The Medway Towns staged their first ever International Rugby League Test Match when England hosted France for the inaugural Fassolette-Kielty Trophy game.

The two squads prepared for in local gymnasia in the days prior to the game, the atmosphere and intensity building to fever pitch.

The crowd was huge, no seats left, standing room only and a great evening was had by all. Medway Dragons and Halifax played a curtain raiser and the Distinction Twirlers provided the Cheerleaders.

Match Report - England 22 France 43

A bad start hindered England Wheelchair Rugby League team as they were defeated by a dominant French side on Monday night, at the first international match at Medway Park, in front of a packed crowd.

The first half started off with France totally dominating the game and with less than two minutes on the clock, France missed an early penalty but soon advanced with the ball down the middle and a pass to Jean-Yves Ducos saw France cross the try line for the first try of the match.

England simply could not get possession of the ball and when they did, they were spending most of the first half stuck in their own half of the pitch as France continued to control the game. It got even worse for England as over a period of 20 minutes France racked up four tries and a drop goal to compound the misery for England, who made a an uncharacteristic succession of errors.

First, good pressure on the English line saw Gilles Clausells score in the corner before Jerome Bonnet scored the try of the match after some excellent passing from his French teammates. The English errors then allowed France to score close range tries through Cyril Torres and Jerome Henras before Torres added a drop goal to make the score England 0 France 29.

England needed to get on the scoreboard before the end of the first half in order to have a slim chance of winning this game and with a few seconds on the clock, England’s first major attack of the game was rounded off when a beautiful run by debutant Chris Greenhalgh resulted in a try, with Wayne Boardman converting.

Half time: England 6 France 29

The second half started as the first half ended, with England in possession and they added an early score when Tom Docherty broke through and outstripped the French cover, Boardman again adding the extras. England began to force the ball as they strived to catch up and this proved costly as France added two more tries to make the score somewhat one-sided.

Clausells score his second try of the match after some neat French build up play near the England line and Dany Denuwelaere capped off an excellent move to score, with Torres adding two conversions and a penalty.

With fifteen minutes left, England regained the momentum and quick hands saw Martin Norris score in the corner following a brilliant move from middle of the pitch, Phil Roberts adding the extras. England continued to control the game and the final try also came from Norris after he won the race to a kick from Roberts but the conversion attempt rebounded off the crossbar.

England almost added another try on the final whistle through Andy Wharton but he was adjudged to have grounded the ball just short of the line. A poor first half cost the English despite a spirited fight back and France deservedly took home the Fassolette-Kielty Trophy.

Full time: England 22 France 43

Overall, it was a really entertaining match for the 500+ crowd at Medway Park and helped profile the game of wheelchair Rugby League to a new audience. Both sides deserve to be applauded for their showcasing of the sport prior to next year’s World Cup.

England Line-up:
Wayne Boardman, Andy Wharton, Martin Norris (Capt.), Paul Craig, Tom Doherty, Ian Kenny, Chris Greenhalgh, Phil Roberts
Coach: Phil Roberts

France Line-up:
Lionel Alazard, Jerome Bonnet, Jean-Yves Ducos, Jerome Henras, Nicolas Massat, Dany Denuwelaere, Gilles Clausells, Cyril Torres (Capt.)
Coach: Sylvain Crismanovich

Match Officials:
Offensive Referee: Steve Abel (England)
Defensive Referee: Olivier Dumeaux (France)
In Goal Judges: Harry Neville and Graham Craig