Pilgrims Beat The Weather

CRANBROOK 0 CANTERBURY PILGRIMS 38

by Dan Gill

The weather was always going to have an impact on Pilgrims ability to play their usual brand of expansive rugby but they overcame that challenge to stay top of Counties Kent One. It didn’t take them long to register the first score of the day with tight head prop Nathan Morris quickest to react when the wind played havoc with a Cranbrook line out and he dived on the loose ball, with Owain Collins adding the extras. The backs on both sides were finding handling difficult with dropped balls and wayward passes halting many promising attacks. It was left to Morris to set the tone for the rest of the half when he forced his way over from close range for his second try.. Prop Dan Gill made an instant impact on his return from injury to force his way over from close range for another score after a series of good pick and go drives by the forwards and push the lead to seventeen. After the first 30 mins the Pilgrims backs started to get to grips with the conditions and were attacking well from deep with Guy Hilton, Adrian Geddes and Max Campbell running the ball back with intent whenever Cranbrook tried to clear their lines. The direct work of Pilgrims back row of Al Evans, Harvey Furneaux and Charlie McGovern should have led to another score but, after doing the hard bit, Evans was held up over the line when trying to run the ball under the posts. Pilgrims were dominant at the scrum and after forcing a penalty they kicked deep into Cranbrook territory. Good line out ball set the platform for the tight forwards to go work. Strong drives from Will Hunt and Jake Dengate made inroads before Gill battered his way over for his second touchdown to secure the bonus point and make the conversion a simple one for Collins The half time lead was 24-0. The second half even more of a challenge for Canterbury as the slope and the elements were in Cranbrook’s favour. But Pilgrims defence has been a major feature of their play this season, and again it was no exception with centres Tom Best and Sonny Trew-Neville shutting down Cranbrook attacks out wide and McGovern, Furneaux, Dengate and hooker Demery dealing with the tight drives well. Cranbrook held out for the first 20 mins of the half before debutant scrum half Henry Carruthers, who was dangerous all afternoon with his sniping runs, jinked past a number of defenders to dot down.. Sonny Trew-Neville then added a sixth try with his trade mark direct running. Will Hilton converted to complete Pilgrims victory as they look forward to a tasty looking contest against Heathfield & Waldron at the MTG in two weeks time.

Pilgrims: Bloomfield, Demery, Morris, Kenny, Hunt, McGovern, Furneaux, Evans, Caruthers, Collins, Geddes, Best, Trew-Neville, Campbell, G HIlton, Gill, Dengate, W Hilton.