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Sidcup 5 Maidstone 20 |
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Maidstone continued their climb back up the table with this satisfactory win at Sidcup. The 3 week lay off had it’s effect on both teams as they took the best part of the first half to settle.
First Sidcup who missed 2 ‘gift’ penalty kicks inside the Maidstone 22!.Shortly afterwards Maidstone will have kicked themselves for not making the line on 2 separate occasions due to poor handling. Craig Whitehead showed the hosts how to kick with a neatly taken penalty to get the scoreboard rolling. Mark Ryan then broke clear on the half way line with Tom Rogers taking the pass before Kiwi prop Scott McIlroy got the scoring pass on the Sidcup 22 to barge his way over the line.
Sidcup struck back with a try helped in no small way by unusually slack defence. Unsurprisingly the kick went wide!
Craig Whitehead almost extended the lead further with a penalty hitting a post.
Sidcup’s kicking woes continued after a penalty touch kick was so far off target, the ball went over the dead ball line behind the posts! This gave a scrum to Maidstone. This was a first! Maidstone continued to dominate and after a penalty touch kick the trade mark ‘catch and drive’ by the superior pack saw Tom Rogers get the touch down. Whitehead added the points as well as a further penalty shortly afterwards.
The most outrageous play was from Maidstone hooker Tom Rogers who dreamt that it was the dying seconds of the match and he needed to drop a goal to win the match ‘Johnny Wilkinsonesque’ Unfortunately his so called kick on the Sidcup 22 merely dribbled along the ground and just made the line under the posts. He will not be allowed to forget this one! This was also a first but let’s hope the last!!
Tries: Rogers, McIlroy Conversion: Craig Whitehead 2 Penalties: Craig Whitehead 2 Team Maidstone John Wilford, Damian Houlihan, Martin Arnold, Steve Barnard, Mark Ryan, Glen Aukett, Craig Whitehead (Ferris), Scott McIlroy, Tom Rogers, Simon Hollister, Sam Johnson, Steve Matthews, Ben Court, Jon Sargent (C) (McIvor), Ed Davies |