Pilgrims Play Winning Hand

ER 15 CANTERBURY PILGRMS 26

by David Haigh

A Friday night floodlit battle of the East Kent clubs was won more decisively by Pilgrims than the score line suggests. They were pretty much in control of this Kent One clash until the final minutes when two yellow cards reduced them to 13 players and Dover bit into a comfortable 26-5 lead with two tries. Pilgrims grew accustomed to the card game early on, but despite collecting two yellows in the first half they played a winning hand and went into the breaks holding a fifteen point lead. By that time prop Carter Oliver had been banished for ten minutes but excellent defence shut down Dover’s scoring chances. Canterbury applied pressure from the start and Alex Evans was first on the try list as his forwards rumbled over in the third minute. Hooker Stan Bull was then sin binned but a resilient Pilgrims shrugged that off and produced another forward constructed try for lock George Trapp, converted by Harrison Fermor. In the second quarter, Fermor added a penalty goal and Canterbury’s lead was only contained as they were held up over the line on the stroke of half time. Their least impressive spell came after the resumption, when handling errors and turnovers let them down, but it wasn’t until the 62nd minutes that Dover were able to capitalise with a try from their right wing. That drew a response from Pilgrims as they caught the home side sleeping with a tap penalty deep inside their own half. Good handling created an overlap for Barney Smith to finish with the try. They stretched away further through Fermor’s third penalty goal and even that late scoring flurry from Dover could not damage the better side.