Category: 5th XV

Deal & Betteshanger Lions 2nd XV 24 – 46 Zingari

Again, the Zingari take maximum points with a display of open running rugby against a sometimes-rampant Lions pack. The city side opened their account with an early try from Thomas, followed minutes later by George Ayres touching down before convert his own try. This early onslaught by Canterbury prompted the Lions pack into action, with some devastating drives into the city defence that yielded a well taken converted try before the Zingari managed to stem the flow. First with Thomas and then Brad Allchurch crashing over the line, and with George Ayres conversions the city side looked to be building a comfortable lead. However, the Lions had other ideas, their forwards pressured Canterbury into conceding three points with a penalty before snatching a try and conversion just before halftime.

The second half started as the first finished with Deal & Betts forwards breaking the city line with a try & conversion putting them within striking distance of the city. Canterbury pack aware of the situation sensibly played to their strengths, while the Lions well drilled pack dominated the set piece the city exceled in the open broken play keeping the ball alive. First to take advantage of this style of play was Toby Allen and George Ayres both touching down out wide. Deal & Betts Lions now stretched across the field found it more difficult to combat these tactics, and in the last few minutes Canterbury sealed it up with a move started on halfway spreading the ball down the line for Allen to squeeze in the corner to tie up the match.

Tries
Thomas 2
George Ayres 2
Toby Allen 3
Brad Allchurch

Conversions
George Ayres 3

Zingari 40pts. Tunbridge Wells 3rd 39pts.

The Zingari take maximum points by the narrowest possible margin against a highly competitive Tunbridge Wells 3rd team. The city side were made to work hard from the outset with Tunbridge laying down a marker in the opening minutes with a try out wide. Canterbury’s response minutes later was equally swift with centre Will Rayner breaking the line to touch down and Simon Crossly conversion put Canterbury ahead. This state of affairs didn’t last long with the Tunbridge forwards forcing over out wide, followed by Canterbury wingman Joe Rumsey outstripping the defence in the corner. Tunbridge again hit back through their forwards this time with a converted try followed by Canterbury’s Will Rayner interception running the ball unopposed under the posts for Crossley’s conversion, that was to prove crucial with the final score. With Half time approaching Tunbridge hit a purple patch aided by some poor Canterbury tackling racking up three quick tries, and a conversion giving them a comfortable half time lead.

The second half started with Canterbury pulling one converted try back thanks to a jinking run by Will Rayner, and crossly conversion, before we saw Tunbridge’s best try of the afternoon with their wingman diving into the corner to touch down. However, from this point onward the city forwards raised their game producing attacking ball that stretched the Tunbridge defence. The city backs exploited the overlaps with Will & Joe running in tries for Simon Crossley conversions to give the city side the narrowest margin to sealed the game.

Tries
Will Raynor 4
Joe Rumsey 2

Conversions
Simon Crossley 5

Deal & Betts Lion 3rd 19 Canterbury Zingari 52.

The Zingari gave one of their best all-round performances of the season to cement the Kent Rural C East league title. The Lions started well using a powerful pack to pressure the Canterbury try line before bursting through to open their account. This looked ominous as the city side had to counter the heavier Lions forwards through speed and agility, That opened the way for Will Rayner to break free an go under the posts for his first of his six tries. The city pack found the right formula, their backs feasting on quick ball spread wide early opening up a Lions ragged defence for Will Rayner make two more touch downs. Kevin Stevens, who ended with six conversions, topped them up but next on the score sheet was Jonnie Gaynor. It looked all one way traffic until the Lions forwards worked their way to the city try line and broke through for a converted try. Undeterred, more Canterbury pressure was rewarded when Raynor intercepted and sprinted to the line, and a few minutes later ran through weak tackles to end under the posts. If Canterbury thought they were going to carry on where they had left off, they were mistaken. In the opening minutes of the new half Lions broke free from a maul in midfield for a converted try. Their pack now took on more of the work load but the city defence was up to the job and they eventually got back on the front font. As the game when into the last ten minutes a now visibly stretched the Lions side opened up for Raynor to touch down and Stevens to slot the conversion. Canterbury launched one final attack for their best try of the afternoon, the forwards driving to within a few metres of the line and sending quick ball to the backs where that man Rayner again found the finishing touch.

Canterbury 27pts. Ashford 3rd 24pts.

The city took on a strong Ashford side that tested Canterbury in their bid to remain top of their table. It was the city that stuck first with a typical charging run from Brad Alchurch touching down in the corner to open the account, but Ashford were not overawed by this early score and probably had their best passage of play of the game breaking through for two trys in the twentieth and twenty seventh minute. Canterbury tightened up with their forwards taking charge in the loose making ground before Matt Capper finished off near the posts, and Jerome Swan to slot the conversion to give the city a slender two-point half time lead.

The second half started well for Canterbury with Jack Rougham out of the blocks breaking the Ashford defence for a well taken try, both sides now were locked in the battle of the forwards with the city having the slight edge in the amount of turnover ball thanks to the contribution of Alex Acaster and the pack. This gave their backs the opportunity to exploit a stretched defence making the pressure pay with a try from Leon Goode putting clear water between the two sides for the first time. The city pack was holding up well both in the set piece and the loose, but a moments lack of concentration and a well-executed move put Ashford back in contention with a well taken converted try. The Zingari had to do it all again with the forwards working their way into striking distance of the Ashford line before eagle eyed Justin Lello spotted a half gap on the blindside of a maul to dive in the corner. This score was needed as Ashford throwing everything into the closing minutes were rewarded setting up a maul a few meters from the Canterbury line then sending the ball wide outstripping the cover to touch down in the corner, too late to alter the outcome but demonstrated the hard-fought nature of this contest. Maybe a closer win than the Zingari would have liked thanks to the competitive nature of Ashford, but a small significant step to their league title ambitions.

