The Lions take the points in Local Derby

Coming into the game Thanet were without a win all season but with Deal themselves coming off of a run of six straight defeats both sides will have viewed this game as a great opportunity to end the year on a high.

Deal imposed themselves on the opposition from the outset, with some nice early play being rewarded with a penalty just in front of the Thanet posts, which Josh Jensen slotted to give the visitors an early lead after the opening exchanges. This trend continued from the restart with Deal once again finding themselves in a decent attacking position following some nice interplay between the forwards and backs alike. From this quick ball Anthony Hart broke through the defensive line and deftly off-loaded to Jensen who in turn fed Sam Hanley to muscle his way over from 5 metres out, a brilliantly worked try and nothing less than Deal deserved from the opening quarter of this game. The conversion was charged down, Deal still stretching their lead to 0-8. A further penalty was added by Jensen shortly after to put Deal firmly in control with the score at 0-11 heading towards half-time.

What came next was to put a spanner in the works of Deal’s plans to take this game out of Thanet’s reach. With half-time fast approaching, Thanet’s centre seized the initiative and made a great break through the Lions midfield only to be brought down by what the referee adjudged to be a high tackle. With play continuing Thanet scored under the posts, with the try converted to take the score to 7-11 at half-time. To make matters worse Deal would start the second half reduced to 14 men as the referee judged A Michaels’ high-tackle in the build up to the Thanet try to be worthy of a yellow card.

The second half begun as the first had ended, with Thanet scoring immediately and some worried faces appearing amongst the away support. A rather hopeful kick was put up from the Thanet fly-half which should have been dealt with by the Lions, however, Luke Armstrong performed the cardinal sin of allowing the ball to bounce which, as rugby balls tend to do, compounded the defensive error, as the opposition wing gratefully clutched the ball as it bounced softly into his arms for a try under the posts. The conversion was surprisingly missed leaving the game delicately poised at 12-11 to the home side.

Much of the remainder of the game was played out in a scrappy manner befitting two teams short on confidence but desperate for a win. With both trading penalties back and forth and much of the game being played in the middle of the field there was little excitement for the crowd in the ever-pressing gloom. That was until Luke Armstrong entered the fray for the most decisive moment of the game. Looking to amend for his defensive lapse earlier Armstrong received the ball in his own half and showed his opposite number a clean set of heels in beating him on the outside to go on a barnstorming run all the way up to the opponents 5m line where he was unlucky to lose his footing at a pivotal moment after all but beating the full-back. Nonetheless support was on hand for Wes Bull to go crashing over in the corner, 12-16 to the Lions, and a thrilling end to an otherwise abject second half.

The win will be gratefully received by the Lions and will provide encouragement heading into the new year. They will have expected to beat Thanet but in these types of local derbies nothing can ever be taken for granted. It really was a stoic effort from the Lions pack today in heavy, muddy conditions and of that pack, A. Chamberlain deserves special praise for a superb performance, almost acting as an extra back-row at the breakdown and commanding as ever at the lineout, for that he was the man-of-the-match.

Reporter Zack Foulds