A trip to Deal, perhaps Kent's most attractive seaside resort, and the well appointed barracks ground is one I always look forward to. Following a windy morning the wind died back as the players began to warm up, but replaced by rain, sometimes light occasionally a bit heavier and a hailstorm as the players prepared for kick off.
Perhaps unsurprisingly a reasonably grassed pitch began to cut up quite badly and the good start Cranbrook made was rendered irrelevant as a heavier Deal pack began to dominate in conditions that soon became akin to the battlefields of the Somme.
Opening play was fairly even as both sides made handling mistakes. Cranbrook nearly scored when prop Darryl Horton-Judge lost control of the ball in the act of scoring, but retained position and scored when as Deal were penalised, Fabian Rimmer took a quick tap. Deal had not retired but Rimmer was tackled, but in doing so Deal's defence was drawn in and Cranbrook now moved the ball left where supporting prop Miles Stockman was able score.
From the kick off Rimmer came excruciatingly close to executing a 50-22 but the ball rolled into touch just beyond the corner flag. Referee Katie Gent, took play all the way back to around the Cranbrook 10 metre line and Deal replied when a kick through fell nicely into goal and with the Cranbrook defence not in position, a centre followed up to score by the posts for a simple conversion.
Cranbrook without a first choice front row were holding their own in the frequent scrums and the backs looked more dangerous than the Deal counterparts. A penalty kicked to 5 metres offered an opportunity but the lineout was lost though Cranbrook remained on the attack. After phases a move left found wing Stefan Jovanovic with an overlap to score towards touch, well converted by Rimmer.
Deal did respond with a penalty kick and almost took the lead from close range. There were now ominous signs for Cranbrook as the conditions deteriorated into the second quarter and Deal were beginning to push back the Cranbrook scrum and their scrum half was keen to feed forward drives around the fringes that Cranbrook struggled to cope with. They were also struggling in the lineout as Deal made a number of steals, but Cranbrook led 10-12 at the interval.
Into the second half there was hope that the slight slope across the pitch to the left corner would enable Cranbrook to gain parity. Things went wrong from the kick off when a flat drop kick was parried into touch by a receiver. The attacking lineout was driven on and after phases a score made.
Cranbrook had limited ball but still looked dangerous and in particular scrum half Hugo Orpin had an outstanding game, save one kick directly to touch in midfield, making good use of limited possession with sniping runs and clever kicks through. A nice move took play beyond halfway. A penalty awarded was kicked to the corner, but the lineout, not for the first or last time was lost, as Deal appeared to be able to read Cranbrook throws.The opposition flyhalf was a good kicker and the danger was cleared.
Deal though were now so on top around the fringes that they always made ground as Cranbrook's fast but lightweight back row were comprehensively outplayed in the conditions. A further try occurred as for once a longer pass into midfield and a missed tackle led to a converted score. This was followed after 65 minutes by a pushover try from a scrum as more forward phases had got them into position.
Still Cranbrook tried to counter and came very close to a try of great quality as the ball was moved out towards the right, infield and out again to the supporting Guy Crouchman who lost control of the ball when strongly tackled near the tryline.
The referee probably sensibly called time a little early as the game was decided and it could be seen that some players were becoming distressed in the hostile conditions.
Even without a full strength team Cranbrook had again played with tremendous spirit to the end, the conditions determined the result for a larger home team who were keen and able to take advantage.
League positions at the bottom of the table remain unaltered as the teams around Cranbrook did not secure any points either.
The team was: 1 D Houghton-Judge, 2 J Forknall, 3 M Stockman, 4 R McDowell, 5 T Hamphlett, 6 B Pearce, 7 H Gillanders Captain, 8 G Crouchman, 9 H Orpin, 10 A Cornwallis, 11 S Jovanovic, 12 F Rimmer, 13 O Chilvers, 14 C Fowler, 15 E Barbour. Subs B Sutton for Horton-Judge 60 mins, J Parkes for McDowell 70 mins and J Brambley for Forknall 70 mins