Rochester can be quite a scenic place if the weather if the conditions are right. As we travelled past the imposing fortress of Rochester Castle the conditions were damp alongside a Scottish breeze which is the same as an English gale. At this the windscreen wipers were intermittent although we knew the forecast was to deteriorate

Medway 7th and A&C 10th. Home advantage is gold, and Medway had had some decent results, including a home win against Tring. With approx. 20 advertising flags fluttering violently in the impending doom we were served the reminder that the wind and rain would undoubtedly have a bearing on the result.

And so, to the action......
With Josh back at our helm the toss was duly won, and I think rightly we chose to have the wind on our backs. During warm up and the first half the rain in fact stayed away and the hope was it would not come back and if it did it would be on another day. I resisted singing the well-known nursery rhyme.

Pitch was in excellent condition and the advertising flags sounded like a Mclaren super car constantly revving at top speed. Scrum half Ben Harris flew over the Medway pack for a well-deserved opener duly converted by Harry Stevens (14 mins 0-7). Amersham kept their foot on Maedway’s throat with some relentless attacking. Only 4 mins later it was Joe Batt scoring the second try from an impressive rolling mall. Beautifully converted (0-14). Despite Medway struggling to get out of their own 22 it was becoming clear that the scrum, particularly the front row would be an important area. The referee did not appear to have been an ex- forward in size although many experts from both sides seemed to watching. Medway did manage to secure several penalties for things far too technical for me to understand. On the 31st minute Captain Josh broke through with a terrific 3rd try under the posts. Duly converted. (0-21). Just prior to half time and significantly with some good fortune from kick off Medway managed to get a hard worked try prior to H/T (5-21).

The rain then didn't go away, not come back another day and decided to join the gale all for the undoubted benefit of Medway. All credit to Amersham though who seemed up for the challenge opening the 2nd half with their 4th and bonus point try. Dan Kingsley slicing through for the 4th and bonus point try. Again Converted (5-28) kicked in and with a scrummage producing benefits and some initial tries momentum was now with Medway. The Chase was on and with 3 further tries being scored and a penalty being given in the final minute they managed a kick to win by a point.

A terrific match for the home crowd and a home win. A match, though, that was affected by the weather.
We look forward very much to the return match at Weedon Lane.

Team 1. Charlie Swerling. 2. Joe Batt (VC) 3. Max Morphey. 4. Harry Bradshaw. 5. Will Drewett. 6. Will Price. 7. Josh Finch (C) 8. Jordan Scott 9. Ben Harris. 10. Dan Kingsley. 11. Josh Fisher. 12. Noah Jarvis. 13. Harry Stevens. 14. MacKenzie South. 15. Sammy Sinclair. 16. Dougles McGregor-Smith. 17. Kazeem Olayinka. 18. Conor Segre