Captain Ben Cliff lead by example as he scored six of Whitstable’s 14 tries in a convincing win which
takes them back to the top of Shepherd Neame Kent 2. Will Reid and James Garland each added a
brace, with Marc Harris, Mal Graves, Andy Till, and Rob Hudson also touching down.

It took Whitstable just 15 minutes to secure the try bonus point; a series of powerful carries allowed
Club Captain Marc Harris to pick from the base of a ruck and crash over from close range for the first
points. Huey’s conversion attempt drifted wide.

Cliff then opened his account with Whitstable’s second; latching onto the back of a surging maul and
dotting down out wide. Conversion missed.

Whitstable’s third was a great solo effort from centre James Garland; his first start since a dislocated
shoulder in September. Dartford Valley retained ball on their scrum and began putting it through the
back’s hands, but good line speed from the Whitstable backs put the pressure on Dartford and
Garland intercepted to sprint in from halfway unchallenged. Andrew Huey converts. 17-0.

3 minutes later Cliff was back on the scoreboard. Fast ball from an efficient Whitstable lineout and a
flat pass from Marck Olive allowed Luke Bowers to dissect the Dartford backs. The centre made good
ground before selflessly passing to Cliff, who had shown impressive pace to make himself an option
outside. Converted by Andrew Huey.

The fourth try of the match came from another Whitstable lineout. A close range catch and drive
was bundled over with number eight Mal Graves coming up with the score.

Ben Cliff’s hat-trick score came in the 25 th minute; having worked their way back to the Dartford
Valley try line the Blues had been hammering away at the flexing Dartford defence before a
combination of footwork and power carried Cliff over the line. Converted: 36-0.

It took Whitstable 10 minutes to add to their already impressive tally; the longest scoreless period so
far. A Whitstable scrum was disrupted by a strong Dartford shove, but Graves picked from the base
and went blind, offloading to Andrew Huey, who drew his man and released Andy Till. The winger got on the
outside of his opposite man before racing clear of any would be cover defence to score four minutes
from half time. Conversion missed.

There was still time for one more score before the half was up, and it was Garland who completed
the first half tally, benefitting from sublime handling in the build-up as he took advantage a generous
overlap. Conversion missed. Half time score, 46-0.

It was the man of the hour Cliff who picked up from where they left off to take Whitstable past the
half century mark as he picked up his fourth and Whitstable’s ninth.

His fifth came just five minutes later. Whitstable were again camped on their opponents try line, and
some good Dartford defence had slowed the ball down and forced Whitstable to overcommit to the
ruck. Once Huey had unearthed the ball, Cliff ran outside then back in to receive a short pass close to
the ruck, taking himself and an attempted tackler under the posts. Converted.

From the resulting restart Dartford regathered their own kick, but as soon as they moved the ball
wide fly half Olive won a superb turnover and exploited a gap in the defence to break deep into the
Dartford half. Without any immediate support, Olive went to ground and Whitstable regrouped.

Powerful carries from Pepper, Crane, and Cairney got Whitstable on the front foot before the ball
was moved out wide to Hudson who cantered in for 65-0.

A series of loose Whitstable passes cost them ground and put them on the back foot before Andy Till
scooped the ball up from fullback and ran from left to right to find Cliff, who in turn set Reid free
down the wing, who was stopped by a high tackle. The resulting penalty was kicked to the corner
and spun straight out to the backs. Once in the midfield, Andy Till straightened the attack and spun
the ball clear to Dan Till on the wing, who showed quick hands to lift the ball back inside to the
onrushing Reid who powered over the try line on his opposite wing. Unconverted.

The 65 th minute brought Cliff his final try, and the easiest of the day. A huge drive from a Whitstable
maul 15 metres from the Dartford try line meant the hooker had to just dot down at the base.
Superbly executed from range as the heavens opened.

A scruffy period from Whitstable, and brave defence from Dartford gave the scoreboard operator a
break, until Reid picked up his second and Whitstable’s 14 th . A break from Mullins, who had moved
to fly half, brought Whitstable into the Dartford 22. With Mullins buried in a ruck, Andy Till stood at
first receiver; quick hands from him and Pepper beat a valiant blitz defence effort from Dartford
before Cliff turned provider and Reid slid in to reach the 80 point threshold.

One final attempt from Whitstable went begging as they knocked on in the final play due to pressure
from Dartford, much to their Coach’s delight.

The clinical performance from Whitstable was far from perfect, but coupled with other league
results sees they return to the summit of the league. Despite the big score line, Dartford Valley
continued to keep their heads up and move the ball effectively, but ultimately Whitstable’s class was
fully on display as they kicked on in their hunt for promotion.

Saturday 13th January sees Whitstable travel away to third placed Foots Cray.

Match Report Credit to Andy Till