The Under 9's continue Their Fine Form

This season has seen this group of 14 players achieve far more than could possibly have been expected from them at the start of the season. This small band of plucky youngsters has so far this season won the Canterbury Under 9’s Festival and the East Kent Under 9’s Festival hosted by Dover. They were recent runners up in another East Kent Festival hosted by Canterbury narrowly losing to the home side after battling through an extremely tough qualifying group. To cap these achievements they have now won their way through to the semi-finals of the Kent Plate competition after a series of fine performances at the Under 9’s Kent Festival Preliminaries held on Mother’s Day at Cranbrook RFC.

The Lions had drawn Folkestone, Dover, Ashford II, Sheppey and Sevenoaks II in their qualifying league.

The first game was against Ashford and from the very start of the game Lions quickly took control with Harry Meleady bursting through the Ashford defence to score the first try. Further tries from George Gaylard, Kieron Harris and Richard Collins put the game beyond Ashford. Yet, there was no let up for the Ashford team who were continuously knocked back in the tackle. With some strong defence from Tommy Hurrell and Stanley Curling in the centre of the park and some great cover tackling from Sam Donnelly and Jack Kilby out on the wings. By the final whistle Deal & Betteshanger had scored a further three tries with Harry Meleady running in his second of the match and Sam Donnelly also scoring two tries.

The Lions started their second game against Folkestone with the same determined defence, straight running and passing to the supporting player which they had demonstrated against Ashford. Deal & Betteshanger once again quickly got on the score sheet with a bull dozing run from George Gaylard which saw him touch down with several players left in his wake. Not to be out done Jack Kilby’s dancing feet also saw him get onto the score sheet. Folkestone like Ashford had no answer to the unyielding defensive line of the Lions team, with Ben Lockett and Jayson Weaden making some solid tackles. Further tries from the irrepressible duo of Sam Donnelly and Harry Meleady, both scoring two tries each resulted in Deal & Betteshanger eventually winning the match by six tries to one.

The third group game saw Deal & Betteshanger play against Sheppey the supporting parents were once again treated a fine example of how solid defence linked with strong running and close support play can win any game. Sam Donnelly’s determination to tackle every player who tried to run down the wing, alongside Kieron Harris and Richard Collins who were equally as solid in the middle of the park resulted in Sheppey never getting near the Lions’ try line. Joe Morgan was instrumental in setting up several attacking plays which saw the Lions score six tries, with Harry Meleady once again scoring another two tries and a try a piece from George Gaylard, Richard Collins, Sam Donnelly and Ben Lockett. Jayson Weaden also crossed the try line for what would have been a certain try but was unfortunate to have been adjudged to have passed beyond the dead ball line.

The final group match pitted the Deal & Betteshanger side against the only other undefeated team in the group, Sevenoaks. This match lived up to the top of the table clash it was always going to be. Both sides looked to attack in all areas of the pitch and only some determined and at times desperate defence kept either side from scoring. The deadlock was eventually broken when a Sevenoaks player managed to wriggle out of a tackle to just touch the ball down for the first try. The Deal & Betteshanger boys rallied and strong running from Kieron Harris and unloading from the tackle by Tommy Hurrell saw the try scoring machine Harry Meleady break free and score. The game went into the second half with both teams pushing for what proved to be the decisive try. Unfortunately for the Lions team it would be Sevenoaks who would score this try. As Stanley Curling lay injured on the pitch after another strong run, and with the referee allowing play to continue Sevenoaks managed to get the ball and using their extra numbers to create an overlap to score out wide. Sevenoaks as a result of this two tries to one victory progressed through to the Quarter-finals of the Cup competition. The Lions still had an opportunity to progress further with a match in the Quarter-finals of the Plate competition.

The final match of the day saw Deal & Betteshanger play Cranbrook in the Quarter-final. From the very first whistle the Lions dominated the game, Ben Lockett, after being put into space with a pass from Joe Morgan, beat two players before passing to the ever present Jack Kilby on the wing who stepped inside the final defender to score the game’s first try. Another strong bone crunching tackle from Richard Collins saw the ball to spill out and eventually land in the hands of Sam Donnelly who outpaced the Cranbrook defence to score out wide. An interception from Tommy Hurrell and a quick pass to Sam Donnelly gave the Lions a three tries to nil score line at half time. The second half saw Cranbrook rally to score a try of their own, but the Lions were soon back on the score sheet with another try from Harry Meleady. The final play of the match saw Sam Donnelly side stepping his way out of several tackles and after a sprint to the line he touched down for his third try of the game.

This Deal & Betteshanger side are now in their fourth semi-final of the year with the opportunity to go onto to possibly win their third piece of silverware at Aylesford on April 27th 2014. Their achievements this year with such a small squad playing against some clubs that have 40 to 50 players to choose from cannot be underestimated.

Reporter Steve Donnelly - Under 9's Coach