Late call, but we get the two points!

Thanet Wanderers 17 pts v Basingstoke 19 pts

On a blustery day on the Kent coast F-X backed Stoke played their get out of jail card to gain a crucial victory and move another place up the table with a spirited and courageous performance in the last 10 minutes. Trailing 17-5 with 70 minutes gone and playing into the strong wind Stoke showed character to score two converted tries, the second of which was in the second minute of injury time to snatch the points. Having won the toss Stoke played with the elements in the first half but it took 15 minutes before they got into their opponents 22 for a sustained period. This was as a result of the home team playing keep ball and Stoke not displaying the need to get the ball down the pitch using the strong gale like wind. Dispite good breaks by Rogers, Feausi and Humberstone Stoke could not finish off any chances they were creating, couple this with poor discipline that gave away 9 penalties and a yellow card for Roberto Bussati and then Northcote, Stoke were not helping themselves. Finally on 35 minutes Stoke were awarded a free kick which they took quickly, re-cycled the ball and Appleby put Buckland clear to open the scoring with an unconverted try. That was the only score of the 1st half and a 5-0 lead did not seem enough given the elements were now in the home team's favour.

The second half started badly for Stoke and after 57 minutes found themselves 17-5 down after conceding two converted tries and a penalty to the home team. The first from a blind side move from a scrum and good support play the second from a good handling move after a mistake by a Stoke player. With their backs to the wall, Stoke now had a huge uphill task to get anything from the game. Slowly Stoke started to get control of the game and settled into a pattern that suited the conditions and they were also helped by the home side having a player yellow carded and the Thanet pack showing signs of tiring. For Stoke were now applying pressure in the home sides 22 and were keeping the play in that area. Maxwell who had a good debut went close twice before the pressure told and on 70 minutes the industrious Appleby was the player awarded with the touchdown from a maul after 2 five metre scrums for Stoke. Calder added the tricky conversion to reduce the arrears to 17-12 and 10 minutes left. Stoke continued to look the better side but basic errors let them down at crucial times. Still putting the pressure on the home team, Stoke got their reward in the second minute of injury time when Berti crossed and scampered close to the posts to level the scores and Calder duly adding the difficult 2 points for what seemed the winning score. Still more drama to come as from the restart and a couple of phases of play a Stoke player ran into touch with the ball thinking that would be the final whistle. However the ref gave the home side a penalty for deliberately running the ball out of play and from 40 metres out Thanet elected to go for goal with what was the last kick of the match. The Thanet kicker made a hash of his kick and Stoke cleared the ball into touch and the final whistle and a victory achieved.

After an exhausted Dixon added "When we stopped worrying about the ref or the opposition and we played our own game we were the better side. We came here to get two points and that is what we have come away with. I said we were embarking on a crucial 6 games and after 3 we have won two and lost to the leaders. We now continue to build on this over the next few weeks."

Team: Humberstone, Buckland, Feasui (Rees), Calder, Rogers, Berti, Lilleywhite, Rushworth (Perkins), Maxwell, Bussati, Wilson, Stirling, Northcote (Hampson), Appleby, Dixon.

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