Thorny Vets v Deeping Dinosaurs

It was pleasing to see all of the Deepings Vets players getting on the pitch and they came away with few injuries to be concerned about in regards to the next games against Peterborough and Stamford in December.

From the outset Deepings intended to hurry the game and make the heavy Thorney pack run around. The opening try was a a good catch at the
front by Andy Meikle, the forwards driving, them quick ball out to Andy France then Chris Towers who took it on and popped again back to Andy France who darted under the posts.

The Deepings Old Guard then enjoyed 90% of possession, the only times Thorney got any ball was when Deepings forced it a little too much with little knock-ons.

When the Thorney backs did try to run the ball, the Deepings back line supported by a busy back row made some hostile tackles in mid-field forcing Thorney to make mistakes. However, most of the time the ball was coming out in abundance from the Deepings forwards and with Sean Enright's lightning pass it was not surprising that during the afternoon Brian Ward enjoyed three tries on the wing with him blitzing the Thorney back line for pace each time. Indeed, all but one of the tries came from the Deepings Vets backs who enjoyed free flowing ball from the forwards via a good scrum and line out, with some superb rucking which the heavy Thorney pack on the back foot could not live with.

Thorney failed to score in the first half and it was looking pretty bleak. However, in the second half after making some changes Deepings lost a little continuity and after having trouble at the back of the scrums uncharacteristically began to ship back poor ball, which Thorney
capitalised on and scored. A Thorney kick had driven a ball on in the 22 Deepings gathered only for the big Thorney forwards to rip away, hit the blind and score.
Again it was Deepings attacking and going for the line in the corner but losing the ball in contact the pacey Thorney winger gathered to run back and score. However, it was not long before normal service resumed and Deepings replied with some great scores of their own.

Deepings Captain said after the match "When I saw the squad on paper I had a strong feeling that we would do well on Saturday. The guys didn't let me down and they all stood bold against a rather large set of Thorney forwards who were out to bully and intimidate us with the advantage of playing at their home ground."

"To give Thorney their credit they kept their heads up and were rewarded by some individual brilliance from their young winger. The score line was probably a good reflection of the game and that of possession and territory. The team will feel very happy with the result but at the same time reflective that it could easily have been more points to them and Thorney failing to score at all?
Our next games are the Martin Tebbs Memorial match against Peterborough Kick off 12.30pm and Deeping Vets v Stamford Kick off 14.30pm Both at Linchfield Road"

Trys
A France
B Ward (3)
P Bradley
M Elmer
K Whitton
Penalty Try

Conversions
K Whitton
M Broughton (5)

Man of the Match
Brian Ward

Report by P Rogers.