Cinque Ports win battle of nerve

Cinque Ports Rugby 19 Crowborough III 5 (HT 19-5)

An early kick off saw Cinque Ports face a large Crowborough squad as the Grove based St Leonards outfit looked to restart their successes in the league campaign after a recent run of defeats. From the kick off it seemed that despite a new look back row that the Cinque Ports pack would dominate, as Crowborough saw themselves shunted off the very first scrum of the game. The pack led by powerful Props Tony Lawlor and Rob Tritton were a powerful presence throughout and Crowborough seemed to struggle with the huge CPR scrummaging ability. This powerful base saw a platform created for a potent set of backs ,from an early scrum outside half Paul Smart brought newly recruited full back Lloyd Waugham into the line who popped to Mike Dangerfield the winger jinking dangerously before being tackled into touch. Crowborough also showed attacking potency with their 9/10 combination showing a lot of guile but defence characterised by the strong tackling Gary Swift prevented them breaking the line. Ball won against the head on a Crowborough scrum allowed Captain Paul Smart at 10 to again unleash the backs, inside centre Shane Potter made yards with a strong crash ball, Paul Smart taking control of the breakdown released centre Dave Milham who wriggled away from Crowborough's defence to score under the posts. Smart converted. Some traditional Cinque Ports problems seemed to rear their head at this point and a lack of concentration seemed to allow Crowborough back into the game, a succession of penalties eventually saw a big Crowborough back row crash the ball over. A missed conversion saw the score 7-5 to Cinque Ports.
A good kick off and sterling work by Gary Swift and his back row partner Nick Giles released winger Lloyd Barthropp who was bundled into touch. A poor line out saw CPR awarded a scrum from which Gary Swift picked up to release scrum half Chris Eastwood who scampered down the blind side and outpaced the winger to score. Paul Smart again converted. Another good kick off saw excellent work from the centres again released Lloyd Barthropp, but again he was denied short of the goal line. Paul Smart employed the kicking game sensibly and a pressured Crowborough winger was forced into touch, the line out provided another attacking platform and a short throw to Tony Lawlor saw the awesome prop power towards the line, his front row partner Rob Tritton finishing the job with a drive over the line to score. Again Paul Smart found the posts and CPR led 19-5. At this point the game seemed to flow back and fro, with Crowborough looking for the break and CPR dominating the break down. After a flurry of changes at the break the game took on a very different look, Crowborough seemed determined to break through and they attacked the line with increased confidence, the game also took a more aggressive turn as both sides attacked rucks with increased force. Crowborough also took advantage of the rules to make all scrums uncontested which blunted the Cinque Ports pack power. Crowborough dominated territory and possession but Gary Swift and Chris Perry were aggressive and their defence held back Crowborough. Paul Smart also turned from creator to destroyer and snaffled ball almost at will. The unbroken red line became a real worry for Crowborough who tried kicking their way through, but CPR still held strong. Brief attacking flashes showed CPR were still willing to run, but coach Bill Langley described the second half as a supreme "defensive workout" and Cinque Ports showed a strong defensive ethic that won the game. Bill Langley in naming man of the match picked out Gary Swift for his great work in driving the ball forward and destructive defence, Chris Perry was also nominated for his great defensive display. Captain Paul Smart also run the show, in attack and defence. Team Manager Gavin Thomas was realistic in his overview " I think it's fair to say we won 'ugly', it was good to see three good tries but we also won that game by making every tackle and committing sensibly to every ruck"

Team: Lawlor, Wright, Tritton, Gough (Thomas), Parker, Giles (Butcher), Perry, Swift, Eastwood, Smart, Barthropp (Price), Potter (Stokes), Milham (Brandt), Dangerfield, Waugham (Malthouse)

Cinque Ports move onto play Rye II on Saturday away, KO 2.30.