London SE3 League
Sheppey 19 vs 5 Uckfield

With the weather finally allowing the league season to resume, both sides were up for a good contest in front of a vocal home support. With a piper greeting the teams to the pitch?, the visitors were anxious of being ring rusty after a lengthy period since their last game, and a haphazard training schedule for the past month.
However from the kick-off Sheppey finally were the team that were into their stride first, with fluid phases across the park, they looked dangerous as both forwards and backs interlinked to break the line, with strings of offloads keeping the ball alive. Only resolute defence from Uckfield kept them at bay, and a sticky gorgonzola like pitch made footing a lottery for both teams. At the scrums, Sheppey had the nudge and exploited this area for the whole of the half, dominating the breakdown area to starve the home side of any possession.
Good defensive pressure created problems for Uckfields backs, who untypically struggled to create any tempo and seemed to lack a bit of spark, and at times being able to throw a blanket over the side enabled the visitors to contain such a narrow attack. A quick tap penalty from no 9 Kelly caught the defence napping, and the 30 metre run saw Sheppey deep into Uckfields half searching for the first points, with both Adams and McKinnell doing the hard work to creep towards the whitewash.
The move was halted with good jackalling work, and from the resulting clearance kick, Spence was unfortunate to be yellow carded whilst challenging for the high ball, an incident without malice but looking ugly. Down to 14 men, Sheppey remained in control, and shortly after quick hands through the backs saw full-back Frostick join the line and cross for the opening try after 15 minutes. A superb conversion by Wardzynski added the extras.
Sheppey remained camped inside the opposition 22 for the next quarter of an hour, and continually tested the defence who put their bodies on the line to prevent further scores. Uckfields lock was yellow carded at a 10 metre lineout, clumsy but again without malice and a bit harsh to be sinbinned. Immediately from that penalty the Islanders opted for a scrum, and were able to push back the 7 man opposition for a simple try for Davies at 8. Again an excellent kick in these conditions added the extras for a 14-0 lead.
Further spells of pressure in the half did not equate to points, intelligent running lines from Smith, Bright, Robinson and Adams kept the team on the front foot, but the home side would not buckle. A last minute long range penalty just fell short before the half was over.

As the heavy pitch, and lack of match fitness began telling on all the players, the 2nd half became disjointed and neither side showed great form. Sheppey remained mostly dominant in the scrums, but Uckfields line-out was working well and they were reaping good stolen ball and clean possession off their own throws to start working some moves through their team.
After 55 minutes a good catch and offload from a frisky Billy Bright on the wing, capping a man of the match all-round performance, released inside centre Willis for a canter into the right corner to increase the lead to 19-0. Uckfield were soon back into the game, and just 5 minutes later, finally got the ball out wide through a cut-out pass, and released their left wing to score a deserved try out wide.
In the 65th minute both sides found themselves down to 14 men, an innocuous looking embrace between Golding and the Uckfield hooker was mysteriously adjudged foul play, and they had 10 minutes on the naughty step. For the final quarter the ball did not move from the Uckfield 22, as Sheppey pushed for the all important 4th bonus point try, the home side showed their metal and steadfastly defended their line, repelling wave after wave of attack. No further score was added and the game finished 19-5 to the visitors
An excellent first half for Sheppey, the forwards looking dominant from the first whistle, and the backs more dangerous as Wardzynski sat flatter in the pocket to release runners from deep. A concern will be the lack of composure and decision making close to the line in the 2nd half, and the absence of a more clinical edge that would of turned such a massive possession and territorial advantage into more points. However it would be unfair to underestimate Uckfields resilience, who as always were annoyingly gritty and organised in defence, and tough tough competitors who make teams work for every inch of ground. But it just didn't seem to happen in attack for them in these conditions, and the home sides number 9 will possibly never have such a difficult day behind his pack again.
On a positive finish, Sheppey fielded 3 senior teams on Saturday, with both the 1sts and Development squad winning to continue their promotion efforts. This hunger to play and competition for places is great for the club, and the strength of the 1st team bench on the weekend, coupled with the calibre of players in the Dev squad, is a good sign for the future.