THINGS did not exactly go to plan for the Beckenham Bears RLFC against higher division Medway Dragons on Saturday at Copers Cope Road as they lost their first home game 58-12.
A fast opening 10 minutes saw the visitors take a 12-0 lead after mistakes in the Beckenham attacking line gave Medway the ball with good field position.
The Bears significantly tightened up and found their fluency but their inability to capitalise saw numerous knock-ons and missed passes inside the Dragons’ 20m line.
Weathering the storm, Medway finished the half as well as they started it and ran in two tries in the last 10 minutes to stretch the lead to 24-0.
With the bit between their teeth, the Dragons piled on the pressure and scored five more tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
However, in their best period of the match, the Bears finally found the killer touch.
A great move from Joe Yates’ line-break on 63 minutes brought in several players and culminated in Paul Hyde scoring from Rory Hitchens’ offload Billy Osborne added the extras.
Four minutes later, Hyde’s line-break saw a big gain, which Joshua-Daniel Smith converted with a smart scoot from dummy half.
Osborne’s conversion took the score to 52-12.
Late Medway pressure saw the Bears concede one more try but a battling performance shone through despite the result against a team that ply their trade in a higher division.
The Bears next face the South West London Chargers in a London Challenge Cup match at Copers Cope Road on Saturday at 2.30pm.
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