Brighton IV 36 Cinque Ports 7 (HT 21-0)

After two successive league wins Cinque Ports faced a well drilled Brighton outfit in a friendly game. Cinque Ports Management saw this as an opportunity to experiment with personnel- trying out Phil Dempsey at inside centre, and powerful prop Dave Butcher at second row.

From the kick off it became quite apparent that Brighton would use their powerful back row and quick footed centre/wing combinations to break the line, but for twenty minutes a solid ports defence held out driving back Brighton who resorted to killing the ball at rucks. With the ball in hand Christiaan Brandt, Dempsey and winger Luke Price cut through the Brighton defence but a slippery ball and last ditch tackles held them out. Eventually Brighton did break through despite fantastic defence by full back Gavin Sams. Brighton did run in another two tries relying on their big number eight who found gaps in the defence.

In the second half Brighton upped their tempo and run in more tries, at 36-0 with twenty minutes to go, it did appear that Brighton would run up a larger score but Ports raised their game. Brandt and flanker Dale Whittington causing problems with short powerful drives, Cinque Ports pressed but the final ball seemed to be missing, until a stroke of luck saw Gavin Thomas' hopeful chip ahead bounce into the hands of Brandt who slipped through the stationary defence to score his tenth try of the season. Captain Paul Smart kicked the conversion, to ensure Ports maintained their impressive scoring record.

Whilst the result was certainly a clear defeat there were many positives to be had from a gutsy, solid performance against a solid Brighton side. Thomas in his role of team manager echoed this "I think after the two wins this might be considered a worrying result, but we've come so far in the last three years and in the past we would have collapsed against such a strong side but we kept attacking and they had to work hard for every single point, our focus will still be the league as we're only a win or two from the upper reaches"

Team: Doorey, Wright, Berry, Amar, Butcher (Langley), Thomas, Whittington, Barningham, Salmon, Smart, L Price, Dempsey, Brandt, S Price, Sams