Maidstone 4’s ,  61  v   Foots Cray 2’s  12    31-01-2009

    After the previous weeks poor conditions it was good to have a match to look forward to, albeit one played on the Grammar school ‘s pitch. .The  sun shone on a chilly, windy day but conditions underfoot were good  which bode well for the game ahead.

 The 4’s took the field early for some much needed line out drills under the strong leadership of Simon Wright(s) who was propping on this occasion the 4’s having 3 hookers on the team sheet(Debutante John Burke starting &Michael Hill on the bench) bolstering the pack was another 3’s stalwart Chris Francis,Charlie Flynn  adding the poundage(until Foots Cray turned up).

   Thankfully the leviathan (they made Charlie look like Twiggy)that is Foots Cray’s pack while very big which caused great problems in the scrums did not have the skills or speed of the lighter pack as displayed by the three tries scored by pack members Chris Finch,Charlie Flynn  & fresh off the bench with a stunning intercept and 25 yard dash for the try line Michael hill who hadn’t played since before Christmas .

  Maidstone kicked off with the wind at their backs into the sun,it took  sometime for the 4’s to prevail over the visitors Andy Brown in fine competitive form as was Paul Murphy newly returned from injury who was constantly probing the Cray defences ever threatening to send the backs surging through to the tryline.

First over the line was the much missed Darren Banfield(taking time out from his fledgling taxi service) cutting into the line from fullback to trample his way through the crays to score in the corner and then astound both teams with a johnny Wilkinson style conversion .This was the first of two crushing tries and a total of 7 conversions from all over the pitch only missing once ,truly amazing kicking(Chris Pedder slotting the posts for the other conversion).Half-way through the first half saw the substitution of John Burke who had fronted up well to the massive cray pack always on  the lookout for a chance to carry the ball. Michael Hill instantly proved his worth intercepting a pass from the line-out and surged past the cray defenders for his try.George Coomber was another to scythe through the Crays Heavies on the wing but only scoring once along withPaul Murphy prior to his departure in the second half.

 From the kick-off an invigorated crays pack applied tons of pressure and aided by a sluggish 4’s defence managed to get down to the 5 yard line for a scrum & ably using their considerable weight advantage drove over for a try.The 4’s response was immediate and stunning the kick-off was mis-cued(your not fooling us Mr McCabe) sending the ball off to right landing behind the centres, under pressure from the ever-present 4’s backrow they flailed & fumbled about unable to clear their lines enabling the errant Alan McCabe to run in scoop up the ball and score,Chris Pedder getting a concessionary conversion having worked hard for no reward.Ben Jones came on in the second half to ease himself back into match fitness after injury only to carry on where he left off giving a great “go ahead” performance culminating in a fine try.Shortly after Ben’s appearance Chris Finch succumbed to stamped upon wrist to finally bring on the “Skipper” Richard Ewence for the final twenty minutes or so.The greatest down point was the unfortunate yellow card received by the towering Chris Francis who had been on the receiving end of “rough” play from the Crays .The Crays managed another try after another piece of lax defending but that was that .

Apologies to those not mentioned by name,it was a team effort that won this game led by Craig Bowden(match capt.)& Simon Wright (pack leader) .The chronology of events may differ but I had some fat bloke(s) sat on me for most of the match .Hope to see you all next week an early kick-off is being sought so everyone can relax in the bar & watch the 6 nations rugby.CHEERS.

DJ