Sutton & Epsom   34                         Maidstone  13

After the period of stable selection during the winning run, the recent enforced changes continued with Mark Ryan, Martin Arnold and Ed Davis unable to recover from injuries sustained in last week’s home defeat to Jersey. With Dave Charlton and Simon Hollister also being declared unavailable meant that for the second week running five changes would have to be made. Craig Whitehead and Glen Aukett, back from a three week holiday, returned as the half backs. Neil Graves made a welcome return in the centre alongside Eugene Moore who switched from full back, with Tim Porter moving back to take this position. With Ryan’s injury, James Ferris moved from scrum half to wing and Rob Jeffery started at prop in the absence of Hollister. With Nick Sargent being promoted from last week’s bench the team changes were complete. On the morning of the game the selection problems continued with Dan Cummings withdrawing from the bench giving Nick East his chance to step up.

Arriving in Sutton and Epsom on a day more resembling the depths of December, with little sign of the promise of spring, Maidstone were keen to adjust for last week’s disappointing result. A competitive game was eagerly anticipated, as Sutton and Epsom on the back of three consecutive wins, had moved one place above Maidstone in the league due to a superior point’s difference.

The game could not have started better for Maidstone, when winning the ball from the first lineout on the Sutton 22, driven forward through Steve Mathews and Nick Sargent, the recycled ball was then neatly struck by Aukett to score with a drop goal inside the first three minutes. From the restart the visitors were awarded a penalty for a Sutton player offside at the ruck, but from the resulting lineout Maidstone lost the first of a number of line outs that was to prove dear as the game progressed. With Maidstone continuing to hold the majority of early possession and territory, Graves, following a strong break through the middle, just failed to hold on to the ball as he stretched for the line. From the ensuing five metre scrum, probably the defining point of the game took place, as a missed tackle from the base of the scrum provided Lyndon Burrell, the industrious Sutton scrum half, the opportunity to break out with great effect as he ran full 50 metres evading tackles to set up a try that was scored by centre Jake Webber, fly half Sam Howard duly made sure of the full seven points. Within a couple of minutes Maidstone conceded two penalties, the second of which Howard kicked to take the score to 10-3. So, having been in the ascendancy, Maidstone suddenly found themselves on the back foot due to a number of unforced errors. Maidstone’s situation only got worse when Jeffery gathered the ball in an offside position, after wing Malejac had used his foot to control a kick ahead from the Sutton full back, Danny Quy, once again Howard was successful.

Maidstone’s unforced errors prevented any continuity enabling Sutton and Epsom to keep the visitors under pressure. With half time beckoning Sutton spun the ball from a lineout on their 10 metre line and a sharp break by their centre Webber, although stopped unceremoniously by Graves, managed to off load the ball to Quy the full back, who put wing Keith Middleton away to score in the corner despite the valiant efforts of Maidstone hooker Tom Rogers covering across. Again Howard made sure of the seven points.

To complete Maidstone’s woe, four minutes into stoppage time, from a line out following yet another penalty, scrum half Burrell made a strong run and with a good angle taken, centre Steve Warnham scored to the left of the up right and Howard once again converted.

Reaching half time with a score line of three points to Sutton’s twenty-seven; Maidstone had set themselves a mountain to climb in the second period.

With some ten minutes of the second half completed, full back Porter gathered a kick from Sutton’s Howard and set up an attack, with Graves making a break through the middle, Sutton were guilty of hands in the ruck and Whitehead kicked the penalty to take the visitors score to six. Maidstone now started to play with a little more continuity although handling errors still interrupted any sustained attacks. Mid way through the second period, Cameron Anning brought fresh legs to the back row replacing Nick Sargent. Sutton and Epsom were put under more pressure as Maidstone continued to provide most of the play , typified by a break out from the 22 resulting in Malejac running some thirty metres before crashing head on into the waiting Sutton full back. At this point captain Jon Sargent was forced to leave the field to be replaced by Kiwi Garret Hines. A few minutes later following a crash ball from Graves in the home half, the forwards successfully drove a maul some twenty metres and from the mass of bodies that went over the line a jubilant Anning emerged as the try scorer, Whitehead converted to take the visitor’s score to thirteen points.

Sutton and Epsom , partly due to a more concerted Maidstone second half performance, were unable to recapture any of the consistency they had shown in the first half. The final whistle was overdue, when Burrell, the Sutton scrum half, made another telling break, breaking through a now tiring defence to give the scoring pass to second row Felix Symonds who scored for the second consecutive week. The reliable Howard converted to close the game at thirty four points to thirteen in favour of Sutton and Epsom.

The disappointment on the faces of the Maidstone players was for all to see, as but for the errors and lack of precision, particularly in the first half, the outcome could have been a different story. With a week’s gap from the league offering a much welcome opportunity for injuries to recover, they can now look forward to the visit of Guildford on the 25^th March for the final home league game of the season.

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