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| Hastings 2 |
| League, Away |
| 28th March 2009 |
| Won 32-0 |
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| Starting 15 |
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| 1 |
TinTin |
| 2 |
Debs |
| 3 |
Monkey |
| 4 |
Jim |
| 5 |
Ali |
| 6 |
Ryan |
| 7 |
Bosh |
| 8 |
Mooey |
| 9 |
Jez |
| 10 |
Tim |
| 11 |
ChiChi |
| 12 |
Dan |
| 13 |
Chemist |
| 14 |
Ian |
| 15 |
Yids |
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| Impact Players |
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| 16 |
ITunde |
| 17 |
Kevin |
| 18 |
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| 19 |
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| 20 |
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| 21 |
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| 22 |
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The Norfolk travelled to the outer reaches of the known
universe to play Hastings & Bexhill 2nd amid the typical four season
weather parade. The first half was a very tight affair with the hosts awarded
the first chance of points but the kick went just wide. Ryan Smits was on hand
to gather the 22 restart and the Norfolk pack began to work up the pitch with a
very dominant set piece. Hastings looked good with the ball but had to play
much of the game without it as the effective scrum and lineout saw to it that
their backline was without much decent first phase possession. Hastings only
real attack in the first half looked dangerous but a resilient Arms defence
held tight and weathered the early pressure with some of the calmest rugby we
have played all year.
McMichael put the visitors in front with a super penalty kick in strong wind
which hit the cross bar and went over for a 3-0 lead. Several attacks were
thwarted by determined tackling and another penalty in front of the posts was
too good to turn down for a 6-0 lead. Mistakes frustrated the Norfolk on
several occasions but the team stuck to the task with a grim determination and
a patience which has been absent at times this season. Patience has its rewards
and at the end of the first half Iain White was able to finish off a fantastic
try involving beautiful passing and support play. The move started with Ian
Barton running a kick back into the middle of the field, the quick ball went to
McMichael who spotted a half gap and took the contact but crucially he was able
to free the ball and offload to White. White ran a further ten metres before
passing inside to Hoare, another ten metres on and the ball still avoided
contact, Smits took the return pass from Hoare and committed another defender
before passing to Stewart. With the last man desperately trying to stop the
move, White took the pass from Stewart and sprinted home to finish the move.
The second half was a similar affair the Norfolk dominance of the set piece
continued and Hastings made only a couple of trips into Norfolk territory
before Robinson smashed his way through the first tackler and offloaded to
Hoare, a simple 2 on 1 was perfectly executed and Osibogun had more than enough
pace to race clear for the score in the corner. Smits was the fortunate
recipient of the try which put the game beyond doubt after White kicked the
loose ball into his own arms and raced clear only to be caught by a Hastings
defender and the post. He turned around to see that Smits was only a few steps
behind and held the ball out to be taken over the line under the posts.
The final score came as time was running out and with a cross field kick into
space the Hastings full back tried to hack the ball out to kill the game but
unfortunately for him the miss-hit bounced straight up into the arms of
McMichael for a seven pointer of his own taking him past Mark Friend-James'
record for points scored in a single season now at 230 with 2 games remaining.
A fantastic effort and just reward for all the hard work despite a scrappy
start the team played with patience and composure throughout. Carver and Palmer
are both worthy of special praise this week as both played the full 80 and gave
absolutely everything for the cause. |
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