Squeaky bum time for Hove

Hove travelled to North Kent to take on Gravesend in what proved to be a feisty and hard fought encounter.
It was very evident in the warm up that this game was going to be won by whoever played the conditions correctly, Gravesend won the toss and opted to play into the wind and rain in the first half. Hove kicked off and were almost instantly awarded a penalty in front of the sticks, with a strong breeze behind Al Parker dinked the ball over for 3 points. Gravesend 0 Hove 3.
Gravesend restarted the game which was taken cleanly by Charlie Watts (clearly revitalised after his visit to the spa!), however Gravesend gave a penalty away for not rolling away and Hove had free chance to exit, Captain Phil ‘fisty’ Dugard (it will become clear later) cleared the ball to the opposition 10 metre line and Hove took a clean out. The ball was then whipped out to Sam Whiting who fed Martin MacDonald, only for him to drop the ball and knock it on (1 of 4 on his return). Gravesend then played a short game plan of sending their runners round the corner eventually winning a penalty Hove being offside, Hove’s indiscipline would come back to haunt them in the second half. Gravesend kicked for touch and tried to maul into Hove’s 22 however, some resolute defence from the forwards stopped any momentum. For next ten minutes of the game Gravesend piled on the pressure but Hove stepped up in defence, led by tackle technician and fourth joint top try scorer in the forwards Carl Buckland, Hove continued to repel any attack by Gravesend. The flip side was that Hove were starting to leak penalties for being offside and hands in the ruck, nevertheless Hove went through phase after phase of defending their own line. THE JOE BURROWES playing against his childhood club, was covering every inch of grass in the 13 channel and continued his swaggering form that he has shown from earlier in the season. Eventually, Hove forced a knock on which was celebrated as if the game had been won! Hove then took a scrum and won a resulting penalty which was cleared downfield by Phil ‘fisty’ Dugard.
Hove secured the lineout and fed it to the backs who made good ground, the ball was then fed through the forwards before Sam Whiting made a break down the right side, he fed Guy Patton who drew his man and then passed back to Sam who dived over, conversion unsuccessful. Gravesend 0 Hove 8.
Much of the rest of the first half was spent in the middle of the pitch with Hove continuously coughing up possession (cheers macca). Hove also got on the wrong side of the referee and a number of infringements resulted in Rob Ward being set to the bin, Robbo doubled down in the second half and made sure the yellow didn’t become a Red(s). A few choice words from Ryan Storer (soft, chest, floor, standards) and Jack Newton allowed Hove to reset.
Gravesend kicked off the second half deep into Hove’s 22, Hove caught and secured possession and managed to clear as best they could but the wind didn’t allow it to go far. Hove then gave another penalty away for offside and Gravesend opted to kick for goal which was successful. Gravesend 3 Hove 8.
Discipline was starting to become a real problem now for Hove, and a few penalties allowed Gravesend to get into Hove’s 22 again. Gravesend again attacked the Hove line and the referee blew for another penalty for offside, play continued but Phil Dugard was starting to get riled up and a scrap between the Gravesend players and Hove ensued, ‘Fisty Phil’ claims he was struck on the chin and took it like a boss, Phil stated he could go 12 rounds after the match but Gravesend didn’t want to commit. The referee eventually spotted the fight and it was broken up by the players. A few stern words from the referee and play continued but going back for the original penalty. Gravesend opted for the kick at goal again which was easily slotted. Gravesend 6 Hove 8.
Hove eventually managed to get some momentum through carries by Tyler ‘Rae’ Hooper and Ian Saunders (RIP DJ). Ian, channelling his inner Maro Itoje was bossing the lineouts and being a nuisance in defence, his pep talk by best friend and confidant Chris Knott (#prayforchris) clearly worked a treat before the game. Hove then made a mess of the ball on the floor and Gravesend turned it over and kicked down field, Hove cleared but it didn’t go far. Gravesend had the lineout but Hove were penalised for bringing down the maul even though it hadn’t been formed. Gravesend then opted to kick again for the posts. Gravesend 9 Hove 8.
The wind and rain made it even more difficult to play any expansive rugby, darting runs by Harry Nelson and Alex Parker were both thwarted and Hove were then penalised for holding on around half way. Gravesend kicked for the corner and set up a driving maul off the lineout, some great initial defence by Declan Peake and Adrian Shergold stopped any momentum in the maul, MacDonald then came through the middle but was then penalised for apparently coming in at the side. Gravesend then opted for the posts again. Gravesend 12 Hove 8.
With a little under 10 minutes left play Hove continued to attack with carries by Toby Brown and snipes by Charlie Knight. Hove then lost possession and it looked as if Gravesend were going to secure a home win however; there was drama yet to come. Gravesend had played a tight game all afternoon and then for some reason decided to throw it wide; Carles Casanova Galindo spotted the opportunity and came from an onside position to intercept the ball. With pace to burn and memories of the play off win in 2018, Carles ran for the try line out sprinting the full back to score a great individual try, Hove rejoiced and praised the dazzling Spaniard and with the conversion successful Hove had to withstand one final kick off. A secure take by Sam Whiting set up a ruck and that was time. Fisty Phil booted the ball off the pitch and got the win. Final score Gravesend 12 Hove 15.
This was a real dogged performance and a defensive team effort. However MOTM was awarded to Ian Saunders for putting in some serious tackles and getting round the park, Martin MacDonald was awarded dick of the day for his 4 drop balls on his return (classic). Assistant coach Jack Newton said “that was a great performance by the boys, they stepped up defensively and were very physical, the only disappointing aspect was our discipline and that’s something we will have to work on in the next fallow week”.
Elsewhere, the 2s unfortunately suffered a heavy defeat at home losing to East Grinstead 42-0. Captain Johnny OW said “the conditions were awful and a lot of the tries came from our mistakes, we know we are up against it playing first teams but we have to try and work on this stuff at training”. Hove now have a rest week before playing Dover at home.