Beccehamians Vs Askeans - 29 November 2003 Kent 1 (Won 13-10) Despite the wettest and windiest weather seen at Beccs this season, the home side pulled off a convincing victory against Askeans by two tries to one. It was a good win for Daniel Kemp, standing in as skipper for the injured Marc Dennis. Beccs started off well keeping the ball tight in the forwards and working their way down the field, but Askeans held off their attacks well and the ball remained in the centre of the park for much of the opening play. The Askean's backs used their first half wind advantage well and made some lovely kicks towards the Beccs try line but, despite the conditions, Jim Bryan at flyhalf put in some good clearances and denied the visitors any real chance of scoring early on. Adapting to the weather well, Beccs managed to work some good play to get the ball back into the oppositions half. A lot of hard work from the forwards, with Sean Jones once again dominating the rucks and Rick Wright showing his strength in the mauls, gained Beccs some good advantage from which the first try came. Number 8, Justin Ellis found a gap and raced towards the try line, managing to get the pass away to winger Steve Benham just before he hit the deck. Steve turned on his pace and beat two Askeans to the line to score a great try in awful weather. Askeans came back hard with some good driving mauls and good scrumaging. Simon Russell, making his debut at lose head, soon found his feet, Beccs remained the dominant team and Askeans only managed a penalty kick to make the first half score 5-3. Going into the second half ahead gave the home side more confidence and seemed to lift their game. Scrummaging improved, lineouts were won and the forwards pulled off some excellent driving mauls with replacement front row, Stuart Hayler, making a welcome return to power up the field. Lock Paul Russell worked tirelessly all match to secure lose ball and win back the advantage for Beccs on many occasions. Scrum half, Ben Wood had the game of his season gaining vital territory with some well executed box kicks and punching through the Askean's defence as Beccs moved closer towards another try. The points came with a well worked backs move that saw Jim Bryan break over the line for his first try of the season. With a win in their sights Beccs lost concentration allowing Askeans to over-power the pack and crash over for a converted try which was to be the last score of the match. In the wet weather both sides looked tired in the final stages of the match. Mistakes were creeping with both backs and forwards from the home team throwing sloppy passes and losing possession. However, Beccs managed to hang in and maintain their lead, taking them to fifth in the league. The weather had prevented any chance of running rugby but Beccs put in a solid performance in a match a lot friendlier than the conditions it was played in. Beccs are hoping to repeat this victory next week, away to Gillingham in the league. For more information on Beccehamians call first team Captain Marc Dennis on 020 8402 6867