Weekly News Round Up 5th Feb 2006
This was a relatively quiet week on the playing front, as all attention seemed to be on the E v W fixture, and there were consequently no League fixtures being played.
The First Team had a rare week off, but dropped one place in the League Table on account of Lewes beating Beckenham in a re-arranged fixture.
The Mustangs game against Medway I was shelved when Medway cried off on Wednesday.
The A Team rattled up a fairly comfortable win against the tourists from Llanishen,
who took their defeat in good part and spent the afternoon drowning their sorrows – which multiplied as the afternoon wore on.
The Extra A played a friendly against Cranbrook 3rds/2nds. This was a well-matched fixture which could have gone either way but was won by Cranbrook despite a late Maidstone fight back. So honours are even, as Maidstone won the corresponding fixture against Cranbrook in the first half of the season.
The B found themselves
changing at the Leisure Centre and playing in the park again this week. Despite
being a comfortable
12 – 0 up after 20 minutes, the B were unfortunate to lose again, going down
12-20 to Sheppey Vets in what descended into a pretty punchy affair by all
accounts.
The Veterans turned up to find themselves without a game after a disappointing cry-off from Aylesford Vets. However, instead of settling down in the bar with a beer to watch the internationals, the daft old sods donned their kit and ran out on the Somme to play 9 a side “sevens” against each-other. It quickly became apparent that a rule was needed to prevent any one player scoring more than 3 tries and then, once Chris Linley had scored his three, the game turned into a more even affair in which both sides were equally knackered but still managed to play some surprisingly good rugby.
It also enabled them to work up a sufficiently powerful thirst to see off Llanishen and Maidstone A in a 3 way 8-man boat race event later that day. There’s life in ‘em old Dogs yet (although not much in some of them) !!
Looking ahead to next week, The Firsts are at home to Old Midwives, who despite a bright start to the season have looked to be struggling lately. It is therefore vital that Maidstone make the most of this opportunity to move up the table – but of course Midwives will have other ideas. The VPs have a pre-match lunch on Saturday and will no doubt contribute vociferous support.
There is also the rarity next week of what is almost a “block –fixture” with 4 of our sides playing TJs, the exception being the Bs who are scheduled to play Gravesend 5.
TJs have recently opened a £750,000 extension to their clubhouse, so it will be good to visit and experience their new facilities.
Subscriptions All players should now be paid up for the season or have signed a standing order mandate for the very reasonable sum of £10 per month. If you havent, you are free-loading at the expense of your team-mates and should no longer expect to be selected.
On the subject of subscriptions, I witnessed on Saturday, a rather vociferous club-member, demanding to know what he gets for his annual subs. Bearing in mind the number of free physio sessions this character has received, I was surprised that he needed to ask. However, it must be obvious to most members that running and maintaining the club-house and pitches and paying for the infrastructure of such a large organization, does not come cheap.
A quick look in the club accounts would quickly reveal where the income goes and how difficult it is for the club to operate if subscriptions aren’t paid. It should also be apparent to anyone who stops to think about it that the club could not function at all but for the vast amounts of unpaid time contributed by a small army of volunteers so in fact, members are getting vastly more than they are actually paying for. J Luckily, most members recognize a good deal when they see one.
QUIZ NIGHT is on Friday 10th feb at 7.30 in the club-house. Tickets are priced at £10 per head (which includes a plated ploughman’s supper) and teams of 6 per table are invited to book. Graham Norton is organiser in chief, so further details about entering a team can be obtained from him on 01622 738924 or by emailing him at [email protected] Competition will be fierce as the First Team will be keen to prove that their “surprise” win last time, was not just a flash in the pan.
RE