26/09/09  v Whitstable Lost 12 - 23

A THIRD successive league defeat left H&B’s developing side disappointed that they’d not managed to convert attacking ambition into a win, but still buoyant that their latent team talent was developing game by game.

For what is a small squad by London Three standards, H&B haven’t had much fortune over the past couple of seasons in keeping players fit and available. Apart from missing the vital services of the last three captains - all long-term injured - a further half dozen first choicers were missing on Saturday, two to eleventh hour illness.

It meant a debut for young hooker Ryan Hopkins - who performed with sufficient aplomb to earn Lamplugh & Morgan man-of-the-match, and unexpected starts for Rob McManus, George Cullingford and Martin Sheppard.

Playing in unseasonally hot sunshine on an arid pitch presumably imported from the South African veldt, H&B set out their stall from the start, attacking with gusto at every opportunity. Pick and go from the pack, with powerful aggressive carrying from Mike Lawless and Jimmy Adams, drove into the heart of the hosts, while the backline, despite being weakened by injuries, looked much more confident. Ben Petty showed some mesmerising running lines, and the kicking from hand all round was a huge improvement on previous weeks. Skipper Piers Claughton, driving the team on, created a number of chances with darting breaks and canny kicks, as well as policing the fringes with some huge tackles.

But Whitstable’s defence, stretched as they were at times, proved resilient - and as in previous weeks, handling errors, sloppy final passes and turnovers in the tackle, cost H&B dear. An early penalty was boosted 15 minutes into the game by a well-worked counterattacking try that caught H&B’s attackers out of defensive position.

H&B remained ambitious, if still not clinical enough, and the game swung from end to end without score until halftime, leaving H&B by no means out of it.

Five minutes into the second half, Whitstable camped on H&B’s line, finally breaking resolute defence with a polished move through the hands, to take a daunting 15-0 lead.

But, unlike previous weeks, H&B didn’t lose their shape, and though outgunned in the scrum, they were proving athletic in the lineout, and it was from a lineout inside Whitstable’s 22 that Lawless hammered through the defence for a try, well converted by Dave Milham, to make it 15-7. The hosts hit back almost at once with a try from a tap penalty, 20-7. Debutant Max Finzel, who had shown flair and real promise thus far, was yellow carded for dissent, and with a penalty pushing Whitstable’s lead to 23-7, another H&B collapse threatened.

Instead, the visitors rallied, and with evergreen Nick Edmunds coming on for a dynamic cameo performance, renewed their attacks, and from a penalty minutes before the final whistle, Mark Piotrowski powered over for the final score of the game, 23-12.

Despite the reversals, morale and self-belief remain high in the H&B camp - not least because the team look as if they’re enjoying playing.

There’s a break tomorrow, Saturday, which will allow several injured and unavailable players to return to host Crowborough (also without a win so far) the following week.

H&B: Spatchurst, Hopkins, Sheppard, Piotrowski, Adams, Cullingford, Sandeman, M Lawless, P Claughton (c), Milham, Steadman, Campbell, Finzel, R McManus (Edmunds), Petty. Subs not used: O’Connor, Sewell.