Match Report

Kent was the venue for the second away game of the season as the dogs came up against Tonbridge Juddians for the very first time in their history.

The first few minutes of the game set the tone for the afternoon as play switched regularly from one end to the other with full back, Mark Dixon, foiling a certain try at one stage with a fine cover tackle.

The hosts took the lead in the 11^th minute as winger, Hugo Watson, sniped around the side of a ruck to score under the posts, Tom White adding the conversion.

Tonbridge Juddians 7 Sale 0

Sale responded well to the early score, playing some flowing rugby and deservedly got on the scoreboard on 22 minutes with a James Robins penalty after a high tackle, but the hosts responded almost immediately with 3 points from the boot of Tom White.

Tonbridge Juddians 10 Sale 3

With just over 10 minutes of the first 40 remaining, the dogs produced a move of brilliance to score their first try as Fergus Mulchrone offloaded for Tom Walsh to make several yards before timing his pass perfectly for Mark Dixon to sprint in.

Tonbridge Juddians 10 Sale 8

Both sides continued to show plenty of attacking enterprise but it was the blue and whites who took the lead just before the break with a beauty of a penalty kick from James Robins.

HT Tonbridge Juddians 10 Sale 11

Tonbridge kicked off the second half in full sun and the boys began to dominate territory with the forwards going through phase after phase. Their endeavours were finally rewarded when Dan Birchall charged at the defensive line and earned a penalty which James Robins kicked with ease.

Tonbridge Juddians 10 Sale 14

Back came the home side again with Tom White reducing the arrears with another penalty as Mark Dixon saw yellow, before they surged in front with a try out wide from Hugo Watson.

Tonbridge Juddians 18 Sale 14

The dogs weathered the period with 14 men well and then had an opportunity to strike back from a 5-metre lineout but the ball was lost forward with the line beckoning, enabling the hosts to clear.

This was to prove pivotal as Hugo Watson scored another two quick fire tries to effectively put the game beyond Sale.

Tonbridge Juddians 30 Sale 14

The boys salvaged some pride with the final play of the game as Rhys Davies provided some aerial magic in taking a lineout from Oli Longmore, setting the platform for the ball to be moved wide for Fergus Mulchrone to feed Mark Dixon for his second try of the match.

However, the day belonged to TJs and Hugo Watson, scoring all four tries on his 150^th appearance for the club.

FT Tonbridge Juddians 30 Sale 21