5/12/09 v Old Gravesendians Won 23 - 12

H&B battle back to clinch first victory

HASTINGS & BEXHILL’S long-awaited and desperately-sought first win of the season finally arrived in convincing style at a dark and squally William Parker ground on Saturday.

With five of this season’s props unavailable, and missing a specialist number 8, H&B went into this clash with fourth-from-bottom OGs wondering if the win they were targeting had been hobbled before they even took the pitch.

But if H&B had any doubts, they didn’t show them on the pitch. They set their stall out in the first few minutes, when Piers Claughton playing at full back took a perfectly timed pass from his brother Kit and sliced through OG’s defence, chipping over the head his opposite number, catching the ball and popping a pass to put the hosts on the front foot in the visitors’ 22. OG’s conceded a defensive penalty, and Paul Sandeman, who was in imperious place-kicking form all afternoon, gave H&B an early lead.

The rest of the quarter was hard-fought between two sides eager to run the ball in the still-dry conditions. H&B’s forwards, playing more effectively as a pack than they have all season, dominated their own lineouts with excellent throwing by Ben Davies and athletic receiving by Jimmy Adams, while the makeshift front row - including debutant and man-of-the-match Adam Williams - were rock solid in the set scrum, and an equally unfamiliar back row combination controlled the ball well and tackled with determination.

The backline, released by fly half Kit Claughton’s accomplished distribution, were causing all sorts of problems for the visitors, with centre partners Ashley Diedericks and Richard Brooks right up in their faces in defence, and making dangerous breaks, and Ben Campbell back to his powerhouse, fleet-footed best.

But as the half wore on, there were worrying signs that H&B’s perennial weaknesses were undermining all their good work: turnovers and penalties at the tackle area were preventing well-worked attacks from ending in scores, while OG’s well-drilled attackers twice exploited defensive mistakes to take the lead. Firstly a relatively soft try was run in on 20 minutes, despite good tackling by defenders. Then an accomplished switch in H&B’s 22 caught the defence flat-footed for a try under the posts and a 3-12 lead which the visitors took into half time.

It was clear that if OGs scored quickly in the second half, the game would be up for H&B, but with the visitors’ huge prop off following a savage tackle by Kit Claughton, H&B got a big drive on at the scrum, and with Sandeman and Jimmy Adams pressuring OGs, the ball was kicked on by H&B and Adams won the race to touch it down, Sandeman converting to close the gap to 10-12.

OGs still knew the win could be theirs, and they mounted waves of attacks close to H&B’s line, but the defence was massive and H&B eventually cleared their lines. By now the rain was falling, the light fading, Piers Claughton had moved to scrum half with Tom Brampton on at fullback. When a penalty for a late tackle was converted by Sandeman with 15 minutes of normal time left, the game was anyone’s. But it was H&B whose nerve held, and whose hunger proved the greater.

When Sandeman received a kick-off and set up an attack through Piers Claughton and his brother, who took it up and launched another H&B onslaught, OGs suddenly looked a beaten side.

They dug deep for some brave defence to hold off H&B’s sustained attack on their line, but eventually debutant winger Murray Whittington showed the searing pace H&B has lacked all season to arc round defenders and touch down in the corner. A great conversion by Sandeman took H&B to 20-12.

Instead of sitting back on their lead, H&B showed a welcome killer touch, and pressed for further scores, earning another penalty, converted by Sandeman.

At the final whistle, players’ joy was palpable. Not only was this a vital win, but it was a step-up team performance, good enough to have beaten half the sides in London Three.

H&B: Roche, Davies, Williams, Clifford, Adams, Cullingford, Pearce (R McManus), Cullingford, Sandeman, Steadman (Brampton), K Claughton, Campbell, Diedericks, Brooks, Whittington, P Claughton (c). Sub: J J Dawes.