Dartford Valley 18-19 Faversham

Dartford came oh so close to securing their first win of the season in tightly fought battle against fellow strugglers Faversham.

It looked as though another big defeat were on the cards again as Faversham started the game brightly and attacked the home side using their considerable bulk in the forwards. As Dartford's scrum dallied, Faversham rallied and they were under the post for a converted try with only a few minutes played. Dartford however, kept in touch with two nicely converted penalties from Fly Half Jonathan O'Connor. Faversham made a rather regular habit of conceding professional fouls when Dartford came sniffing to their try line.

Matters got worse for the home side, when the instrumental Jonathan O'Connor was embarrasingly yellow carded for a petulant kick out at his opposite number. A quick shuffle saw Chris Burke come on temporarily for O'Connor and No.8 Dan Hughes had to take an unscheduled breather. Faversham were witty enough to use their upper hand in the scrums to score another two tries to leave Dartford seemingly lost at half time trailing 6-19. Just before the half closed, Ollie Tite deputised for the sin binned O'Connor and rattled the uprights with a penalty kick. Perhaps a sign that things were not going to work out for Dartford.

The second half resumed with both sides scrapping for the ball in worsening conditions. O'Connor made amends for his bad behaviour when he produced a spectacular cross field kick into the oncoming arms of Ross Willoughby and touched down for a try. Sadly, another two points went begging.

The try revitalised Dartford who now had the upper hand and were relentlessly attacking Faversham's desperate defence. Time after time the visitors were penalised for infringements at the breakdown and eventually the referee had no choice but to produce another yellow card.

Warren Long peeled off the back of a scrum and committed enough tacklers before offloading to Scrum Half James Yates. Yates had his work cut out when a few defenders attempted to drag him down. Fortunately, Yates managed to stay strong and drag himself over the line to score. This time the conversion was complete and only a single point seperated either side.

Dartford became desperate in attack, sensing that their first win was in reach. Yet again, Faversham were penalised in their own '22 and Dartford had a penalty in front of the posts. Unbelievably, the kick went wide and perhaps their last chance of victory was gone. To Faversham's credit, they dug incredibly deep, kept the ball tight and ran down the clock. The final whistle went and the cheers of Faversham side said it all.

Dartford should of won. They needed to be more clinical with their penalties and perhaps rein in the enthusiasm when attacking. The returning fixture promises to be quite a game.

Man of the Match went to Gavin Blackston who provided much stability in the lineout and scrums.

Image: Ross Willoughby in attack, courtesy of Peter Bresser Photography