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The Barbarians were on top form this week as Maidstone V welcomed a
pacey pack of Old Gravesndians III's to the park for this game.
The home side lost the toss but were given the benefit of starting and
kicking down the hill, with the likes of the Inigo Lasa, the brutal Basque
and Shaggy Steve Quinn chasing the ball down the OG's pack received a
little more than they bargained for being turned over and losing ground
from the start.
Within the the first minute, the Maidstone pressure was on full, with
the OG's pushed back against the lines, a smart piece of play in the
backs saw Full Back Paul Hodges dive over the line in attempt touch the
ball down, unfortunately it was given as held up.
From the scrum that followed, "The French Man" Julien Marques playing
Scrum Half was quickly onto the ball, offloading as he ran into contact
to the Fly-half Brian Costello who steamed under the posts for the first
awarded try of the game just five minutes into play.
Maidstone looked very much in control, even when defending the game.
Disaster in the form of a penalty however brought the score back to 5-3.
The first half remained very much a see-saw with the home side opting to
roll the ball forward in the pack and the visitors kicking it back,
another turn for the worse for Maidstone as Inigo hobbled off the pitch.
The captain entered and within the first ten seconds, had given away a
penalty. In attempt to redeem himself he secured the lineout that
followed and whilst covering the full back shortly afterwards, received
the ball and charged right back at the visitors who stumbled out of the
way.
Running face first into the ground could be a contendor for the wooden
spoon award for the captain but the ruck that formed saw Blindside
flanker Colin Frost pick the ball and hammer his way through the shaken
backs for the second try of the game.
The 2nd half saw the Inigo return to the pitch. With him came our giant,
the powerhouse Mark Wilding stepping in at 8. Within minutes this pair
were on the offensive with the big guy crashing through forwards and
backs only to be stopped by the smallest man on the OG's team.
A defensive mistake from the visitors gave Maidstone a penalty, OG's had
all eyes on the big guy Mark Wilding as ball turned the other way
towards the bruiser, Richard Nunn as he crashed through the OG's lines
for yet another converted try bringing the score to 19-3.
The visitors utilised their trump card, a thunderbolt of a centre so
fast on his feet that the home side could only watch as he speed across
the Maidstone lines twice in quick succession.
With the gap now closing Maidstone had no choice but to keep the ball
away from the opposition centres. With a rolling attack up the hill, the
tight 5 fought their way up to the homeside posts. Seeing an opportunity, the
back row and fly-half entered the drive with Colin Frost touching the
ball down for his 2nd try.
The final score of the game saw Shaggy Steve Quinn hit the sweet spot
converting the try.
With neither team resorting to foul play, the game was fair aswell as
exciting.
The final score, Maidstone 26, Old Gravesendians 15.
Point Scorer's in alphabetical order.
Brian Costello 5
Colin Frost 10
Richard Nunn 9
Steve "Shaggy" Quinn 2
Team Details:
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