The first of the 3^rd Rd (QF) matches took place last weekend as Aylesford took advantage of the break from league action to travel to Blackheath.  The hosts were probably the favourites for this tie but it was the visitors who dug deep, even when reduced to 13 men to grind out a 15-6 win to progress to the semi-finals.

In the Kent Plate competition, TJs, who must be classed as tournament favorites, received a scare at the weekend as they found themselves 24 points down against London 3 club Ashford in the first round of the competition.  In the end cool heads saw them through, as they pulled back to win the tie by the narrowest of margins 24-25. The next fixture in the competition is Maidstone’s home tie against London 2 club O Dunstonians, with the remaining 3^rd round ties scheduled for the 25^th Feb,

Elsewhere in the plate competition the bulk of fixtures still have to be played, with the preliminary round fixture between Dover and O Colfeians programmed for Sat 11^th Feb.  It is likely that other outstanding fixtures will be scheduled for the weekends of either 11/12 Feb or 25/26 Feb.

Ashford  24 v  25 Tonbridge Juddians
Beckenham  v  Bromley
Medway  v Thanet Wanderers
Dover or O Colfeians v  Charlton Park

The funeral for David will be a private familly ceremony; however, to celebrate the life of David there will be Service of Thanksgiving at St Mary’s, Faversham at 12.30pm on Friday 3rd February to which everyone who wishes to attend is invited. Flowers are nor expected but if desired, donations should be made to CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) or the Tennis Foundation, via Hogben and Partis, Faversham.

Did you know we could be nominated as a favourite club here in Maidstone?

Local clubs could become Maidstone’s Mall Chequers Local Champions and benefit from a one-off donation of £5000.

Starting on 20th February every customer that spends £20 or more in The Mall will a receive special  token from the Ask Me point, which can be put towards one of three local sports clubs or associations. The club with the most token by September will receive a cheque for £5000. The runners up will receive £300 each.

RewardMe members will get two tokens instead of one for every £20 spent. 

First, local clubs must be nominated to be included. The nomination process will last three weeks and people will be able to nominate at The Mall or following the link http://www.themall.co.uk/sign-up/mall-champions-nominations.aspx

The final date for submitting a nomination is the 6th February. Three organisations will then be chosen from nominations to benefit from the in Mall token collections from the 20th February (although their website states that tokens can be collected from 13^th February)

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR CLUB BY NOMINATING IT FOR THIS SCHEME

Maidstone’s Evergreen XV continued their bid for silverware in this season's regional Evergreen Cup competition this Sunday against an Old Colfeians side that had already convincingly seen off a Sevenoaks Acorns side that are certainly no slouches.  In what was a hard fought match the side managed to overhaiul an early 12 point deficit to take the tie 33-27 to progress to the last eight in the competition.

The draw has not yet been announced, but with TJ’s yet again withdrawing from the competition there is the possibility of being drawn against near neighbours Aylesford.

For the full match report click here.

Maidstone Rugby is featured in the February edition of Rugby World as part of the ‘Spotlight’ feature for the London & South East section (page120).  After seeing former player Nick East in the last edition as part of the spotlight on Burgess Hill, this month the club is in their in its own right with a small piece and a photo of U18 Dan Eastwood as he is in the process of picking up one of the ‘hat trick’ of tries he scored at Crawley.

National 1:  The ‘Club’ got back to winning ways with a resounding 41-27 win over Stourbridge at the Rectory Field to stay in sixth spot in the division.  Elsewhere, leaders Jersey beat Cinderford whilst Ealing move up to second with a 43-17 win against Wharfedale and Fylde slip to third following their 10-34 home defeat at the hands of Blaydon.  Rosslyn Pk also tripped up as they went down 23-37 to Tynedale whilst Macclesfield closed the gap in fifth spot with a 43-19 win at home to Cambridge.

