Beaconsfield (13) vs. Grove (23) - 14th November 2009

Grove continued their winning ways with a 23-13 victory at Beaconsfield on Saturday and so kept
themselves in the promotion hunt, remaining in 3rd place in the league with only one loss from
eight games played. This was always going to be a difficult game given atrocious weather
conditions and in particular a gale force wind blowing from one end of the pitch.

Grove played against the elements in the 1st half, and were regularly pinned back into their
half with kicks from the Beaconsfield No 10 Nick Tappin. An early penalty to Beaconsfield
was kicked wide from Tappin, but with lots of handling errors from both sides it was difficult
for either side to gain the ascendency. Beaconsfield continued to kick given the wind advantage
but to Grove's great credit they counter attacked after every kick. Several of these attacks
from Guy Nicholl, Peel, Fredericks and Gary Eltham ensured Beaconsfield didn't get the field
position they wanted. Grove continued to press into the home side's half of the field with good
ball movement between fly half Roger Sevier and Ben Nicholl, playing out of position at inside
centre. The biggest talking point of the half was when a 20 man brawl started following an
altercation between Guy Nicholl and Beacs big lock Dave Parkes at the front of a line out, and
with Nicholl, Terry Eltham and Beacs prop Wai Kwong Lin all sin binned as a result, a bit more
space opened up on the field. Despite the numbers disadvantage Grove continued to counter-attack
with particular effect from full back Nick Hayes but inevitably most of the play was in the Grove
half of the field. With Tappin then off the field with concussion, Beacs changed their kicker to
centre Ed Haslett who converted a simple penalty kick after 17 mins to put the home side in the
lead by 3-0.

With the return of the sin-binned players Grove began to apply more pressure with all the running
was now being done by the visitors although Beaconsfield continued to gain great territorial advantage
by using the wind well. A rare running attack from Beaconsfield lead to another penalty which was
again converted by Haslett to give a 6-0 scoreline. Grove forced their way back into the Beaconsfield
half through great forwards driving and strong running from wing John Barrett, centres Nick Sevier
and Ben Nicholl in the backs. Eventually the Grove pressure told and they were awarded a penalty
when a Beaconsfield player handled in the ruck in front of the posts. Despite the wind Roger Sevier
elected to kick for goal and was successful to narrow the gap to three points at 6-3. Beaconsfield
tried to apply some pressure to get some much needed points before half time, but were held out
by some big tackles from Wright and Fredericks. A final big effort from Beaconsfield almost lead
to a try between the Grove posts but their only reward was a kickable penalty which they decided
to run instead of taking the easy 3 points, and knocked on to end the half from which Beacs
would have hoped for more points, given the wind advantage.

With prop Richard Keen replacing bloodied Terry Eltham in the front row, Grove started the 2nd half
confident that the wind offered more than the 3 point advantage Beacs had managed in the 1st half.
The first decisive move came when Roger Sevier slipped a quick pass to hooker North who scampered
fully fifty metres down the wing before chipping ahead for touch deep into the Beacs 22. This was
quickly followed by a penalty to Grove from which Roger Sevier levelled the scores at 6-6. Grove's
tactics seemed now to be to keep the ball with the forwards rather than use the wind or their clearly
superior backs and despite good work from locks Steve Maryon and Lee Wright no real progress was made
until Hayes had a great run which should have resulted in a try for John Barrett if he had passed
to the pacy winger. Beacs came into the game a bit more with strong running from their forwards and
some assistance from Groves indiscipline allowing them a series of penalties, but with the wind
still a huge factor, any turnover ball for Grove was punted downfield.Grove once again began to assert pressure with their best attack of the day. With most of the back
line involved in a move taken further forward by some strong running from Guy Nicholl, the ball
was slipped to Nick Sevier who touched down to give Grove the lead for the first time. Roger
Sevier converted to make the score 6-13 to Grove. Beaconsfield hit back with a strong attack but
Grove were now beginning to steal most of their lineout ball with James Kerr a constant threat,
and were so able to relieve the pressure. Following a great forwards drive and another big kick
downfield Guy Nicholl scored Grove's second try after good inter-passing between Hayes, Fredericks,
Keen, and James Barrett. Again this was converted by Roger Sevier to take Grove to a 6-20 lead.
Another monster kick from Roger Sevier led to a Beaconsfield 22 metre drop out but they had a man
in front of the kicker followed by back chat to the referee so Sevier was presented with the easiest
of penalty kicks to complete another 100% kicking performance and increase Grove's lead to 6-23.

Beaconsfield then made a monumental effort to force their way back into the Grove half and were
finally rewarded from a series of rucks close to the Grove line when prop Kwong Lin forced his way
over the line. The conversion from Haslett gave the final scoreline of 13-23, which flattered Beacs
slightly as Grove were the dominant side for the most part.Grove team: G Eltham, North, T Eltham (Keen), Maryon, Wright (Brooks), Kerr, G Nicholl, Fredericks,
James Barrett, R Sevier, Peel (Harrington), B Nicholl, N Sevier, John Barrett, Hayes
Reps: Keen, Brooks, Harrington
Scorers: Grove - Tries: N Sevier, G Nicholl; Conversions: R Sevier (2); Penalties: R Sevier (3).Beaconsfield - Try - Kwong Lin: Conversion: Haslett Penalties - Haslett (2).