Reported by: Jonathan Fowke

The United Services Ground, Chatham, provided the venue for the opening match of the 2004/05 season, which saw the Royal Engineers, who were looking to build on their successful tour of Denver, play host to the Royal Logistic Corps, who were narrowly beaten by the Sappers in last years fixture.

On a fairly cold and overcast afternoon, it was the Royal Logistic Corps that started brightly taking possession into the Engineers half, and trying to put points on the board early on, which they nearly did, as they quickly spread the ball from a lineout on the far side of the pitch to their backs who tried to force a try in the corner only to be denied by a solid defence. It was Logistic error that allowed the Engineers their first break when the ball was spilt and chased down deep into the RLC's territory by Gilly Gill, who couldn't quite manage to get the loose ball under control over the try line, resulting in a twenty-two drop out to the RLC. It wasn't long after that the Engineers were back in the Logistics territory when Frankie Brough successfully converted a penalty giving the Sappers an early lead despite not starting the brightest.

After their early mistakes the logistics managed to score in the Sapper corner, giving them the lead 3-5, after the conversion was missed. The Sappers again replied well, by keeping the ball in the Logistics twenty-two, which eventually resulted in a penalty which gave the Sappers the lead back, 6-5. The game then saw its first yellow card being handed out, in the 21st minute, when Gareth Evans was sin binned for stamping. The RLC were able to capitalize on this one man advantage and a Sapper mistake which saw the ball deflected into a Logistic hand for them to run in a try which gave them a 6-12 lead after a missed conversion. Another RLC try quickly followed however the Sappers began to put the pressure back on, and with the return of Gareth Evans were able to add another penalty to the score, but still no try came from this possession, nevertheless closing the gap to 9-17. In the final few minutes of the first half the Sappers started to put together some very good runs allowing them to get closer and closer to the RLC's try line, most noticeably Darrell Ball and Ben Seru worked well together to breeze past the Logistics defence. It was right on the 40 minutes however when the Sappers got their first try, a wheeled scrum orchestrated by Ben Hughes allowed the Sappers to turn over possession for Dee Dranidulo to give an inspired run past the RLC's defence to set up the try for Darrell Ball, which after the failed conversion left the score at half time 14-17 to the RLC.

After the break the Sappers picked up where they left off at the end of the first and dominated early on and only a few minutes into the half picked up another try, in the Logistic corner with the Captain Ben Hughes driving from the back off the maul close to the RLC try line to help set up a second from Darrell Ball, capping off a good move and seeming to catch the Logistics off guard early on in the second half. This handed the lead back to the Sappers after the missed conversion 19-17.

The Sappers then built on this good start with Ben Seru giving an excellent display of running, trying to get into the RLC's corner, however couldn't add to the score with a failed penalty attempt. The Logistics then started to reply and began putting pressure on the Sappers defence and eventually their wing ran in from a short distance to give the RLC a 19-24 lead after the successful conversion. It was not long before the Sappers replied, with an excellent run by 'Tali' Taylor which started on the half way line and took him round at least 4 Logistics players, running in a superb try, with a conversion, handing back the lead to the Sappers 26-24. A few substitutions were then made for injuries, with both teams taking three points each through penalties, with the score a close 29-27, to the Sappers, leading into the last ten minutes.

Both teams found themselves making mistakes late on as the game saw many knock-ons, but it was the RLC who finished brighter as they put on the pressure late on in the game seeking a last minute victory. The Sappers were not helped when Rob Taylor was put in the Sin Bin for the remained of the match. The Logistics took advantage of the extra man and were able to snatch victory with a try in the 78th minute and with the conversion made the score 29-34, which the Sappers couldn't reply to and ended up giving the Logistics the win in an entertaining opening match of the season.

Man of the Match: Darrell Ball - He gave an immense performance on his first match back since injury, and kept the Sappers in the game with two very good tries.

Result: RE 29 RLC 34

See also Sapperugby web site.