Bonus point win against strong rivals Beckenham

Darts last home game of the year was against local rivals Beckenham and the team were expecting a really tough match against a team smarting from Darts last minute win earlier in the season.The visitors started well and forced a penalty which was converted by their fly half to take an early lead. 0-3. Pressure from the restart forced Beckenham deep into their own half and when Darts had a line out they used their great driving maul to push the visitors back and even though they were awarded a penalty Darts played the advantage well and Jonny kicked the ball wide and it was Joe Scott who gathered the ball to score out wide. Jonny's conversion hit the post. 5-3. Darts continued to put on the pressure and again drove Beckenham deep into their own half. After a number of phases it was Matt Randall who saw the space ,drew in the defence and a switch with Jonny saw the latter go over to score the team's second try. 10-3. Beckenham were moving the ball well and using their big forwards to drive the ball up and forcing penalties of their own and eventually Matt Randall was given a team yellow. Beckenham used the man advantage really well and drove Dart into their 22. Darts were defending admirably but the the visitors put together what must have been 20 phases and eventually Darts ran out of numbers and Beckenham scored in the corner with an excellent try. A great conversion put the scores level. 10-10. Beckenham smelt blood and were looking to take further advantage of their numerical superiority but Darts were defending brilliantly as they have continually shown this season and it was this pressurised defending which eventually forced a mistake and a loose ball was pounced on by Mike Briggs who popped the ball to Joe Scott who raced clear from 60 yards to score. Jonny converted. 17-10. Thois was a blow to the visitors whose hard work was negated right on half time.
Darts started the second half in great spirit and a fabulous break by Luke Golding should have resulted in an early score but good defence and a loose ball saw the opportunity go begging, Beckenham were trying to kick for position but the Darts counters were very good and enabled the team to move the ball back upfield. Tactics were now taking the ball up close before moving the ball wide and this was starving the visitors of ball. This pressure eventually gave Darts penalty in front of the posts which was converted by Jonny to stretch the lead . 20-10. Another great counter from Jake Taylor saw the ball move quickly to Liam Brencher who was tackled just short of the line. From the recycled ball Bekenham were offside probably stopping a try and they received their yellow card. Darts upped the pace and following some great offensive play they went over for a score which was unfortunately disallowed for obstruction. Jonny had another chance to score but his kicked went narrowly wide. Darts continued to play at this higher tempo and following numerous phases saw the gaps open up and it was Kenny Lee who went over following an inside pass. Jonny converted. 27-10. This looked like game over but Beckenham had other ideas and kept going to the end and a lovely kick through put the ball behind the Darts defence from which they didn't recover and from their the big prop forward went over under the posts. 27-17. Although with minutes to go Beckenham put everything in to try and get another score the defensive organisation and tenacity of Darts in contact was very solid and they finished the game with a well deserved bonus point win.
The entire team played well despite a number of late changes and skipper Si Briggs was impressive having to move from flanker into the centre and showed his quality with a faultless performance, Billy Wilson came on for his debut at hooker having only started in that position in recent weeks. Joe Scott scored two good tries on the wing and Matt Randall was impressive at flanker. There were other great performances but on his second half performance man of the match was given to Luke Golding who gets better with every match.
Coach Bob Hussey was very proud of the entire squad who put in an impressive display against a very strong team and wanted to give every player man of the match award. Having completed 2017 unbeaten at home it was a great end to the year for Darts whose record so far this season is encouraging all teams to play at a high level against us and forcing the best out of the team. The second half of the season will continue to be extremely tough and the team will have to be at their absolute best to keep their record going.
Well done to all the players and the coaches who have worked so hard to put us in this position and to all the supporters who have cheered us on when we have needed to dig deep.