Cinque Ports come out on top in tough contest

Cinque Ports Rugby 26 - 10  Seaford II (HT 21-5)

With the day beginning with the news that Seaford did not have a suitable front row and therefore Cinque Ports would begin with a 10-0 start, it became apparent that Seaford's game plan would be different to the forward dominated game contested in December. The first few minutes was evidence of this, avoiding the collision area of the forwards Seaford looked to push the ball wide and use their youthful backs. These opening moments saw Seaford looking dangerous, but CPR led by Chris Eastwood brought the defensive line up quickly into the face of Seaford. Rob Tritton, Craig Barningham and Gavin Thomas all put big hits on the Seaford runners which seemed to quench their appetite for the game. A number of infringements and breaks led by outside half Lloyd Waughman saw CPR based in Seaford territory the first push for the line saw both Dean Dedman and Kevin Parker denied before Seaford cleared. Again Waughman organised the backs, Chris Perry and Craig Brown crashed the ball up. Seaford's defence seemed impossible to break, desperately holding out against the big Cinque Ports forwards. As a result the next two visits to Seaford territory saw Eastwood opt to kick when the visitors were penalised. Carl Malthouse slotted both penalties easily. The territorial dominance continued, but still the line held out. Eastwood himself got over the whitewash only for the referee to decide it was held up. Another penalty saw the decision to run and powerful prop Rob Tritton was not to be denied. Malthouse didn't convert this time. This score seemed to energise Seaford and they used their power runners to carve into CPR territory, using their young prop as a battering ram they found themselves within striking distance and the youngster run into the corner for Seaford's first score. Seaford were on top by now, and looked certain to score until a serious injury to their try scorer brought the game to a halt.

Half Time saw the return of Colin Whyte in the centre after a long injury, unfortunately his return came to a short end when he was quickly removed as a precaution. The arrival of Christiaan Brandt as a replacement brought a different impetus to the Cinque Ports team, his elegant deceptive running seemed to be making effortless strides into the Seaford defence. He split the defence on the left but Alex Sutherland could not finish, before shifting to the right where he linked with Bob Earle whose clever offload saw the aggressive running of Michael Dangerfield bump off a handful of tacklers, twist away from another before flopping over the line for his ninth try of the season. Malthouse missed the difficult conversion. The second half saw the CPR pack less dominant in the collision than the first half and a far more open game saw Seaford gain more opportunities one of which they took. CPR held strong for the last five minutes, and were deserved winners of a tough game.

Team Manager Gavin Thomas was pleased with the outcome "We were sluggish last week, and were easily beaten but we raised the pace and aggression today and came out deserved winners". Head Coach Bill Langley echoed this "Last week's heavy defeat could have demoralised the lads but they showed strength of character today. This win was just what we needed". Langley named Dean Dedman as man of the match for his defensive prowess, but also named Barningham, Waughman and Thomas as having influential roles in the game.

Next Saturday sees Cinque Ports Rugby travel to Hellingly for another League match.

Team: Tritton, Giles, Wright, Thomas (Earle), Gough (Dalton), Parker, Dedman, Barningham, Eastwood ^©, Waughman, Bigg (Sutherland), Perry, Brown (Whyte/Brandt), Dangerfield, Malthouse