Askeans vs Beccehamians - 17 April 2004 Kent 1 (Won 5-17) With a third place finish in the league at stake Beccehamians had everything to play for as they travelled to Blackheath for the last match of the season. In front of a large home crowd and several Beccs supporters, Beccehamians earned their convincing win over Askeans in the afternoon sunshine. It was the home side that started strongest though. Attacking straight from kick off the Askeans pack managed to push the usually strong Beccs forwards into their own half. From this good position, Askeans were able to spin the ball out to their experienced centre and looked in danger of scoring on several occasions. But once again the Beccs defence was solid and some excellent individual tackling from Joe Goodwillie and Dean Francis stopped the oppositions backs from putting any points on the board. The early attack from Askeans eventually kick-started the Beccs team into action. The Beccs pack regained their form of previous matches and started to scrumage and maul well setting up good ball the backs to spin out wide for several counter attacks. A combination of good defending and handling errors prevented Beccs from getting over the line and both sides were stuck in a dead-lock. Just when the first half looked set to finish without a score, Beccs found a gap in the Askeans defence and took full advantage of it. From a well executed kick through into space, winger Steve Molsher beat everyone else to the ball in front of the post and touched down for his first team début try. Askeans tried to come back before the whistle but Beccs finished the half with strong tackling to hold them off, including a powerful tackle from prop Marc Dennis to bring down the dangerous Askeans halfback. The second half started in much the same way as the first with the ball travelling tennis style between the two teams. The battle raged most strongly at the back of the scrums with both eight men packs taking the ball on to good advantage and creating a brick wall an equal number of times. Scrum half Glen Richards showed that size doesn't matter putting in several crunching tackles on the much larger Askeans back row. When Beccs found their rhythm they looked the better side, opening up the park with quick lines of running and strong breaks. Captain Marc Dennis led by example crashing through the opposition pack and straight over the scrum-half who only just managed to bring him down by his shirt to prevent a try. The second Beccs try did come later and in style. From the half way line the ball was shipped down the Beccs line to full back Martin Hennessy who cut round the outside of the defence and flew down the wing to score in the corner. He managed to get his breath back to clear his second conversion of the match and followed up minutes later with a successful penalty taking the final score to 17-5. Despite the strong performance the good result was in the end not enough to secure the much desired third spot as other league results went against the West Wickham team. However in finishing fourth this season, Beccehamians have a great deal to be proud of. Throughout the season they have shown commitment and determination as a team and individual strengths in set pieces and tackling have shone through. If the team can build upon their success, next season looks set to be an exciting one for Beccehamians! For more information about the men's first team and the whole club call Marc Dennis on 0208 402 6867 or e-mail 1st XV Captain.