With the crowd in good spirits, most likely down to the beer festival being held at the ground, the Rams dominated the first half after a slow start, which ultimately gave them the platform needed to push on to victory as the second half offered little in terms of action.

Rams head coach, Seb Reynolds, was reservedly positive with his thoughts after a tough game saying, “We never quite got complete control of the game today against a very good Tonbridge side, who came with a game plan to move the ball around and challenge our defence, and in fairness they did that at times. But all in all the lads did really well to score 5 tries and earn a bonus point victory, while never really gaining a genuine foothold in the game.”

Tonbridge began the game well earning themselves two penalties within the first 5 minutes of the game and opting to kick both, and with Robinson converting, the away side quickly found themselves 6-0 up on the scoreboard.

The Rams responded well, winning a succession of penalties of their own to gradually take the ball down the pitch, with Henderson eventually driving the ball over the line and Seers converted impressively to put the Rams in the lead. From here, the Reading men scored two more unanswered tries, having gained momentum following a yellow card for Tonbridge’s Jackson.

The first of which coming by way of a penalty try, and this was followed by Henderson’s second of the game as he snatched the ball out the back of a scrum and span his opposite number to gain enough space to stretch the ball over the line.
Looking as if they might be overrun, Tonbridge bounced back against the run of play, as May combined with Watson who ran the ball over the line in the corner to tighten the gap between the two sides.
Although it was the home side that went into the break with the last laugh as Page took the ball over the line following some top-level passing and movement from the Rams backs.

Tonbridge came out looking determined in the second half of the game, and having poured pressure on the Rams over the opening 10 minutes of the second half, Vooght received a yellow card.
The away side seized this opportunity to close the gap between the two sides, putting points on the board almost immediately through Jurevicius, who scored in the corner despite the pressure of a heavy tackle from Lloyd.
However, upon Vooght’s return to the pitch, the Rams put the final nail in the coffin for Tonbridge. As, with the Rams camped in the Tonbridge 22, the experienced Amor demonstrated composure in the midst of a scrappy period of play to loop the ball wide to Rossiter who burst to the line.
The last 20 minutes of the game passed by quietly, with the only moment of note coming in the final few seconds as Tonbridge pushed for a consolation try only to be thwarted by a resilient Rams defence who were relieved by the sweet sound of the Referee’s final whistle.
Rams travel to Bristol next week (Sat 27th Oct) to face Old Redcliffians.

Stats:
Rams:
tries: Henderson 12, 26, Penalty try 22, Page 40, Rossiter 68
conversions: Seers 13, 40, 69
penalties:
drop goals:

Tonbridge Juddians:
tries: Watson 34, Jurevicius 51
conversions: Robinson 35
penalties: Robinson 4, 8
drop goals:

Referee: Andrew Wigley
Half time: 26 - 13

Attendance: 424

Rams: (15-9, then 1-8)
Duffelen, Rossiter, Jones, Humberstone, Corrigan, Seers, Lloyd, Steadman, Henderson, Baker, Taylor, Guttridge, Page, Vooght, Collis.
Replacements: Kidd, Mcdonnell-Roberts, Amor, Etete, Illingworth

Tonbridge Juddians :
May, Galbraith-Lowe, Tout, Coxon-Smith, Watson, Robinson, Chapman, O’Sullivan, Jackson, Stanford, McHugh, Irvine, Varney, Sullivan, Colderick
Replacements: McMahon, White, Buckingham, Jurevicius, Whitmarsh