It was the Will Robinson show for Tonbridge Juddians as they shut out their hosts Bury St Edmunds on a wet, windy day in Suffolk.
The victory kept TJs in fourth place in National Two South with the same number of wins as the top three [five out of six] but fewer bonus points.
The visitors never looked like losing as they closed down everything Bury St Edmunds [BSE] threw at them, and Robinson scored all ten points with a converted first half try and a late penalty.
The home side set their stall out early with a bash-it-up approach, but to no avail as TJs’ defence remained rock solid.
Sides invariably have to kick as their attacks flounder but with a back three of Murray Galbraith-Lowe, Toby May and Hugo Watson they are simply inviting TJs back on to them.
They duly unleashed wave after wave of pacey attacks despite the conditions. From one such foray Galbraith-Lowe and May combined to get behind the BSE defence.
Will Colderick and his fellow scrummagers took it on and a deft pass to Robinson saw him cross under the sticks. Robinson converted and TJs had a deserved lead.
As the half drew to a close Ryan Jackson was yellow-carded for an off-the-ball incident and BSE had a promising spell but could not make it count.
A bright start to the second half by TJs mirrored the first period. They put BSE on the back foot and were rarely threatened inside their own 22.
Any penalties the home side won were too far out and in a disciplined display TJs denied their hosts a single kick at goal all through the game.
Good work by the TJ scrum gave them a platform for a series of drives which culminated in penalty of their own and Robinson kicked it successfully.
It was one of Tonbridge’s best defensive performances for some time and the team spirit shone through as the whole squad put in a shift.
Now TJs entertain Barnes at The Slade on Saturday [October 13, kick-off 3pm].
