Cranbrook II’s Vs Mustangs – Sat 6th January 2007

Following the late withdrawal by Dartfordians, a friendly was thankfully arranged with Cranbrook II’s to ensure the Mustangs could get rid of some rustiness following the Christmas and New Year break.

The Mustangs arrived to discover that the two main Cranbrook pitches were already too wet, so had to play 50 yards down the road on a slightly less sodden surface. The Mustangs also discovered that owing to the fact that Cranbrook only had one prop, scrums would be uncontested from the start. This was a pity for the Mustangs, as with the bulk of Maytum featuring in the side, this would have been an area where the visitors would have held the upper hand.

As soon as the whistle blew to signal the kick off, the wind picked up and the rain started falling. Maidstone were playing into the wind and clearing their lines proved difficult. Maidstone succumbed to some early pressure from the home side and gave a penalty away in front of the posts, on the 22. Cranbrook decided to take the three points on offer to take an early lead.

This kick-started the Mustangs into action and the next 10 minutes were spent pressurising the home side in their own 22. The Mustangs went through several passages of recycling the ball and missed one golden opportunity when they failed to take advantage of a three on one overlap as the ball was taken into contact. However quick ruck ball, a change of direction and good hands from the backs saw Ben Blacker dive over on the left hand side of the pitch to score his maiden try for the Mustangs. Mann narrowly failed to convert the try.

Taking the lead should have seen the Mustangs continue to pile on the pressure on Cranbrook, however, as the rain and wind increased the rugby deteriorated and Maidstone spent the remaining 20 minutes struggling to keep hold of the ball and being pinned in their own half by the opposition. This was due to the fact it was hard to kick the ball to safety with any distance, owing to the wind but also there was some poor decision making combined with some poor handling which lead to Maidstone gifting possession to their opponents. At times the Mustangs line was under threat, but some resolute defence ensured that their line was not breached and the half ended 5 -3 in the Mustangs favour.

The Mustangs began the second half with the wind now in their favour and were able to keep constant pressure on their opponents. It was now Cranbrook’s turn to find it difficult to get out of their own half. The pitch now resembled a quagmire and with the rain continuing to pour down, the handling error count rattled up.

Cranbrook were able to put some pressure on the Mustangs when they failed to tackle properly and allowed the number 8 and centre to make good yards down the middle of the field. Cranbrook were never able to capitalise though on these situations and would often turn the ball over.

As Cranbrook tired, the Mustangs piled on the pressure and Cranbrook had no answer other than to keep giving away penalties. This enabled Sam Mann to kick to the corners and set up opportunities to catch and drive from the lineouts – which has proved a very potent attacking force for the Mustangs over the past few weeks. A cleanly taken lineout ball by Sam Johnston on the Cranbrook 22 set up the platform for the forwards to drive forward and with the line beckoning and Cranbrook going back at a rate of knots, the home side opted to come round the back of the maul and tackle the man holding the ball. A yellow card was shown to the offender.

The build up of pressure eventually resulted in Maidstone extending their lead. Following numerous attacks on the Cranbrook line, space was spotted on the right by scrum half James Ferris and offloaded the ball to the Mustangs feisty hooker Nick East who beat one man and raced in to score from five metres out. The conversion was missed.

The score seemed to have a settling influence on the Mustangs as the continued to pressurise the Cranbrook line. A lack of possession caused a great deal of frustration to the home side and they were repeatedly penalised for coming in at the side of rucks and mauls. Maidstone spent much of the last 15 minutes of the game in the Cranbrook 22 and with the final whistle looming, Martin Maytum used his large frame to muscle over from 1 metre and touch down to the left of the uprights. Sam Mann converted to make the score 17-3 to Maidstone at which point the ref decided he’d had enough and blew the final whistle.

Owing to the weather conditions, this was not a game to remember and the Mustangs were well short of their best. However there were a couple of new faces and some new combinations which had to get used to playing together. Nick Deissner was solid as ever in defence and Ben Blacker showed what he is capable of with some strong running from the centres. However, Man of the Match this week, for his hard work in defence and work ethic around the park which culminated in a well deserved try, goes to Nick East.

Scorers:

Tries – Blacker, East & Maytum
Conversions – Mann

Squad: Andy West, Nick East, Martin Maytum, Ian Lee, Sam Johnston, Rich Turnill (Simon Wright), Josh Pankhurst, Fin Davies, James Ferris, Sam Mann, Nick Deissner, Dane Smith, Ben Blacker, Gav Dyke (Lee Bezuidenhout), Chris Leggatt.

Coach – Any Golding
Physio – Wendy Edwards
Manager – Laurence Waters