Fab at Faversham: Hastings and Bexhill chalk up win in Kent

Delays on the long journey to North Kent caused H&B to arrive late and then have a rushed warm-up.

Faversham fielded a squad of very big forwards with a flying winger out on the right.

Hastings were missing Frazer McManus but his brother Quinn more than adequately filled the No8 shirt.

The hosts opened the scoring with a penalty but their lead was short lived as Joe Whitehall-James burst down the right wing to score a good try for Bruce Steadman to convert.

Faversham hit back with an unconverted try to make the score 8-7.

Winger Jake Stinson profited from good strong work by second rower Calvin Crosby-Clarke who passed the ball out for Stinson to dance down the line to touch down in the corner.

However Faversham had a speedster of their own and he ran three quarters of the pitch to score on the stroke of half-time. The home side went into the interval 13-12 ahead.

Skipper Steadman opened the second half scoring with a well struck penalty.

The two-point lead was protected for a long period with some excellent defensive work from the H&B scrum.

Replacements Josh Jones and Jack Mather added some extra fight to the pack as the game went on.

Eventually the Faversham forwards fought their way over the line to regain the lead, but the effort required to make this score was huge and they were visibly wilting.

Centre Joe Field, one of the Hastings stars of the day, made a terrific break in the mid field and his inside partner Dan Suggitt collected the ball to cross the line from ten metres out.

He touched down near to the posts to give Steadman a straight forward conversion.

Stinson rounded off a good display with his second try of the day and Hastings ran out worthy winners of a very hard game.

This excellent result and postponements for Old Williamsonsians and Park House put H&B into second place in the league.

Hastings and Bexhill can now enjoy their Christmas break. They return to action at home on January 15 with a top of the table clash v Park House RFC.

UNDER-13s

H&B U13s 75 Eastbourne u13s 5

A development friendly game between Hastings & Bexhill RFC and Eastbourne RFC brought a big win for Hastings.

A strong start by H&B led to an early try by Zane Wickens.

Further good handling by Hastings saw Wickens score his second try shortly after the restart.

H&B continued to attack the Eastbourne try line but they were held up by some good defending.

Eastbourne managed to clear the ball but only to full-back Ben Coulson who managed to evade all tackles to score a fine solo try.

H&B were in the ascendancy and from a scrum Azat Kesen crossed the line for another score. From the restart Eastbourne put together some good phases of play to score a well deserved try in the corner.

Scrum half Jared Dobinson produced an excellent pick up from a loose ball to set Harley Willans free to score for H&B.

Two further tries by Louis Turpin and another by Coulson gave H&B a 40-5 halftime lead.

In the second half H&B continued to push Eastbourne back and there were further tries from William Roberts, another by Willans, Wickens scored his third, Monty Wheeler, James Barry, Max Molton, each scored a try then captain and man of the match Toby Fielder completed the scoring.

UNDER-12s

Hastings and Bexhill under-12s played Lewes and it was the last game in the league – and the last game for the two H&B girls, Nancy Byrne and Evie Sanders.

Nancy joined at the age of five and both girls will be sorely missed.

Lewes were the more experienced team and have dominated the league thisseason.

H&B were relatively inexperienced, having only played three previous games. However, H&B came out fighting and defended well with standout tackling from Nancy Byrne, Willem Driver, Ashton Wright and Spike Wilkinson.

Charlie Kinch, a relatively new player, demonstrated excellent technique with his low defensive tackling. Riley Winn and Charlie Malton cleared from deep in their half on several occasions with brilliantly placed kicks, which Spike Wilkinson and Nancy Byrne chased.

Lewes’ experience won out with tries in the latter part of the first half and in the second half.

Ashton Wright scored a brilliant try in the early part of the second half for H&B with a powerful run from the halfway line.

Both teams played brilliantly in an exciting game and it ended 50-5 to Lewes.

H&B head coach Harry Walker and second coach Ryan Foord have invested time and energy into producing a team with the will and skill to play a good game despite their inexperience.

Hastings & Bexhill RFC are always looking to recruit new players from five years old – adult, girls and boys of all abilities. See www.hastingsrugby.org or email [email protected] for more information. Hastings & Bexhill RFC prides itself on a warm welcome to all.