Maidstone 3rd XV 14 - Ton. Juddians 3rd XV 19

After the high of topping the league last week the 3rd team came down to
earth with a bang against a youthful, energetic and committed Juddian
side.
All started well when an early line out steal led to a Maidstone try. The
ball went out quickly to fly half Hogarth who showed the ball, went
through the gap, handed off the last defender and slotted the conversion.
A second score came soon after following some good forward drives close to
the line. Jacques Vrey tried to force himself over but was surprisingly
stopped, and with numbers outside scrum half Tuggy took the more difficult
option of taking two defenders and the ball over for a score. Converted by
Hogarth, things looked good. Then the wheels started to come off.
A missed tackle in the centre allowed the young Tonbridge no13 to cut
through and with a lovely step he beat the full back to score under the
posts and halve the lead. Even worse, following a period of Maidstone
pressure, the young Tonbridge backs ran the ball from their own 22m and
went the length of the pitch to score and draw level. All that hard work
by Maidstone and scores level at the half.
Maidstone were never able to get any consistency and continuity in their
play in the second half. Handling errors and wrong options saw play break
down and Maidstone get more and more frustrated. Tonbridge grew in
confidence and their backs needed no encouragement to attack. With 10
minutes left, the lively Tonbridge 9 picked up from the base of a scrum,
chipped and chased, and beat the covering Maidstone defence to the
touchdown and the lead.
Maidstone tried to recover and run the ball but, despite some mazy runs by
Dom Baxter, never managed to get close enough to really threaten. Game to
Juddians and bitter disappointment to Maidstone.
Credit to the Juddian team for their effort, commitment and skill.
Maidstone need to use this as a lesson and bounce back next week against
newly promoted Vigo. More mental toughness and physical presence will be
needed if Maidstone are to get back to the top of the table.
Man of the match Dominic Baxter, who consistently went over the gain line,
beating defenders with pace (yes ) , deception, and bulk ( no question ).
Well played Dom.