Beccehamians got a deserved win as Cranbrook produced a performance full of promise, but sadly also with too many mistakes.
On a dull day with a fresh crosswind on a pitch that although well grassed was far from the surface Cranbrook are fortunate to be able to play on with some undulations particularly uphill towards the clubhouse. Cranbrook kicked off and early play involved plenty of kicking by both teams as they sought good field position. The home team did not at this stage seek to run the ball but were looking effective in the 8/9 channel and made some ground, especially when the scrum half intercepted a Cranbrook pass. After 15 minutes Cranbrook were penalised at a defensive scrum, an area that that the home team shaded throughout the match. This produced a simple penalty kick for the opening score. Cranbrook responded by looking to run the ball wide and Luke Lafferty had a promising run up the left wing. After several forward surges, the ball was released to the right and Beau Archer finished with aplomb showing enough speed and guile to dive over in the corner, beautifully converted by Fabian Rimmer for a 3-7 lead.
Cranbrook continued to try to move the ball wide, but a number of passes did not reach the target and momentum was lost. On one such occasion the ball was kicked through and only a fine piece of play by fullback Alex Cornwallis retrieved the situation as he collected the ball and from a narrow angle found a long touch kick to around halfway. Playing out of position he was secure in his positioning and under the high ball but lacked the pace to link effectively with his fellow backs.
As the half progressed Beccehamians scored from close range as the replacement prop scored from a few metres, Cranbrook too lost a prop to injury as David Lock went off, and another pass not going to hand cost Cranbrook at least 50 metres and a try as a lineout was overthrown. Cranbrook came back as Ollie Allman executed a 50-22 and then produced an interesting cross kick which forced a home defender to carry over his own line under pressure from Beau Archer. The opportunity from the five-metre scrum was missed as a pass was knocked on, as Beccehamians led 15-7 at the interval.
Cranbrook had the better of the opening phase of the second half and had two reasonable penalty opportunities both spurned one each by Rimmer and Allman. A good period of play released Lafferty on the left wing, and he too scored with some style to leave Cranbrook just 3 points behind.
There was some belief that Cranbrook would continue in this way to gain a win, but what happened was perhaps the most disappointing phase of the season to date as on the few occasions Cranbrook got the ball in good field position a mistake would occur and turn over the ball. Eventually the home team showed more confidence as they saw more of the ball, at last using their backs to good effect, and after Rory Goodger was carded for offside at the breakdown, scored a nice try on the left, followed by one on the right as a defensive line out again won, was turned over. There was a certain irony in this as Sacha Jovanovic had been imperious in the lineout, making a number of catches at full stretch in the breezy conditions. Beccehamians closed the game out comfortably as Cranbrook by their errors had seemingly brought out the best in them as they demonstrated a pleasing style once the backs were released with fine offloading.
Back to the drawing board for Cranbrook as they look to regain confidence at home to one of the lower placed teams, Thanet, next week.
Match report courtesy of Philip Rimmer.