Medway 23, Thurrock 8

THUROCK RFC travelled to Rochester for the last game of 2019 hoping to avenge an earlier defeat at Oakfield.

With several players missing owing to injury and seasonal obligations, Thurrock got off to a good start.

After some strong runs from Anthony Catchpole, Dritan Loka and Charlie Russo, Thurrock laid siege to the Medway line before an elbow injury to Rob Murphy disrupted their organisation.

Sam Reilly proved a good substitute but a long kick to the corner by fly-half Dan Harvey put Medway on the front foot.

A flowing back movement left debutant Ahmed Aminu isolated and Connor Chalmers accelerated past the cover defence for the opening score. Harvey converted with a fine kick from the corner which ricocheted off the post before cannoning off the cross-bar to scrape to success.

From the resulting kick-off, Thurrock regained possession and started to put pressure on the Medway defence. Some robust tackling from Aminu, Nunn and Carey put the away side on top.

Jake Barrand started to turn the Medway defence with some remarkable "siege-gun" spiralling kicks.

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From a penalty, Barrand pushed Medway into a corner and Thurrock set up a driving maul. Suddenly the defence opened like the Red Sea and a grateful Ryan Wilkins charged through the gap. Unfortunately Barrand was unable to add the extras but notched a penalty shortly after.

There followed long periods of pressure from the Oakfield outfit, but all momentum was lost as Medway were awarded a cornucopia of penalties to escape! Harvey kicked a couple of straightforward penalties to give Medway a half-time lead 13-8.

As the second-half commenced, the weather worsened and suddenly Thurrock were under siege! Unlike Mafeking there was to be no relief not even for Christmas!

Another penalty by Harvey increased the lead and with the kick-off going directly into touch the game de-generated into a "scrum-fest" and a stranglehold from which Thurrock could not escape. As manfully as Chris Shorter and Dan Carey strove, Medway closed the game down.

Medway skipper, Tom Beaumont has been an outstanding player for Medway for several seasons. As he received the ball in an outside channel, he stepped inside to leave the Thurrock defence  "spread-eagled" across the turf to record a superb solo effort. Harvey converted to complete the scoring.

For the rest of the game, Thurrock held their line with courageous defence putting in an inordinate amount of tackles.  Earl Gorman and Phill Ellis struggled valiantly to break out and a quick 22 from Jake Barrand almost caught Medway napping, but ultimately there was little comfort in this game.

This had been a fine rearguard action, but all in vain!

The first-half of the season has been something of a disappointment for the Thurrock faithful. After the excitement of winning the first five games,injuries and unavailabilities have taken their toll.

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However, with players returning and a fresh momentum, the New Year promises much.

With the new school taking shape and a new Rugby Academy at Palmer's taking shape,the future looks good. Now they need an upward surge to match last season's finish and their supporters will enter the New Year with fresh optimism.