Thanet Wanderers Junior's / Mini Midi's

Dover  v   Thanet Wanderers   U-13     Sunday 11^th November 2007

It has been three weeks since the Thanet Wanderers last competitive match against Maidstone. The team selection was made; however, 3 last minute changes were made to the starting 15 due to unforeseen circumstances. This meant some players playing in unfamiliar positions. All credit to the players, not even a whinge! Even with 3 down, there was still a squad of 20 players travelling to Dover.

Dover kicked off and were immediately on the offensive with some good early pressure, but the Thanet tackling was strong and the defence held to see off the early threat. Thanet soon settled down into a rhythm and some good scrummaging resulted in decent ball for the backs. After some good ball handling, Joe Powell made a 20 metre break. On the 10 minute mark the backs were dominating again, winning turnover ball in the tackle, resulting in a good break by Cameron Doyle on the left wing.

An injury to Forbes McKellar on the 20 minute mark saw the introduction of David Orton in the pack. Some good possession was gained on Dover lineout ball by Sean “Munch” Maguire resulting in a fluent move through the backs but again with no points at the end. More good ball was won in the scrum, with half-time approaching it was moved wide to Cameron Doyle on the left wing, who was put into touch 1 metre from the Dover line.

Half-time arrived with the scores locked at 0-0.

William Craig was replaced by Elliot Girling at half-time and Thanet were soon on the attack in the 2^nd half. ‘Munch’ won good ball in a maul and peeled off to make a break from the half way line, only an excellent covering tackle by the Dover no. 13 preventing what looked like an inevitable try. Thanet pressure became relentless with three more ½ chances and with the pressure mounting, the try finally arrived! The forwards took the ball through 3 phases moving closer to the Dover line until the ball was taken over by Sam Taylor. The try was well converted by Cameron Larnach.

This seemed to wake Dover up and they started to apply some pressure of their own. An unfortunate high tackle on Tom Quine resulted in the substitution of the Dover no. 8, but this did not deter them, they kept applying the pressure and only some resolute defending, notably from Jake Walton kept the home side from scoring. The pressure was eventually relieved with a good clearance kick from Cameron Larnach.

Other second half substitutes included Charles Cawdron and Jake Walton

Just as the away supporters nerves were jangling, the Thanet boys picked up the pace again. In the ever increasing rain some exceptional forward play resulted in the ball being moved wide and Joe Powell scoring the try which killed off the home sides chances. Another good kick from a difficult angle by Cameron Larnach saw the ball go just wide of the posts. Another excellent performance kept the Thanet Wanderers unbeaten record this season, the final score 0-12.

Well done lads.