In an exhilarating game of rugby at Wellington on Saturday, Tonbridge beat the home side 15-14 to ensure our second consecutive unbeaten season. We have never done this before.
Tonbridge dominated the first twenty minutes of the game, during which time fly-half David Whitehead had three kickable penalties, but only succeeded with one as his non-kicking foot kept slipping on the wet surface. Wellington began to get into the game as the half wore on and scored a converted try after a good move by their backs.
The first score in the second half was always going to be decisive, and it went to Tonbridge centre, Johnny Farmer, after a good attacking move. Whitehead's conversion gave us a 10-7 lead.
But the real drama was still to come. Wellington won a 5 metre scrum on our line, Jamie Tennant got a foot to the ball as it came out of their back-row, we secured possession and the referee awarded Wellington a penalty-try. Unbelievable! 14-10 to them.
With the sands of time running out for Tonbridge, Dom Hodson suffered a badly broken ankle and there was a delay of at least 10 minutes while he received attention and then left the field in an ambulance. It must have been difficult for both sides to remain focussed with the end of the match so near and a combination of encroaching darkness and an early mist threatening to render the closing proceedings largely invisible. There must have been 5 minutes left of the game; time enough for three Tonbridge attacks, from the third of which Johnny Farmer went on a long run from 35 metres out and forced his way over in the corner. 15-14. The conversion wasn't critical (thank goodness), but proved to be the final act of the match. What a finish.