Lemons cup match latest from MOTM Dan Golding

Big early shots from the fired-up Bally, Coxy and Al Whibley set the tone as several of the big Beckenham units were forced off the field in the first half. After a dominant defensive set and a textbook pilfer from Kay, a quick tap penalty and even quicker thinking from the lemon veteran Dan Phillips saw some superb handling from the big rigs - Steve Garret, Carey and Dan Golding - to exploit an overlap and put in Nathaniel Grant-Hines who finished superbly for the first score, 5-0. The nudge from Al Capucino extended it to 7-0.

After a great start, a few defensive errors crept in as the lemon wall was breached out wide after being sucked in to stop some of the Beckenham forward carries led by their tenacious Kiwi captain and no.8, reducing the gap to 2 points at 7-5. An excellent Darts driving maul led by the flying Ferret from a 4-man lineout nearly saw the Lemon pack bundle over for another try, had it not been for an accidental offside due to the total capitulation of the Beckenham counter drive.

In the second half, the dominant forward display continued with hard yards made towards the Beckenham line. It was finally fired out wide where an easy 2 on 1 - equivalent to an open goal - was well and truly butchered. Fortunately, a phase later, Connor bundled over out wide to increase the score to 12-5. Although not quite as bad as missing a high ball by 10 feet, or throwing a forward pass directly into the 4th row of the noticeably ‘Woooo’-less Beckenham crowd, Cappa couldn’t convert in front of the posts but was saved total embarrassment with some deft footwork and strong hand-offs in contact. He did, however, still manage to earn the coveted ‘Dick of the day’ trophy ... three times over.

A trademark Garret rumble bouncing off defenders towards the line was followed by an even more trademark Garret fumble as the ball was stripped by a winger over the Beckenham try line. A second half penalty wasn’t quite enough for the hosts as another monster hit from Coxy sealed the game at 12-8 to the Lemons in a fairly scrappy game dominated by kick tennis, knock ons and scrums. Plenty to work on but a very promising step in the right direction in tricky conditions - we go again next week ??