Mustangs Vs Tunbridge Wells 2’s – 3rd February 2007

Tunbridge Wells came to the Mote on Saturday to take on a Mustangs team which had a few new faces and captained by Nick East in the absence of James Ferris. As it turned out, Tunbridge Wells also had quite a few changes to their regular two’s side.

The Mustangs pack once again appeared to hold the upper hand on an ageing set of opposition forwards and shoved them around in the mauls, however Tunbridge Wells more than held their own in the scrums. Much of the first half was error strewn, with passes from the Mustangs backs not going to hand or being grounded. The continued knock-on’s meant that the game never really had any rhythm, and combined with a referee who liked the sound of his whistle, both sides struggled to impose themselves on the other team. This frustration led to Alex Malejac attempting a 30 yard drop goal which never cam close to going over. Dane Smith again was the most effective at penetrating the opposition defensive line, but the Mustangs were never able to sustain the pressure.

Finally, a solid scrum on the opposition 5 metre line, which at one point looked as if the Mustangs would push over to score, was eventually released to the backs, who showed quick hands to pass down the line and allow full back Chris Leggatt to go round the last defender and score on the right hand side of the field.

Ten minutes later and a great rolling maul by the forwards from just inside the Tunbridge Wells 22 went all the way to the line and new boy Richard Court has the easy task of touching down. Five minutes later and a miscued clearance kick from T Wells was caught by winger Ben McKellar in centre field, just in side the opposition half. He ran ten yards and passed to full back Chris Leggatt who went on a scything run, jinking and side stepping his way under the posts. The try went unconverted. The half time whistle blew soon after.

The second half began in much the same way as the first. T Wells realised they couldn’t compete with our forwards, so decide to run most of their possession, utilising the very strong pair that were playing in the centres. Both players made a lot of yards as the Mustangs seemed unwilling to tackle around the legs and were often brushed off. Eventually there would always be someone who managed to haul down the attacker.

The Mustangs fourth try came on the left wing, where the ball ended up in the hands of Ben McKellar who showed great strength combined with speed to beat one man, sprint 40 yards and hold of another defender to finish off a very good solo run. Ten minutes later a similar score happened, with the ball spilling loose into the path of flanker Josh Pankhurst, who ran in from 30 yards, held off a defender and dived over on the left hand side. This made the score 25-0 to Maidstone.

The final quarter of the game didn’t really have many highlights and the referee didn’t help matters with his ambiguous interpretation of the laws (which adversely effected both teams), as the Mustangs often took the wrong options when in good attacking positions, and once again the dreaded handling lurgy spread through the side like avian flu in a Bernard Matthews turkey factory, and it certainly wasn’t “bootiful” to watch. The game meandered to a finish, Maidstone ending up  25-0 winners.

As mentioned previously, the Tunbridge Wells side had some very good and strong backs. One positive that can be taken out of the game is that once again the Mustangs defence held firm and didn’t let any points be scored against them. If the side keeps up the rate of work they put into their defence for the rest of the season, they will in the main see positive results. The team by and large had an off day in attack, but that can be improved on.

The stronger performances this week came from Dane Smith in the centres, whose strength and ability to stand up in the tackle and wait for support is a real plus for the Mustangs style of play. Nick Coles continues to do well in the second row and is starting to form a good lineout partnership with Ian Lee and hooker Nick East. Man of the Match this week is awarded to Chris Leggatt, who had a good all round game and scored two good tries, taking his personal tally to ten league tries for the season.

Next Saturday’s original opponents, Whitstable, cried off due to cup commitments. A fixture has been arranged against Lordswood 2nd team, which is at The Mote, 2.30pm kick off.

Point Scorers:-

Tries: Leggatt x 2, R Court, McKellar, Pankhurst

Team: Maytum, East (Capt), Thurgood, Lee, Coles, R Court, Pankhurst, O’Brien, Jones, Mann, McKellar, D Smith, Malejac, Woodgar, Leggatt

Subs: Faulkner, Turnhill

Coach: Andy Golding
Physio: Wendy Edwards
Manager: Laurence Water