Hastings and Bexhill had always proved a happy hunting ground for Beccs, having won on all of their previous encounters. However Beccs most recent trip to the seaside was not to prove as fruitful.
With the backdrop of the sea and with a gusting gale blowing down the pitch Beccs kicked off and enjoyed much of the early possession dominating field position. Beccs once again dominated the breakdown and set piece and could have easily scored a couple of early tries were it not for a few errors and some over keenness to cross the line.
However it was the home side that scored the first try against the run of play after 10mins, getting a penalty and kicking to the corner and driving over from the subsequent lineout, conversion missed 5-0.
Beccs kicked off again and enjoyed much of the possession, with Hastings constantly infringing due to Beccs dominance at the breakdown and scrum. Mike O’Hehir was by now fully in his stride and making yards from attacks round the fringes. The talented backline lead by Mike Glover was also looking dangerous however never really got a chance to fire due to the constant infringements from the H&B pack.
However once again it was the home side that made the best of their opportunities a tap penalty from outside the 22 made ground a couple of offloads and Beccs were 10-0 down.
Beccs again kicked off and thanks to a number of penalties enjoyed a period of possession, the visitors finally broke the deadlock after a scrappy lineout with Grant Robinson quickest to pounceon the loose ball 10-5. With Beccs confidence lifted there was another penalty by Max Carroll just before half time.
HALF TIME 10-8
With the wind into their faces the back 3 were kept very busy clearing up the constant H&B kicks for the corner. Despite the change in wind the H&B pack continued to infringe at the breakdown with the ref finally loosing his patience and binning a player for diving off his feet, moments later another H&B player was sent to the bin for a trip and Beccs were looking to press home their extra man advantage.
Beccs finally broke the deadlock from a scrum with a set move with Callum Murray going over in the corner for a try on his debut and giving Beccs the lead for the first time 13-10. Beccs turned down the opportunity to add more points with the boot and were looking for tries however back to 15 men the home side started with renewed confidence and added another breakaway try fineshed well by the H&B winger.
With Beccs now trailing 15-13 and a very young side trying to claw their way back on top ultimately to many mistakes and over keenness lead to Beccs giving away a number of penalties for the game to finish with Beccs loosing out to a bonus point on the last kick of the match.
FINAL SCORE 21-13
Team – 15, Sam,Painter. 14,Max Carroll. 13, Ben Davey. 12, David Speed. 11,Alex Brooks. 10, Mike Glover. 9, Callum Murray. 8, Michael O'Hehir. 7, Richard Bearchel 6, Grant Robinson. 5, Alastair Woodward. 4, Matt Carabache. 3, James Humphreys. 2, Dermot Laide. 1, Gareth Robinson (Captain)
16, George Scott. 17, Roberto Battista. 18, Mike Malynn
MoM – Mike O’Hehir an outstanding game from the big man tireless in defence with great intent to create turnovers and big hits. Must also mention Callum Murray who made a excellent debut and scored.
DoD – Grant Robinson for poor dress sense in trying to copy the trend setter that is Dave Speed.
# | Team | Pl | Pts |
7. | Old Gravesendians RFC | 22 | 47 |
8. | Cranbrook RFC | 22 | 46 |
9. | HSBC RFC | 21 | 42 |
10. | Beccehamian RFC | 22 | 29 |
11. | Whitstable RFC | 21 | 27 |
12. | New Ash Green RFC | 22 | 7 |
13. | Guy's Hospital RFC | 0 | 0 |