Maidstone 3rd XV 26  Medway 2nd XV 14

Maidstone took the field with a strong team similar to the one that beat Lordswood 2nd  the previous week. Playing into a fierce wind, typical of any game at Medway, Maidstone made good early progress against a youthful and enthusiastic Medway. A clean break by Shaun Charlton in the centre opened the scoring, following some good build up play by the forwards. Medway then hit back with a try of their own, bursting through the centre and scoring under the posts. With the conversion they took the lead, somewhat against the run of play. With Maidstone forwards working well in the tight, the young Medway pack, though dogged, struggled to contain them, and only errors allowed Medway to stay in the game.

Further pressure at a scrum 10 metres from the try line allowed quick ball to the backs, and in a well worked move the evergreen Pete Mattinson cruised over near the posts to restore the lead. Further handling errors put Maidstone under pressure and again Medway hit back through their quick and elusive backline to level the game.

After half time the Maidstone pack began to dominate their younger, less experienced opponents, and came up just short of the line on 3 or 4 occasions. Strong running by South African, Jacques Vray,( who that morning had thwarted a robbery attempt against himself at a cash point) caused havoc in the Medway defence, and eventually the Big Bok drove over from close range, to restore the lead.

Medway refused to give up and continued to pressurise, but were constantly frustrated by the magnificent boot of John Hogarth who regularly cleared his lines and relieved the pressure. In the last 20 Maidstone pressed the Medway line and scored 4 penalties by Hogarth’s boot, to ensure a well fought and well deserved victory, over a Medway team with a bright future.

Mentions should go to the two youngsters in the Maidstone team- a rarity in itself. Hooker Mike Hill struggled with his fitness and lack of energy, but refused to go off, and made some strong cutting runs with ball in hand in the second half(make sure you eat a couple of Mars bars and drink plenty of Red Bull next time Mike). Flanker Jack Budgeon, called up on Saturday morning, made some telling tackles early on and used his weight and strength to great effect.

MOM Jacques Vray, who can be seen on this weeks edition of  Crimewatch.