By Colin Whiteley
Beccehamian RFC 57-7 Thanet Wanderers RUFC
There were eight changes to the starting line-up for Wanderers as wing forward Warren Riddell-Broomfield moved to hooker and there was a first league start for winger Will Mahoney and second-row Dennis Davies. Joint Captain Nick Herbert was back at ten after illness: Joe Carlier, Charlie Panteli and Cam Pond were on the bench.
Just a couple of minutes had been played before Thanet’s outside centre, Max Rogers, sustained a suspected head injury and had to be replaced by Pond. The hosts drove over two minutes later to lead 7-0 before a Wanderers attack ended when they were penalised.
After a quarter of an hour Beccehamian scored their second try that went unconverted. Davies was shown yellow for an offside offence after twenty minutes and Panteli came on at ten with Herbert moving to inside centre for Adam Harrison who was struggling with the hard ground. A four try blitz from the home side in the closing twenty minutes of the first half meant they went into the break with a 40-0 lead.
Some nervy defending in the first minute of the second half presented Beccehamian with a soft try which was unconverted. Wanderers finally displayed some of their attacking ability and put some cohesive attacks together. In the eighth minute of the half they were rewarded when full back Andy Dolan beat several defenders on his way to touch down; Panteli converted for 45-7. Despite the efforts of joint captains Sam Taylor and Nick Herbert to build further momentum, there was to be no unlikely comeback and Beccehamian added two more tries for a 57-7 win with two further tries and a conversion.
Lots for the coaches and team to assimilate and action then in preparation for next Saturday’s match which is again in the Ulez Zone against Bromley. The Hayes based side finished in second place last season and has started this campaign with two away wins and a defeat against Beccehamian. All support for the side will be very welcome for this testing fixture. Kick Off is at 3 PM.
SQUAD: Danny Clement, Warren Riddell-Broomfield, Gully Goodall, Andy Letts, Dennis Davies, Lenny Brown, Sam Taylor (C), Brett Scott, Tom Walton, Nick Herbert (C), Henry Mirams, Adam Harrison, Max Rogers, Will Mahoney, Andy Dolan. SUBS: Joe Carlier, Charlie Panteli, Cam Pond.