Darts have to work hard to secure a good win against Bromley

Darts were expecting a tough match against inform Bromley and weren't disappointed. It was a cautious start from both sides and Darts were working the ball well against a well organised home team but when they moved the ball after a promising move the ball was intercepted by the home winger who raced in from 50 metres to open the scoring with a converted try. 7-0. It was a spur for the home team who were putting together some great phase play rugby but were up against some very good Darts defence who were battling really hard as a team with Joe Williams doing a lot of the tough dirty work to break up play. Bromley were being led well by their fly half who was controlling things well and it seemed that the slope was stopping the visitors getting up field. The forwards were working well in the tight with the front row really and their lineout was solid and the driving maul was very effective giving a bit more space outside. Darts were effective driving the ball forward and Louis Chapman made huge metres when he drove really strongly through numerous tackles before offloading really well to Harvey who took the ball into the home half. Miles was causing problems from scrum half with some great sniping runs and this forced play towards the 22 and eventually the pressure told and Bromley had to slow the ball down and concede a penalty. The ball was kicked to the corner and from the resulting drive managed with patience by the Darts forwards the team moved towards the line. After a couple of further drives it was Miles who picked up scored from close range, Jonny converted from out wide to level the scores. 7-7. The Bromley full back was having a big impact every time he had the ball beating playing and making ground and it was clear that Darts had to keep the ball away from him. Bromley were very quick onto the ball and this enabled them to get a penalty in front of the posts which they kicked to regain the lead. 10-7. Darts had been making some small errors which was stopping them putting phases together but they finished the half well and again used their strength in the forwards to get close to a score when they were held up over the line. A great first half leaving the crowd eager for the second half.
With Darts were now looking to take advantage playing down the slope they started quickly carrying from the end of the first half using their forwards well and again it was Miles who continued to cause many problems with his pace and strength and this was rewarded with another penalty which again was kicked to the corner. Another great take by skipper Lewis Potter saw them drive strongly towards the line before Louis Chapman went iver to give Darts the lead. 7-12. A good clearing kick from Bromley put play inside Darts half but again the driving maul was a great weapon and combined with a great break from the back of the maul by Jack Hoobanthe visitors made 50 metres only held back by great defence. Darts now seemed to be in the ascendancy and a another great break by Harvey followed by a kick through nearly created another score. Despite this temporary dominance Bromley always looked dangerous wihenever their full back had his hands on the ball and he was creating a lot of space and the home backs were good at creating space and a good phase of play saw them create the overlap out wide and score in the corner to take the lead 15-12. Again it was pressure from the kick off which caused problems and Darts turned the ball over ofrcing yet another penalty . Unsurprisingly Darts took he lineout route and again it was successful. When the ball wwas moved out Jonny, who was having an incresingly strong impact on the game, switched with Ted Rackley who scored under the posts, Jonny converted. 15-19. Again the home team hit back with Darts conceding pens which kept them under pressure and it was the impressive full back who scored a good try in the corner and the conversion took the score to 22-19. Darts needed to win and keep hold of the ball and hope they could drive play deep into the home half and Miles continued to provide the space and platform for them to achieve this. Luke Golding was organising play well controlling the ball and this provided another penalty and inevitable line out drive which saw the ball moved wide to Jonny who gave a lovely pass to Harvey who went over for a bonus point try, Jonny converted to give Darts the lead and the win 22-26.
This was a fantastic win for Darts against the toughest team (apart from Canterbury) they have played this season and it was a performance of great resilience managing to keep coming back against a Bromley side who just wouldn't go away. It wasn't our best eprformance but evry player in the squad worked their socks of for each other.
Both teams gave the crowd a great watch to keep them warm on a bitterly cold day and hopefully all matches could be played with that intensity determination and spirit.