Try
Brad Alchurch 1
Matt Capper 1
Jack Rougham 1
Leon Goode 1
Justin Lello 1
Conversion
Jerome Swan 1

​Kev Stevens​​​ 4 con

Thanet 18pts. Canterbury 17pts

The Zingari suffered a setback in their East Kent League losing out to Thanet 3rd by the narrowest possible margin. This was a fiercely fought contest from the beginning as you would expect with these two sides, with most of the action taking place midfield. It was Canterbury who first managed the break through with a well taken break for Will Rayner to touch down, with Brad Allchurch conversion to follow. This spurred Thanet a few minutes later into action with an unconverted try of their own, Thanet maintained the pressure and were soon rewarded with their second try of the afternoon. The city defence tightened and looked to be managing the situation when on the stroke of halftime Thanet broke free from a maul outside the Canterbury twenty-two finding themselves in the clear to touch down.

At the turn round the halftime team talk must have worked as the city side clawed their way back bottling up Thanet in the midfield before making some probing attacks of their own, this eventually gave Will Rayner the chance to finish off his second try of the afternoon with Brad Allchurch adding the extras. With a single point now separating the two sides the city side put on the pressure, only to be blocked by a desperate Thanet defence. This held out until deep into stoppage time before they were forced into conceding a penalty converted by Allchurch to put the city side ahead. The referee decided there was still time for the restart that Canterbury gathered deep in their twenty-two when a moment of madness struck, instead of keeping the ball tight they decided to play the ball wide with disastrous consequences conceding a penalty to give Thanet the win with the last kick of the game.

Zingari 39pts Deal & Betts 2nds 7pts

Try

Will Rayner 2 – Luke O’Regan 3 – Jerome Weigh 2 

Conversion

Luke O’Regan 2

The Zingari took another step in their East Kent League taking on Deal & Bettshanger Lions at Merton lane with a solid performance from both their forwards and backs. It didn’t take long for the city side to get on the scoreboard with will Rayner evading his tacklers to touch down out wide, and ten minutes later returning to the fold after a long absence Luke O’Regan showed us he still had the appetite for the try line with his first try of the afternoon. The Zingari forwards battling hard managed to keep the Lions pended in their own half for long periods, and with the amount of clean possession, Will Rayner was on hand with his second try of the afternoon converted by O’Regan. The city side was beginning to build a comfortable lead when Jez Weigh added to the cushion on the stroke of halftime, spotting a gap on the blind side of a maul took a pass to squeeze in at the corner.

At the turn round, Weigh was on hand again in the opening minutes following pressure from the forwards with a try from short range, and with O’Regan conversion Canterbury began to look out of sight. However, the Lions had other ideas using their forward’s power, and keeping the ball close they started to make inroads into Canterbury territory, it was now the city that had to defend. It was only the city’s fierce tackling that managed to stem the tide before Luke O’Regan put matters beyond reach. With Canterbury getting the ball wide for O’Regan he showed he hadn’t forgotten his finishing skills with two more tries to complete his hat trick, and put the city side beyond reach. The Lions despite this setback continued to mount ferocious attacks, and in the dying moments after camping on the city’s line broke through for a well-deserved consolation converted try.

The following day after the game, we received a message from Bill Hobba, Chairman of Kent Society of Rugby Football Union Referees. In his message, he stated that the Zingari V Deal game was refereed by a young official at the start of her refereeing journey, and understandably mistakes were made during the game. Bill went on to say –

“The players’ attitude towards her was tremendous and they (and Deal) supported her through the game with barely a murmur. It was exemplary and you and they should be proud. It was a timely reminder that the best of our game is alive and well!”

This was a different Whitstable from their previous encounter, the Whitstable pack stopped Canterbury from making any serious inroads until twenty minutes into the first half. It was down to Brad Allchurch making a welcome return to the club setting off on a charging run from deep touching down out wide, to give the city side a slim lead. Whitstable pack having the slight edge at the set piece managed to maintain their fair share of possession but seemed unable to make any meaningful breakthrough, mainly due to some fierce tackling that secured the city side a small but significant halftime lead.

At the change round it looked as if things would remain the same until ten minutes in when Will Rayner made a breakthrough to go over near the posts, and with Kev Stevens’ conversion at least daylight could now be seen between the two sides. Whitstable’s response was to try and exercise some dominance using some accurate long-range clearance kicks that seemed to be very effective, but with time running out the city backs caught the Whitstable backs time and again behind the gain line opening up all sorts of possibilities. First to take advantage was Mark Stone slipping through the defence for a converted try, followed by Will Rayner’s second of the afternoon. With the city forwards still keeping up their work rate they unleashed their backs for one final attack in the dying moments, finished by Richard Collins’ tackle-breaking run to go under the posts, and with Kev Stevens added conversion sealed the game for the city side.

Try 

Richard Collins 1

Mark Stone 1

Brad Allchurch 1

Will Rayner 2

Conversions

Kevin Stevens 3