Hastings & Bexhill III  6 - Tonbridge Juddians V  19

The 3rds of Hastings & Bexhill took to the field for the first time in 6 weeks on Saturday in this hastily arranged friendly fixture. H&B were due to play Gillingham in a league game but unfortunately the opposition were unable to field at team so the game was awarded to H&B as a walkover.

For some reason the long layoff seemed to have reignited player’s interest and at the start of the game Hastings had 26 players creating a major logistical nightmare for team manager Brian Mcneilly as he tried to give everyone a game.

Tonbridge play in a division above Hastings but the early exchanges were very even on what was still a waterlogged pitch in places. Hastings took the lead midway through the first half via the boot of Peter Eames from a penalty conceded 22 metres out. Although Hastings continued to match the opposition up front their young backs gained large amounts of ground against a threequarter line of Hastings that were not used to playing in some of their positions.

Eventually this lack of defensive nous broke down and their very fast winger ran in the score in the right corner to make the score 5-3 to Tonbridge. With ten minutes to go Hastings were reduced to 14 men as Robbie Simmons was sin binned for a high tackle in what was rapidly becoming a fractious game that the ref was struggling to hold together. Hastings managed to hold out to half time without conceding another score.

The second half began at a frenetic pace with both teams conceding silly penalties as tempers began to rise and the quality of play diminish.  Hastings did put together some good passages of play and pushed Tonbridge back but just as they looked like scoring Hastings conceded silly penalties that proved to be their undoing. Despite conceding more penalties than the opposition Hastings edged in front via another penalty from Peter Eames.

Unfortunately this was to be the last hurrah for Hastings as the bigger and faster Tonbridge team upped their game in the last 15 minutes by scoring two more tries, both converted. The second try came when Hastings conceded a penalty on their own five metre line and the Tonbridge forwards rolled over the line. The final try came via a kick and chase touched down by their winger in the corner.