Sunday 30th October 2005 Beccehamians 33 - Aylesford 22 A good turn-out by both sides resulted in us agreeing three 25 minute periods to get as much play time for the lads as possible. Aylesford turned up with some very large and ‘mature’ players who dwarfed a few of our biggest lads, so Beccs knew that this was going to be a bruising encounter before the first whistle was blown and so it proved to be. Beccs decided to KO up the slope, but with the wind and sun behind them. For the first 15 minutes, Aylesford could not get out of their half and apart from an occasional clearance kick were trenched in their 22M line. Tackles were going in hard and it was going to be a physical match. Penalties started to be conceded and after trying to run the ball a few times and kicking to touch for territory, Beccs decided to have a pot at goal to reward themselves for the pressure after a high tackle on Jamie, who had a controlled game at prop and hooker. Oliver Fitzgerald slotted it over from 35M out to give Beccs a 3 point advantage. Aylesford however, kept up the aggression and broke out after 18 minutes to score a try from distance and against the run of play to make it 3-5. From the re-start Beccs went back up the field and made fine ground through strong running from the back-row players, Steven Cavey making fine yardage. From a scrum 10M out Beccs broke blind through Steven, and Jamie took it on but was held a metre short. Good support work by the forwards cleared out the defenders for Luke Edmonds to pick and dive through to just score. The conversion was too far out for Oliver to convert. The first period ended with another high tackle from Aylesford and another warning from the ref to keep it lower and left Becc 8-5 ahead. Beccs made 8 changes for the second period and the lads continued with the same determination as displayed during the first period which was very pleasing to see. Aylesford continued to dispute decisions and this was their undoing all through the match, resulting in them being on the back foot for off-side and other infringements. From a 15M scrum and resulting maul and ruck, Steven Cavey broke blind and scored out wide for a 13-5 lead. Aylesford were not to be undone, and a break from his own 10M line saw the large Aylesford centre run though to score which was converted bringing them back into the game at 13-12. Beccs went down field again and finished off the period with a very good try. Working the ball through strong running the ball was held up 10M short, recycling it newcomer Scrum-half Max fed Sean Ellis who chose to go blind and found Conor O’Hehir in space. The big second row took it forward, drew the last man and passed to Harry Beazley to score his first try for the club in the corner, which he was rightly delighted by. The conversion was once again out of Oliver’s range. 18-12 to Beccs after 2 periods. Final period started and still all to play for which Aylesford obviously felt as they scored within the first minute bringing the scores back to 18-17. Beccs got re-fired up and scored another good try. Breaking into the Aylesford 22 on the left the ball was taken on by Steven towards the posts, he off-loaded it to Jamie, who taking the next player out released Ricky to take it further. Ricky drew another backs player and passed to Sean and then quickly onto Michael Crowther who seeing the line cut inside and scored wide out on the right whilst being tackled. Conversion was missed. 23-17. Beccs made some good tackles to keep Aylesford at bay and Oliver Robinson did well to stop a lad twice his size as did Harry earlier. From a turn over Steven belted the ball up field and used his considerable pace to catch the retreating Aylesford back division. A hack ahead and a foot race to the ball waiting invitingly in the in-goal area. Steven reaching out and grounding before the despondent Aylesford side could get back. 28-17 to Beccs who thought they were now clear, however, this was not to be and Aylesford scored again from distance through their strong running 'mature' centre to bring it back to 28-22. Tensions were starting to run high and tempers were starting to show as the tackles and rucking stepped up a level as both sides fought to keep the other out with the ref warning both sides again to keep their cool and focus. During the final 5 minutes Beccs encamped themselves in the Aylesford 22 and from a lineout the ball was knocked back into the Aylesford in-goal area and James Hampton completed the scoring by being first to dive on the loose ball. Final score 33-22 to Beccs. Good performances were put in by a number of players and the overall team performance was very pleasing. In a difficult, close fought hard game, the match was ultimately won by the more disciplined side who got on with the game instead of disputing decisions and this was a significant lesson to be learnt by ALL.