Sevenoaks III 12-14 Maidstone III

Sevenoaks once again proved that they are a better side than their league position suggests by pushing Maidstone all the way in a close match.

Despite having the lion’s share of possession and territory, Maidstone found it difficult to break through the Oaks defence in the opening quarter of the game. The closest the dream team came to scoring a try was from a driving maul from ten metres out, which the home team stopped short of the try line.

Shortly after that the Maidstone backs were given the chance to counter attack when a poor clearance kick went straight to Tugwell on the ten-metre line. Tuggy immediately spotted Eugene Moore in space on the right wing and, rather than throwing out a speculative long pass, went for the even more speculative cross field kick. The intention may have been to emulate Carlos Spencer but the result was definitely more Frank Spencer as the ball squirted off Tuggy’s instep and rolled harmlessly into touch.

Maidstone had been dominating the scrum from the start and it was from a long range drive that the dream team opened the scoring. Sevenoaks had no answer to a powerful fifteen metre thrust from the Maidstone pack and resorted to pulling the scrum down just short of the line. The referee had no hesitation in awarding the penalty try and, leaving Gus Parker with an easy conversion to give Maidstone a 7-0 lead.

Sevenoaks didn’t take long to get back into the game, kicking to the corner from a penalty to set up a promising position in the Maidstone 22. The lineout set up a crash ball in the midfield and Maidstone’s defence was too slow to re-organise, allowing the Oaks No.5 to step through some poor attempted tackles to score under the posts. The conversion was landed and Maidstone had to withstand some late pressure to go into the break on level terms.

The second half got off to a scrappy start with neither side doing a good job of holding onto the ball.  

Sevenoaks took the lead after some more sloppy defending from Maidstone allowed the Oaks scrum half to offload to a supporting flanker, who touched down under the posts. Much to everyone’s surprise the conversion was missed and, with just a five point deficit, Maidstone were still in the game.

With ten minutes to go, Oaks were penalised for killing the ball on the 22 bang in front of the posts. Turning down Parker’s request to go for the points, Laing opted to test the home side’s resolve at the scrum. It turned out to be a great decision as the Maidstone pack drove Oaks up to the line and, despite the defence trying everything to disrupt the grounding, Dave Coleman touched down next to the posts. Parker had no problems with the conversion and Maidstone were 12-14 up.

Having got their noses back in front, Maidstone played out most of the remainder of the game in their own territory, but some determined defence didn’t allow the home side any opportunities to snatch the win.