Cranbrook welcomed Charlton Park in a fixture rearranged from the first day of the season which was postponed due to a very hard pitch. A 72-0 scoreline with 12 tries says everything about the speed , accuracy and teamwork of the home team against a disjointed visitors performance with too many mistakes.
On a pitch now with a good grass covering on a sunny, dry and almost windless afternoon, it did not take Cranbrook long to open the scoring. A Fabian Rimmer break on first phase through a couple of tackles split the defence and a long pass left to the supporting centre Rory Goodger enabled him to score after a jinking run.
Park had a decent share of the ball at this stage and appeared to be keen to get the ball wide to their fast, skilful veteran winger. Their passing was not always accurate and some knockons occurred, but they did apply tryline pressure which was resisted by the now accustomed watertight defence of the home team especially the forwards, though it was at the cost of a yellow card to lock Ed Marsh.
Cranbrook soon regained field position and scored a second try going left also by Goodger who had an easier finish, soon followed by a third from winger Luke Lafferty again going left to leave the score at 15-0 after 20 minutes.
For the remainder of the half Cranbrook kept field position and it was noted that a number of turnovers were executed by forwards and backs alike as the competiveness of Cranbrook at the breakdown meant the backs had plenty of ball. Just before half time the bonus point try arrived as Josh Curtis ran an inside line to receive the scoring pass scoring near the posts for a 22-0 lead at the break.
If this had been a pleasing start it was eclipsed by a second half performance providing 50 unanswered points. Replacement full back Henry Toomer came on for a league debut and crossed the line 5 times with a display of a great turn of pace and good strength. He would benefit from sublime back play that created the opportunities out wide for him, but they had plenty of ball as the forwards continued to work well although prop David Lock finally had to leave the field with a knee injury.
As in the first half Park continued to try and play expansively and did have a spell of tryline pressure which again tested the resolve of Cranbrook. Lock Jack Lamb did receive a yellow card, but soon Cranbrook were back running the ball sometimes from deep with great confidence.
Captain Josh Curtis completed a hatrick with two further scores and wing Elliot Barbour also scored after rounding the defence. Fabian Rimmer converted 6 of the tries.
So ended the game with an increasingly confident Cranbrook team contemplating being a prominent team in this higher league. Charlton park, game to the end save one badly missed tackle, will probably wish to draw a veil over the events of the day.
Match report courtesy of Philip Rimmer.