Lordswood II 20 – 8 Maidstone III

Maidstone’s hopes of retaining the Mid Kent A title were dealt a blow as they lost to Lordswood II for the second time this season, going down 20-8 on a rainy day in Medway.

Maidstone started brightly, with some good driving runs by the forwards taking them into the Lordswood 22 but they were unable to threaten the opposition line. A penalty on the half way line enabled the home side to kick to the Maidstone 22 where a tap from the shortened lineout gave their powerful No.8 a run at the defence. He was well tackled five metres out and, after the Lordswood fly half was stopped just short of the line, Maidstone’s superb defence was rewarded with a penalty for holding on.

The next ten minutes were evenly contested with both sets of forwards doing their best to get to grips with the new engagement laws at the scrum while Tuggy began to strike up a relationship with the Lordswood back row.

Lordswood scored their first of two tries after several phases of good possession gave their backs quick ball just outside the Maidstone 22. With the referee playing advantage for offside in the midfield, Lordswood’s inside centre broke through Maidstone’s defence, committing fullback Mike Laurenson before offloading to his centre partner who had an easy run to the line. The conversion was landed to make it 7-0 to the home side.  

Maidstone responded with some good play of their own but again found themselves unable to threaten the Lordswood line. The home side doubled their lead after a defensive lapse at the fringe of a ruck.
 
Good clearing out by the Lordswood pack sucked Maidstone defenders into a breakdown on the 22 and, before the Maidstone defence could react, the No.8 picked from the base of the ruck and was left with a free run to the line. The try was converted leaving Maidstone looking at a 14-0 deficit.

With half time fast approaching, Maidstone produced their best rugby of the half to claw their way back into the match. When Ben McKellar’s strong run down the right was halted by the Lordswood defence, support was quick to arrive and the home side were forced to concede a penalty in their 22. Maidstone opted to go for the try, kicking to touch for the attacking lineout. The initial catch and drive was repelled by the home side but Maidstone’s back row was able to roll over the line with No.8 Dave Coleman touching down. Although the conversion was missed, Maidstone went into the break well in contention with the score at 14-5.

With the wind now at their backs, Maidstone began the second half determined to play more of the game in opposition territory with John Hogarth kicking deep into the corners.

This approach soon paid dividends as Lordswood were penalised just outside the 22 for dangerous play at a maul. Laing had no hesitation in opting to go for the points and Hogarth cut the lead to six points with a well-taken penalty.

At this stage, Maidstone were in the ascendancy but this was to prove as close they would get to their opponents as Lordswood were up for the fight in more ways than one.

Just five minutes after a bout of handbags between Marcus Fairbanks and one of Tuggy’s new best friends in the Lordswood back row, both sides were reduced to 14 men. One of the Lordswood locks reacted angrily to a tackle by Dom Baxter, elbowing the Maidstone centre in the head. He was shown a red card while Dom was given a ten-minute breather to recover from the effort of trying to retaliate.

Lordswood – possibly accustomed to playing with less than fifteen on the pitch – dealt with the disruption better than Maidstone and soon stretched their lead to nine points with a well struck penalty.

Just a few minutes later, the home side lost another man, this time to a yellow card when Lordswood’s remaining lock decided to join his partner on the sidelines by cleaning his boots on Adam Williams’ head. While the incident had a detrimental effect on the accuracy of this match report, it didn’t effect the home side.

Lordswood showed they were equally adept at playing with 13, counter attacking well at every opportunity to stretch the Maidstone defence. This approach earned the home side a penalty in front of the posts when Maidstone were penalised for slowing down the ball at the break down. Lordswood’s kicker had no trouble in converting the chance to give his side an unassailable 20-8 lead.