Report by Dick Collins

Dover moved into second place in London South 1 after beating Beckenham and with Cobham narrowly going down to Thanet. The gap between the top three has now widened after Chichester lost their 4th game in a row and Gravesend still head the table 3 points in front.

Dover lost one of their most consistent players in Dale Tonks, who is likely to be sidelined for 2 to 3 months following a fracture to his ankle whilst in training during the week. Tonks was replaced by Dave Sluman and Ben Vick returned after illness. Ben Murray was welcomed back at scrum half after a lengthy spell of injury and Jamie Townley started at outside centre with Justin Marx moving to the bench. Buster Collins returned from injury also starting on the bench.

Thankfully there was a marked difference in the approach of the players to this fixture compared with last weeks disappointing display and that was on show from the outset. Beckenham have had a number of excellent victories in the past weeks and any repeat of last week might have proved costly to the home side. Dover had the advantage of the slope in the first half as well as a slight wind and it was imperative that points were placed on the scoreboard. Dover started swiftly but the visitors knuckled down and they missed the opening penalty with a relatively easy opportunity. Dover responded with some intense pressure using the advantages favourably and although there were some sloppy passing and spilled ball they certainly increased their tempo. Dover’s lineouts were working well between Jack Tomlinson and his jumpers Ed Blowers and Dave Sluman and Jon Foster and Ben Vick had to work hard on the back row. Nick Ford kicked a penalty on the 14th minute and 5 minutes later Dover scored their first try from a scrum on the visitors 22. Dover secured the put in and Murray cleverly took an extra step and created a great gap for Martyn Beaumont to sprint through and touch down for an unconverted try. The visitors missed another penalty from the restart and Dover cleared their lines and again Beckenham came back. Some excellent cover tackling by Trigger Davison resolved the problem with the same player breaking down the left wing minutes later. The move broke down but Dover were awarded a penalty from the pressure that ensued and a quick tap and a long miss pass, with a bounce or two along the way, was collected by Ford who passed the ball backwards through his legs with Ricky Mackintosh on hand to collect and power his way over with the extras added. Dover should have capitalised even further when the visitors had their number 5 binned . Dover tended to rush their play unnecessarily and a real opportunity was missed to put the game out of reach. A determined Beckenham cleared their lines and missed another penalty at the end of the half.

The second half turned out to be a fascinating game with the visitors now having the opportunity of using the slope. For the next 25 minutes Beckenham had the better of the possession, although Mark Beaumont went close on one occasion. Davison left the field with injury being replaced by Collins. The host’s defensive resilience was now being scrutinised and it was immense. Lee Tonks and Jamie Townley in mid field were superb throughout. The forwards were also under the cosh but they too had battled well and the work rate inspiring. Dover cleared their lines and didn’t take a step back and on the 67th minute, against the run of play , Martyn Beaumont intercepted a ball and sprinted 60 metres to touch down with the conversion added. The game was now almost won and Beaumont scored his third hat-trick of the season 4 minutes later with another individual break twice kicking forward to score another superb try. Rick Stanley replaced prop Greg Hewer, who together with Chris Lucas, had been solid up front. Justin Marx came on for Mackintosh and the good work continued. Credit must be given to the visitors however as they again responded with a positive attitude and scored a deserved and converted try. Quite frankly the score line didn’t give credit to the ability of Beckenham who had been a difficult and worthy opponent.

Graham Tonks commented ‘ I am delighted with this result. We should have been more clinical deep into the first half and taken chances. I knew the second half would be different and the team had to buckle down. The defence and the character was fantastic by all the team and we must keep this momentum going’.

Team ; Lucas, Tomlinson, Hewer (Stanley), Sluman, Blowers, Vick, Foster, Davison (Collins), Muraray, Martyn Beaumont, Mark Beaumont, Tonks, Townley, Mackintosh (Marx), Ford.