Match Report
Maidstone 3 v Thanet Wanderers 33
by Trevor Langley
League London 2 South
Home at the Mote, Saturday 27 September, 2008, Kick Off – 3.00pm
After last weeks drubbing at Chobham, any improvement could be considered a victory of sorts. But this 33-3 defeat to local rivals, Thanet Wanderers, was much more than that as it restored a degree of pride and stability back into the side.
The return of skipper Martin Arnold, plus Piers Frances and Nick Van Mol, along with debutant, Tom Searles, a recent recruit from Northampton, gave a solid appearance to the three-quarter line, while Jimmy Walker was restored to the front row of the scrum after missing out last week with an ankle injury.
While there was an initial lack of cohesion, as the third three–quarter line in successive weeks got to develop an understanding, the defence was much improved and the first quarter of the match passed with little pressure being exerted on either side’s try line.
The first significant play came after 23 minutes, when a Maidstone penalty kick failed to find touch and, on the counter, Thanet winger Cackett made good ground into the Maidstone 22 before being tackled. Flanker Harris was in support as the winger was tackled and he scored by the posts to allow an easy conversion for a 7 point lead to the visitors.
On the half hour, Jimmy Walker, obviously still suffering from his ankle problem, was replaced at prop by Martin Maytum. The impact on the scrum was immediate, giving much needed stability to Maidstone’s tight play. But the line out, at this point, was a shambles with the ball consistently being lost to Thanet on the Stone’s throw in.
An error under the new experimental laws, by Maidstone stand off, Frances, led to the next try just before half-time. From a scrum just outside the 22, the pass back was kicked directly into touch, contrary to the ELVs, and from the resulting lineout near the Stone’s line, Thanet prop, James Green, got the touchdown from a rolling maul to give a 14 point half-time lead.
Maidstone started the second half with purpose and aggression, and their efforts were immediately rewarded from the restart, when they gained a penalty on the Thanet 22. Frances added the points and for the next 15 minutes, Maidstone generated pressure by retaining the ball and putting together a number of phases. Debutant, Tom Castle, stepping up from last years U18 side, playing at blind-side flanker, impressed in this period with his play. But at no point was the team’s end product enough to defeat the visitors defence.
Having weathered this Maidstone effort, Thanet hit back on 15 minutes. From a scrum deep in Maidstone’s 22, the ball was moved left with prop, Teal, getting the touch down under the posts, having been given the benefit of doubt by the referee over a double movement in the process.
A further Thanet try followed ten minutes later, when Maidstone lost their own line out, again, on the half way line and a sweeping move left by the visitors was capped by wing Cackett, touching down in the corner. A repeat move down the left, on 33 minutes, this time saw fly half, Longdon, complete the score under the posts after receiving the ball inside following another strong run by Cackett, to post the final score.
While Maidstone’s general standard of play was much improved, compared to last week, there is a still a lot of work to do to get back to the expected standard to compete effectively in this league. The line out is a case in point, as is the loose play, where significantly greater aggression is a must, while the three quarters would obviously benefit from stable selection. After such a poor start, Maidstone’s horizon’s for this season have been reigned back to survival within this league, but the new Director of Rugby, Andy Golding, along with Head coach, Tim McBennett, were both upbeat after this performance.
Team
Sam Bailey; Fin Davis; Jim Walker (Martin Maytum 32 mins): Andy Bacon; Sam Johnston (Chris Trezise 60 mins): Nick Sargent; Ben Court (Sam Rogers 60 mins): Ed Laurent;Piers Frances: Nick Van Mol; Tom Searles; Martin Arnold; Richard Glover: Mike Laurenson
