Charlton Park v Medway Saturday 12 April 2014 3pm charltonpark.org.uk ACTIVE CLUBMARK is the SPORT ENGLAND mark of high quality junior clubs ACCESSIBLE ACCREDITED Welcome am delighted to welcome you all here for the final Vice President’s Lunch of the 2013-14 season. Our guests today are Medway RFC. Medway are a strong and popular club within London 2 South East and deservedly so. Certainly, they have always welcomed ICharlton Park RFC to their ground in the Medway Towns, in a typical rugby manner - fierce and fair competition on the field, with good companionship and friendship afterward. Since their formation on 1947 they have improved and maintained their fixture list and are now justifiably a vital and strong club in this quadrant of the London Division. Both clubs have performed well this season, with Medway, lying third in the league having beaten second placed Maidstone twice. We at Charlton Park are very grateful for that, as, barring any clerical errors or untoward penalty points that we may accrue in my worst nightmares, we are the league champions. However, please do not let anyone think that this is a game which has no competitive edge, I have it from Mark Marriott, now Vice Chairman of Medway, that they are out to win today and we would not expect it any other way We are also delighted to welcome an ex-President of Kent, John Carley, who has agreed to present the winners plaque for London 2 South East, after the game, John has been a great friend to Charlton Park and indeed to Kent rugby and we are delighted to see him here once more. The recently extended and improved floodlight facilities will be prominent in our endeavour to provide a superb rugby venue for this area of South East London, with strong school links being developed, we are hoping to attract new players to our club and to the game. Lastly, the game will begin with a minute silence, in memory of Simeon Eagleton, who was a talented rugby player from Charlton Park and sadly died recently in New Zealand, where he played for College Rifles in Auckland. He also played in the first ever County Colts Cup Final and fittingly that game, which was drawn with Westcombe Park, was played at Medway’s ground. We have provided a memorial bench for Simeon’s family as a small tribute to a great player. Dennis Attwood, President, Charlton Park RFC Our Season 14.09.13 Medway 3 Charlton Park 10 A difficult first game on paper and so it proved. Tom Coad scored on his league debut. Although we probably deserved to win there was a lot of defending to do and the final whistle came with a huge sigh of relief. New fly-half Thor Normann suffered a serious injury which put him out for several games. 21.09.13 Charlton Park 19 Colfeians 5 First home game, a VP lunch, a local derby with a bit of needle and a big crowd. We emerged as winners although taking the pitch without a recognised goal kicker almost cost us dearly. Will Robertson emerged from semi-retirement to play 9 and was to hold on to the position for the majority of the season. 28.09.13 Aylesford Bulls 33 Charlton Park 39 Memorable for Bear’s amazing five-try haul. At times we played flowing rugby but several certain tries went begging and a young and committed Aylesford side staged a strong fight back in the second half to run us close and cause an anxious last few minutes. 05.10.13 Maidstone 38 Charlton Park 20 From the beginning of the season it was clear that this was going to be a defining game. We were well beaten in the end by a confident, well-drilled team. We led at half-time and were still in it at 20-26 with about ten minutes to go. Nevertheless Maidstone deserved their convincing win and we failed to get a league point. 12.10.13 Charlton Park 31 Crowborough 8 Thor and BJ returned from injury and a solid win, with five tries, over old friends and adversaries was a tonic both on and off the pitch after last week. We were 19-0 ahead after ten minutes and had our bonus point fourth try before half-time but took our feet off the gas again in the second half – is this becoming a worrying trend? 26.10.13 Heathfield & Waldron 16 Charlton Park 31 We played most of the second half with 14 men after Sam was sent off for being offside twice. There were moments when we seemed to be approaching consistency but again we relaxed dangerously in the second half. Our Season, cont’ 02.11.13 Charlton Park 44 Tunbridge Wells 10 A seven-try win over fifth in the league, this was the best performance of the season so far, moving us back into second place. We managed to put together the power of our forwards with the speed of the backs – Reion and Mark English scoring memorable tries. 09.11.13 Deal & Betteshanger 9 Charlton Park 13 The journey down was through a deluge, but the rain had all but stopped by kick-off, although there was standing water on the pitch which had been used for a firework display the night before. In a full-blooded game between second and third, Deal threw everything at us and we dogged it out to win a closely fought and ultimately totally engrossing match. On the following weekend we put out two sides; on Saturday we beat Deal again in the Cup, while on the Sunday we lost to Elthamians with the last kick of the game in the Kent Cup. Some played two games. 23.11.13 Charlton Park 23 Sevenoaks 18 A mighty close thing. We looked heavy-legged from last weekend’s exertions. For much of the game we were behind but we finally cornered them in the last 20 minutes. Terry blasted over after a concerted forward bombardment (their report credited him as the difference between the teams) and Tom Amzaleg scored a second, leaving Sevenoaks a consolation score in injury time after we had had two yellow cards. 30.11.13 Lewes 17 Charlton Park 37 An open and enjoyable game in which defense played a minor role. Sam Baker scored another one of his specials, a weaving run of 60 yards through, round and over tackles. We were well ahead, 19-0 after 26 minutes and then relaxed and the Lewes backs gave us a few anxious moments, pulling back to 7 points before our forwards restored calm for the last few minutes. The scrum was totally dominant. 07.12.13 Charlton Park 79 Warlingham 5 An under-strength Warlingham were swamped by power forwards allied to strong running and fluent support. Four tries by half-time, but this time the floodgates really opened and everything came off, including some ball-juggling from BJ before the final try. We won all the ball, the ball-carriers offloaded and everyone got in on the act. 14.12.13 Old Colfeians 17 Charlton Park 26 This was always going to be a hard local derby against a pumped-up Colfes. We started well, but mistakes crept in and we had to tough it out to ensure the win. Relief turned to euphoria with news that Maidstone had lost again and we are top. 04.01.14 Charlton Park 15 Aylesford Bulls 8 Our decision a few years ago to spend on our pitches, rather than to put the money into players proved to be a benefit last Saturday, when following the deluge over Christmas and the New Year, we were only one of the few clubs in London able to host a league match. Both sides were rusty and clearly needed to get out a bit after the holiday. We led 15-3 until the last minute but this was another tight one! Of greater significance was the preparation it gave us for the key game of the season. 11.01.14 Charlton Park 22 Maidstone 15 One of most entertaining league matches played at Broad Walk in the last few years. For most of the first half there was nothing between the teams – one try each and a narrow lead for Maidstone, lengthened to 10-5 with a penalty soon after. From that moment we took charge, shrugged off the disappointments of our goal-kicking, and in a pulsating second half prised away the advantage. Almost all the play took place in their 22 in front of our supporters and the floodgates finally opened when a miss pass from Thor to Tom put BJ in the corner. Then Reion wriggled out of tackles and amid huge celebrations Bear and the forwards drove over following Neil’s interception. A consolation try at the end gave Maidstone yet another bonus point. Now our lead at the top is in double figures. 25.01.14 Crowborough 0 Charlton Park 15 A boggy pitch and a very solid all-round performance. It was a day for the big forwards, although Terry had just got back from Canada and did well to last most of the game. 08.02.14 Charlton Park 57 Heathfield & Waldron 3 Again, thanks to Colin’s pitch work, we played when everyone else was rained off. The ball- carriers were irresistible and there were nine tries against an under-strength Heathfield team. 01.03.14 Charlton Park 25 Deal & Betteshanger 11 A 22-point scoring spree in the first half finished the game and settled the nerves, but Deal fought back strongly after the break.