Deacons vs Gillingham Anchorians 2s Match Report

Forget Christmas Spirit, Saturday was all about Deacons Rugby Spirit as we waved off our amigo.

Before getting into the meat & two veg of last Saturday’s performance I need to recognise a number of regular Deacons players.
When we have a game there are those who consistently put their hand up to play come rain or shine. These same players on Saturday when the opposition were short-handed stepped up to even the sides, playing for the opposition for the full 80, taking a half or sacrificing their own game time demonstrating the real spirit of social rugby & true heart of the Deacons. Dylan Coyle played a number of key roles in the backline for Gillingham, Matt Capper joined them in the second half and made an instant impact & Jorge Edwards dropped out of playing the first half for us to play 14 a side. Well done Gentlemen, you’re an absolute credit to this team.

We were lucky enough to pick up a fantastic talent and have him join us for a few games. It was sad to learn David Hierro was heading back to Mexico after the game. His fan club turned up to wish him well & the Deacons revelled at the thought of playing in front of a crowd of nearly 10 people.

We started a little late having sorted out teams and numbers, huge kudos to Gillingham for getting their players from all over Kent to put a team out.

Deacons started strong. Receiving the kick off and making moves into the opposition territory. It didn’t take long to realise we would have to work hard as Gillingham were there to give us a game.
Competition over the ball was tough. The breakdowns were equally well contested and Gillingham had some strong ball carriers working around the field.
With Brad Nicholson back, the scrum was solid and when Ronnie West settled in as hooker we would end up winning 2 great scrums against the head across the game.

The opening 15 was a real tussle. Back & forth between the 22’s both teams hitting and missing tackles, encountering handling errors and occasionally running out of space ball in hand. Deacons defense remained strong and Anchorians rarely troubled inside our 5.
It was only a matter of time before we broke the deadlock. With most of the team we put out against Deal playing again the added cohesion clear. It was as some smart handling & real pace from Rob Horan at 12 who passed to our flying Mexican David to put him in under the posts. What a way to sign off! The crowd went wild!
With our tails up we went again. Receiving the restart and working from side to side. A loose ball, some exceptional footballing skill & a 50m foot race saw Callum Townshend get across the line – a strong contender for man of the match, he continues to impress on the flank, following plays across the field and nailing some brilliant tackles in defense.

The team were buzzing. Gillingham weren’t giving up, and there was no time to relax.
Up stepped Dan Franco. The 9 & 10 working out forward pods to give us field position before unleashing the centre combo alongside Reilly Fleming.
Dan added 2 more tries before half time demonstrating his strength and speed.

The second half saw much of the same, when we had the ball we were in control. There were a number of stoppages for injuries and handling errors but if Gillingham looked as if they were going to break, our defence rallied.
We released our on form winger Ed ‘the excorcet’ Exley for the 5th try of the afternoon which was converted once more by Dan Head & Dan Franco closed the scoring with the 6th try and his hat trick.

We finished 42 – 0. Said farewell to our friend and MOTM David Hierro & headed to the sheds buoyed with a sense of achievement and accomplishment that comes from playing the way we did.
Thanks again to those Zingari Werriers that turned out to play and support us.

Tries:
David Hierro
Dan Franco x 3
Callum Townshend
Ed Exley
Cons:
Dan Head x 6

We go again Sat 20th December. Away vs Folkestone 2’s. Come and join us