Reeds Show Their Mettle To Take the Win

REGIONAL 2 SOUTH EAST

REEDS WEYBRIDGE 32 GRAVESEND 29

Reeds were short of a considerable number of their regular first team players for this fixture due to a stag-do, as a result of this fixture being carried over from the week before and thus being played on what was previously designated as a ‘’rest weekend’’. That said, Nigel Connell, Reeds DOR, welcomed the opportunity to give some of the talented players from the lower sides the chance to show off their skills on the big stage. None better at that than Will Jones, he is seriously quick and it was his fearsome defensive contribution and pace that earned him a hat trick of tries. Back to the early phases – Reeds had the slope in their favour, were winning quality ball from the loose, quick hands unleashed Jones and he brushed off a couple of defenders to touch down way out. Those big Gravesend forwards were giving Reeds a hard time however, especially in the loose, that forced a series of handling errors, and Reeds strayed offside and lost a man to the bin, Gravesend fired the ball out wide and the Reeds defence ran out of cover conceding two tries. The try that levelled up the contest was one to remember, play was poised on the Gravesend 22, veteran scrum half Swift spotted Luke Edwards, Reeds big forward – and Head Coach – hitting the line at pace, Swift fed an inch perfect pass and Edwards was under the sticks for a seven pointer to level the game at 12 – 12. The aggressive Gravesend pack continued to give Reeds all sorts of problems, a lineout deep in Reeds territory enabled them to retain possession and rumble over for another seven-pointer just before the break. Reeds now had the hill to face and were also seven points adrift at 12 – 19 so plenty of work was left to do!  

Pete Cole narrowed the deficit with a siege gun penalty shot soon followed by a try under sticks, when Gravesend lost control of the ball and allowed Will Jones to stroll in unopposed. 22 – 19 was a tenuous lead, as Reeds were having problems securing possession from the big town pack, especially when the visitors decided to retain the ball and rumble downfield. That tactic gave them another five pointer and a two-point lead going into the last quarter at 22 – 24. Late on, Will Jones once again snapped up a loose ball bouncing deep in the Gravesend 22 and collected his third try of the day giving Reeds a five-point lead. In a frenetic last five minutes Pete Cole slotted a huge penalty from way out, Reeds were now eight points in front at 32 – 24 and there were two minutes on the clock. Gravesend responded by crashing over for a five-point score in the corner but before the conversion attempt could be concluded, the referee decided that the best course of action was to call time on safety grounds. The game was therefore closed without the kick being taken – a somewhat sad end to a tremendous all-round team performance by the Home side.

Match Day Squad: Lennon Day (CC) / Rhys Day / Kerran Beavis / Jakob Howe / Lewis Jones / Buffy Brickhill / Luke Edwards / Joe Harvey / Balfour Aggapong-Ntrah / Tom McKinlay/ Shannon Fullen / Pete Cole / Josh Clark (CC) / Ollie Maitland / Will Jones / Rhys Homfrey / Max Penfold / Ed Swift.

Next week, Reeds Weybridge will welcome Old Reigatians, one of Reeds oldest fixtures, to Whiteley Village for Round 12 of the Regional 2 South East fixtures

Kick off 2:00pm

George Spinks 07860 394687