

Today saw the boys playing at Canterbury for the East Kent Mini Rugby Festival. Dover were in Group B with Ash, Ashford A, Belgium and Whitstable.
Game 1 Dover v Ashford
Dover started the game by dominating possession, using crisp passes and clearing out the rucks which had Ashford on the back foot. The forwards dominated the scrum from the start which allowed the two half back to combine with Jabee Humphries putting Thomas Lynch through to score the opening try. Dover continued to dominate in the second half but, despite some great defending they could not stop Ashford from scoring their own try. The game ended 5-5.
Game 2 Dover v Whitstable
Dover came on to the pitch with a positive attitude coupled with lots of aggression and the first try came again from Thomas Lynch. Whitstable kicked the restart straight to Thomas Mead who took the ball into contact and off loaded superbly to Thomas Lynch to run through for his second of the game. He then added a third just before half time. The second half began the same as the first and Dover were unlucky not to add two more try's after some very powerful runs by Ryan Morris and Owen Mills just falling short of the try line. The game finished Dover 15 Whitstable 0
Game 3 Dover v Belgium
Belgium came out on a high as they had won both of there first two games with ease. Dover saved their best Rugby for this game and hit the rucks hard in order to play the ball out to their speedy backs. Both teams played brilliantly and the game ended Dover 0 Belgium 0.
Game 4 Dover v Ash
Dover had 5 minutes to recover after Belgium before facing Ash.A tough game saw another 5-5 draw with Thomas Lynch again scoring for Dover.
Final Dover v Canterbury
A tired Dover team played their hearts out in this game. Hitting rucks and smashing the tackles paid off when Thomas Lynch made it 5-0 . Despite some heroic defending they could not prevent Canterbury equalising before half time. Canterbury got a second early in the second half and then it was all Dover. The whole team tackled, passed and moved the ball as one but, it was to no avail and Canterbury were victorious.
The Dover boys had to settle for the runners up trophy but, all the coaches and parents were immensely proud of their achievement.