30/09/06 - Aylesford III 17 – 19 Maidstone III

Maidstone edged a hard fought victory over an Aylesford side that – due to an availability crisis – was forced to field several second team players as well as a couple of guests from Her Majesty’s Armed Forces.

After a shorter than usual warm-up, the dream team got off to a slow start and the home side – who had been out on the pitch before most of the Maidstone players had arrived at the ground – took full advantage.

With the game just a few minutes old, the Bulls won possession on the ten metre line and moved the ball out to their powerful Fijian centre. He brushed off a couple of would be tacklers, showing great pace to leave the Maidstone defence in his wake and power over the line. First blood Aylesford. The conversion was added to make it 7-0..

The try seemed to wake Maidstone from their slumber and they soon mounted some promising attacks of their own. Matt Hayton made good ground with some powerful bursts through the centre and a good move down the right lead to Wood being bundled into touch deep in the Aylesford 22.

Maidstone had Aylesford pinned in their own half, with the home side under heavy pressure at the set piece, particularly in the scrum. It didn’t take long for the pressure to be converted into points as another promising move – this time down the left – led to Paul Massey being bundled into touch on the five metre line.

From the resulting lineout, the Aylesford hooker overshot his jumper and Massey took full advantage, diving over the line for Maidstone to notch up their first score of the afternoon.

Maidstone’s set piece dominance helped prevent the home side from mounting any serious attacks, and Aylesford’s points scoring opportunities were restricted to a few penalty attempts from the ten metre line.

After twenty five minutes Hayton – whose powerful running had made plenty of yards in midfield - was forced off with a back injury. He was replaced by Sam Mann, who moved to fly half, with Phil Davis moving back to fullback and Eugene Moore stepping into the centre.
On the half hour a ruck formed on the half way line. The ball unexpectedly came back on the Aylesford side and their Fijian scrum half got the drop on the Maidstone defence to burst through a gap at the side of the breakdown. He cleverly angled his run to evade the chasing defenders and won the race to the line. The conversion was missed to leave the score 12-5.

Clearly tired from his efforts, the Aylesford half back then opted for a spell under the posts by blatantly entering the side of a ruck to help himself to the ball. The referee had no hesitation in producing the yellow card. That was the last significant action of the half, leaving the score 12-5 at the break.

Maidstone started the second half by making their second substitution with Mark Thurgood replacing Martin Maytum in the front row. The change only reinforced Maidstone’s dominance at the scrum, which soon resulted in the dream team levelling the scores.

After moving the ball to the right wing Stu Bates did well to chase his own kick and – almost single-handedly – force the Aylesford back over his own line to give Maidstone a scrum five metres out. The Bulls hooker couldn’t handle the pressure from the resulting Maidstone drive and popped up, forcing the referee to award a penalty. Ross Laing had no hesitation in ordering his troops down for another scrum. The Maidstone pack then proceeded to walk the opposition back over the line for Paul Massey to touch down his second of the game. Mann slotted the conversion to make it 12-12 with half an hour to play.

Maidstone were clearly in the ascendancy and continued to play the game deep in opposition territory, but Aylesford’s effective rush defence prevented the dream team from creating any clear opportunities.

With fifteen minutes to go, the game then turned on it’s head. The Aylesford 8, who ran well from the base of the scrum all afternoon – made a thirty yard break from a maul in his own half. Maidstone’s attempts to win the ball at the breakdown resulted in a penalty, which the Bulls kicked to the corner.

A scrappy lineout was tapped down into the hands of the Aylesford replacement scrum half – who had entered the action just after half time. He sold a cheeky dummy and somehow found a gap in the Maidstone lineout, evading two tackles and touching down to regain his side the lead. The conversion was missed and –with time running out – Aylesford had a five point advantage.

Maidstone wasted no time in pinning the Bulls back in their own half. The chase from the restart was good and Maidstone were awarded a penalty after a series of well contested rucks.

The ball was kicked to the corner and a catch and drive took Maidstone deep into the 22. Mann decided to bypass the hard tackling Bulls midfield by going for the aerial route. His cleverly disguised kick grazed the post before bouncing at a right angle in the in-goal area. Mann was first to react, pouncing on the loose ball to touch down under the posts. He slotted the conversion to give Maidstone the lead for the first time in the match with just ten minutes to go.

From the restart, Maidstone soon found themselves back in Bulls territory when Fish took the catch of the day and charged back at the rushing defence. He proved too slippery for several tacklers and took stones back into the opposition half. The attack ate up some valuable minutes before the Bulls regained possession and broke up the right, deep into the dream team’s territory.

The only flashpoint of what was a very physical yet good natured game came just minutes from time when Tugwell encouraged the Bulls hooker to roll away from the ball by cleaning his boots on the forward’s upper, upper back. The referee decided that no-one was at fault and the game resumed with a lineout yards from the Maidstone line.

In a last ditch attempt to breach the dream team’s defence, Aylesford spun the ball wide, only to knock on in the tackle. Maidstone kicked the ball dead from the resulting scrum to end a very tough match.

Final score 17-19.

Laing (Capt), Wright, Maytum (Thurgood 45), Fish, Maddaford, Williams A, Challis, Massey, Tugwell, Davis P, Hayton (Mann 25), Wood, Major, Bates, Moore