After the rain 24hrs before this game, the Autumnal weather was kind and the sun shone on this Shepherd Neame Kent 2 game, on Saturday. The pitch was in good condition and with the breeze blowing from right to left all was set for this match against two teams down in the lower end of the table.

Blues started spritely, but gave away a penalty early in the game, Blues were quick to force the home side to make a mistake and were rewarded with a penalty of their own. There was some good work from Blues throughout the afternoon, and worked hard in all departments. Our front row of Luke Pepper, Ben Cliff and Tom Miller compared to most of the teams in this division are very light in weight, but their grit and determination to battle these scrums was there for all to see. Shooters Hill dominated in the scrum and drove back against Blues time and again.

Going down the slope first half, Blues hoped to exploit this fact as good work from James Collins with the ball with an offload to Ollie Day, he went over for Blues first try and points of the afternoon. However, Blues were punished as they gave away another penalty and some easy work by the home side, they exploited our missed tackles and went over for their first try and cleared up the conversion points. The home side now leading 7-5, now down to 14 men, Shooters Hill dug deep and pushed our defence to the limit as they battled to get the ball down over the try line. Blues giving away another penalty deep into Shooters Hill area, Blues determination was evident as they stood firm to deny the home side. Deep into nearly 5 minutes of injury time, Shooters Hill finally got the ball over that elusive try line that Blues had defended valiantly. At half time Blues were down 14-5, first half mistakes costing them dear yet again.

Second half was much as the first, but the battle was played in the middle of the park, where it was difficult to manoeuvre any effective move to get another try. Sam Holness making some effective tackles trying to lead the charge and make things happen, with support from Kyle Fiddler and
Stuart McVicar. Another mistake by Blues early after the start, put the lid on the game as Shooters Hill moved further ahead 21-5. However a promising break from James Collins who broke from the 22 metre line, run forward, he passed a ball that looked lost but was picked up by Stuart McVicar, who released Josh Booty with a brilliantly timed off load, to go over for Blues second try, 21-12.

Player’s injuries started to take its toll on Blues, but they never gave up, but another mistake by Blues saw the home side go over for another try and conversion points. Some frustrating rugby was played late in the game, saw Shooters Hill go over for another try and sealed the game 26-12 on a flourish as Blues defended that try line. A mention here for Club Captain Duncan Mackinnon, who battled and worked hard supporting this young pack until injury forced him off the field.

Team: Pepper, Cliff, Miller, Hall, MacKinnon, Fiddler, Holness, McVicar, Collins J, Day, Collins C, Huey, Prebble, Cairney, Booty. Replacements: Norris, Berrey, Crane