By Graham Cox Kent ended their 96-year wait for County Championship glory with a nail-biting win over Lancashire at Twickenham.
With the scores at 39-37 Greg Smith of Flyde missed a last-gasp conversion that would have tied the match. Instead his kick went wide, ending Lancashire’s hopes in this Bill Beaumont Division 1 Final and sparking the celebrations for Kent.
It wasn’t heading that way at half-time. Lancashire dominated the opening period, scoring five of their seven tries for a 27-10 lead, and had it not been for some narrowly missed conversions - the unfortunate Smith saw three hit the woodwork - the northerners might well haven been out of sight.
However a change of approach - as well as Sam Evans’ kicking - saw Kent hit another gear after the break. “We kicked too much ball away in the first period, but once we decided to use the real talent in our team, and go through the hands, as they had done, you saw the difference and we started to get a lot of joy,” said Canterbury and Kent captain Jamie Stephens. “Evans’ contribution has been massive.