Hellingly II 30 Cinque Ports 17 (HT 15-14)

Cinque Ports travelled to Hellingly on the day when Hellingly stalwart "Ripper" retired after 33 years of rugby, a party atmosphere was evident but for the first twenty minutes it was apparent Ports were determined to spoil the party! Despite the obvious dominance by a huge Hellingly pack, Ports looked to run the ball and a storming break by Dale Whittington was recycled to outside half Christiaan Brandt, the South African passed to Shane Potter who powered through the Hellingly defence before releasing to Brandt again who slid through the gap to score. Carl Malthouse converted.

Hellingly were not sitting back and the two elements that would turn the game were already on show- their destructive scrum and a kicking game which Malthouse found difficult to deal with on hard ground which meant the bounce was very unpredictable. Ports did well to defend, and the elegant running of Brandt again unlocked the Hellingly line dummying before giving fleet footed winger Mike Dangerfield the opportunity to run home the ball from the half way line, Malthouse again converted. Ports appeared to take their foot off the gas a little at this point, and after strong forwards work Hellingly burrowed over for the score. A massively disrupted Ports scrum gave Hellingly another opportunity to score which they duly took. A penalty meant that Ports found themselves 15-14 down at half time.

It could have been worse, a line break by Hellingly saw their centre over the line but an excellent tackle by Malthouse denied them the try. Winger Gary Surridge also denied Hellingly a score with his strong tackling. The second half started positively dogged work by Steve Crump, Craig Barningham, Mick Berry and Potter took the Ports forward but Hellingly held out the determined forwards. A by now badly stuttering line out also meant that chances went begging, but a Hellingly offence meant that Malthouse slotted home a penalty to give them the lead. The lack of first phase ball now meant that the supply lines for the potent Cinque Ports back were cut, and the pressured forwards could not secure the ball on the ground. Another try and a penalty for Hellingly left the score at 25-17, before a rash after the ball tackle by winger Luke Price saw him yellow carded and the space created by the missing winger saw a break away try to make the score 30-17. Ripper failed with the conversion but Hellingly's win gave them two things to celebrate.

Manager Gavin Thomas was honest in his appraisal "We had the beating of them in the backs, but their powerful forwards meant that we were starved of first phase ball- and without the ball you can't do anything"

Team: Doorey (Berry), Wright, Crump, Parker, Earle (Butcher), Dedman, Whittington, Barningham, Salmon, Brandt, Dangerfield (Price), Potter, Whyte. Surridge (Foster), Malthouse Unused Subs: Thomas, Eastwood