National 2(S):  Combe’s woes continue as they entertained fifth placed Henley and went down 24-41, a result that sees Henley move up to fourth spot following Hartpury’s defeat at Clifton..  Elsewhere the other relegation threatened clubs Barnes, Dings & Hertford all fared no better as they all lost heavily in their respective fixtures, 37-12 at Taunton, 34-9 at

National 3(SE):  On paperTJs probably had the stiffest test of the weekend as they took on fifth club Bishop Stortford and so it proved as they went down 31-45 at The Slade, the visitors were 31-17 up at one point in the second half before TJs got back themselves on level terms, however, they could not sustain their comeback and shipped 2 late tries to succumb to their fourth defeat of the season.  Elsewhere their nearest rivals Dorking failed to capitalise as they also lost 23-9 at 10^th placed Staines, and with Ampthill convincing 15-39 winners at Westcliff they move into second spot with TJs slipping to third and Dorking fifth with Bishop Stortford moving up to fourth.  At the top of the division Canterbury’s unbeaten run continues as they won 6-36 at London Irish to create an eighteen-point cushion for themselves.  Meanwhile Gravesend went down to a disappointing 8-14 home defeat as bottom club Havant recorded their first away win this season, and whilst the Kent club stays in eighth spot, the result lifts Havant of the bottom of the table, although still in deep relegation trouble.

London 1(S):  The big match here was the clash between leaders Chichester and early season contenders Sidcup in a match where the outcome could either pull Chichester back into the clutches of the chasing pack or potentially end Sidcup’s tilt at promotion for this campaign,  In the end the 5-17 scoreline fell in the league leaders favour leaving the Kent side looking like it is falling off the pace for promotion this season.  Guernsey stay in second spot after a thumping 43-0 away win at Haywards Heath, with Elthamians still in third spot after a high scoring 31-39 win at Cobham.  Fourth placed Basingstoke were too strong for Thanet, running out convincing 17-43 winners at St Peters.

Upper mid-table Beckenham went down to a narrow but surprising 13-15 defeat at Balmoral Ave by visiting Trojans, a result that sees them edging towards safety, but currently still looking very much relegation candidates. As the best of the pack chasing the promotion candidates, Hove were 25-28 winners at Portsmouth, whilst at the foot of the table S&E went down 52-7 to Dover at The Crabble.

London 1(N):  In what was very much a mid-table battle Brentwood and Colfes switch places from seventh and eighth place respectively following Colfes 11-15 win.

Kent 1:  What look likes now being a march to the league title continued for Anchorians as they hammered Guys Hospital 63-6 to stay four points clear of Vigo who beat HSBC 38-15.  There is then a 10-point gap to Dartfordians who got back to winning ways with a narrow 5-7 win at Sittingbourne.  Fourth placed Shooters were convincing 31-17 winners at Beccehamians.  In mid table the battle between OGs and Hastings was a close affair with the Sussex visitors just shading the result 18-21, whilst in the basement battle Whitstable were 27-20 winners over NAG.  Cranbrook had no fixture.

RFU Knockout Competitions:  Entry levels for the London & SE regional element of these competitions meant that they are all at different stages of completion, as a consequence there was no county involvement this week, whilst fixtures were going ahead in the RFU Junior Vase the county’s last representative in this competition, Brockleians, went out in the last round which took place in November.  In the Intermediate Cup there were no fixtures and the 4^th round of the competition will take place on the 11^th Feb, when amongst the four fixtures to be competed Charlton Pk and Aylesford will take on East Grinstead and Romford & Gidea Park respectively.

Clubs competing in the Senior Vase have even longer to wait as they are at the regional Semi-Final stage to be played on 25^th Feb, with Maidstone hosting London 3(SE) league rivals Folkestone and the other match also being an all division affair between London 3 (NE) clubs Norwich and Newmarket.

English Clubs Championship

London Division 3 (South East)

Saturday 28th Jan 2012

Maidstone 1st XV v Ashford RFC, (H) KO 2:15pm

Saturday 28th Jan 2012 - Other XVs

Mustangs XV v Medway RFC 2nd XV, (A) KO 2:15pm (Invicta Division 2)

3rd XV v Ashford RFC 2nd XV, (A) KO 2:15pm

4th XV v Tunbridge Wells RFC 4th XV, (A) KO 2:15pm

5th XV v Lordswood RFC 2nd XV, (H) KO 2:15pm

Veterans XV v Ashford RFC Veterans XV, (H) KO 2:15pm