Ravens Edge past strong Griffins

Kent Ravens 46 vs. 24 London Griffins

After good early work from the forwards and excellent field position the ravens where first on the score sheet when Ewen Drummond crossed the line from close range out wide. With Tom Claridge adding the extra conversion it was soon 6 - 0 to the Kent side.

The early score was enough to rally the efforts of the London Griffins who started to dominate the game scoring 14 unanswered points in 30 minutes of domination. With the Ravens looking like going in behind at the break strong running debutant Dane Smith had other ideas and broke the line out on the right and outpaced the advancing defence to score in the corner, again with Claridge adding the extras to cut the Griffins lead to just 2 points. Then just before half time excellent work by the pack had the Griffins on the backwards foot and another break out wide was stopped just short of the try line, however excellent handling from the Ravens half backs enabled centre Darren Griffin to cross in the corner to leave the Ravens 16-14 up at half time.

The second half saw the Ravens go up a gear and dominate in defence, not allowing the Griffins much ball or field position. The pressure told on the Griffins attack as they tried to go wide where centre Ewen Drummond intercepted and ran 50 metres to score in the corner, again consistent Claridge added the extras.

From then on it was all one way traffic with 3 tries in 15 minutes. The first from 16 year old debutant Dan Smart who crossed from 10 yards out, the second to full back Mark Martin who showed great agility to dance through the Griffins defence to score next to the posts and finally centre Richard Williams who got on the outside of the Griffins winger and tip toeing along the touchline to score a great try leaving the Ravens in control 40 – 18.

With the quick play the balls taking its toll in the last quarter on a tiring Griffins team Ewen Drummond broke through once again and sprinted from inside his own half to score the final Ravens’ try of the day again Claridge converting. The Griffins scored at the death with a consolation try to make the final score 46-24.

The win is an impressive start to the pre-season campaign for the Ravens against a strong Griffins side as Kent look to strengthen as they go towards their first Conference Premier season. Next Saturday the Ravens entertain fellow Premier club St. Albans Centurions in Acacia Hall on Dartford High Street at 2:30pm (Entry is free to all) as season preparations continue.

During the same day the Junior Ravens kicked off their London Junior league campaigns, first up were the under 16s who took on an experienced St Albans side just losing out 22 – 24 as both Jack Bailey and Jake Stringer bagged a brace of tries, the under 14s also lost out by two points against Hemel though this time the score was 20 – 22 as Matt Stringer got two while man of the match Charlie Whittaker and debutant Toby Pomfrey grabbed a try each. The under 12s picked up the first win of the season for a Ravens side as they beat Hemel 18 – 12 as the Kent side made there hunger for a win pay dividends, Luke Edward got two tries and with one try each Tom Coyd and Luke Boynes rounded off the scoring.