Weekly News Round Up 20th Feb 2006
Very quick round-up this week
Fabulous 6th straight win for The First Team this week, winning by a convincing margin away against a Gosport & Fareham side that had beaten Sevenoaks and drawn with Beckenham in their 2 previous matches. This win takes Maidstone to 4th in the table, just 2 points behind Sevenoaks, (currently the top Kent side in this division), who face difficult opposition in Guildford,Lewes and Portsmouth in their next 3 fixtures and won’t like the sight of an in-form Maidstone breathing down their necks.
The Mustangs held the fort at home and notched up another close win against Aylesford II in the Invicta League, although not quite as close as the result earlier in the season. This win was accomplished once again without skipper James Ferris, who was playing for the firsts at Gosport & Fareham.
The A Team league game against bottom side East Peckham, was abandoned after the villagers were forced to cry-off. In fact Peckham have now dropped right out of the Mid Kent A league, where they had not won a fixture all season and where they had sustained an unacceptable level of injuries from playing against sides that were just too strong. It’s a difficult situation for any club/team to deal with and we wish them well in their efforts to re-group and rebuild for the future and we look forward to welcoming them back to Maidstone for some friendly fixtures in the near future.
It was make or break for the Extra A in their match against unbeaten League leaders Medway III if Maidstone were to have any hope of winning the Mid Kent C league. It looked a pretty good side that ran out to confront Medway and in the first 5 minutes it seemed that an up-set could be on the cards as Maidstone crossed the try-line but failed to ground the ball. However, Medway then showed why they are top of this league as they ran in 4 unanswered tries to kill off the match, despite some determined attacks by Maidstone which helped to lessen the points deficit. This result leaves Maidstone 4ths aspiring to be runners-up, which is a position that must now be firmly defended till the end of the season. Dominic Baxter was outstanding for Maidstone, first at scrum-half and then as stand-in hooker when James Scott went off injured. I was just pleased that he didn’t get a chance to play in the second-row, as he might have made that look easy as well – despite some obvious shortcomings.
As a foot-note to the above, Medway III are at home to Maidstone Vets next week who will be looking for some serious revenge after sustaining one of their only two losses this season against them in October. My money is on Maidstone Vets.
Medway 4 cried-off late on Friday night, so it was a stroke of luck at 10pm to pick up a fixture with Crowborough III who were prepared to travel to Maidstone to play against The B, so desperate were they for a game after some recent cry-offs. There was some question as to whether this might prove to be a mis-match, but a 30-0 score-line to Crowboro is more indicative of another pitifully slow start for the B before they got into their stride and started to play some effective rugby. All too little and too late really, but surely this losing streak can’t continue much further.
The Veterans notched up a convincing score-line against Canterbury Vets to make up for a disappointing draw against them in the first match of the season. However, it was by no means easy and Canterbury made Maidstone fight every inch of the way: all the more satisfying for that. NOTE TO ALL VETERANS Don’t forget to turn up on Friday night when the inimitable and unrepeatable Reg Dancer presents his annual quiz event, to which all are cordially invited. A good time is guaranteed and the entrance fee is sure to be reasonable. Get yourselves along at 7.30 for an 8pm start and help to swell the coffers of the Veterans Amsterdam tour fund. More money means more beer – which can only be a good thing really.
Next week is the big Kent Cup Quarter Final tie against old rivals Blackheath at The Mote, which kicks off at 2 pm (to allow for extra-time to be played if required). Blackheath are in the habit of playing their 2nd team in the Kent Cup (although ominously, their first team have no fixture this week) and the result could go either way although Maidstone will fancy their chances of repeating their Kent Cup win over Blackheath last achieved in 2000. Blackheath however, are able to draw upon support from unexpected quarters as this Gandalfian extract from their message board proves:
No 1st team game this week.
The Heathens are playing Maidstone in the quarter finals of the cup away and
need all the support that they can get. Maidstone are on a 6 game unbeaten run
and feeling confident.
The Orcs still salivating from the weekend's serving of Welsh on toadt (sic) are
up for this and something will give. I suspect Maidstone.
Come along and support and then watch the English orcs eat Scotland.
The Great White Wizard
This is the fifth out of five cup-ties this season in which Maidstone have been drawn at home and it should be a thriller, so make sure that you come and give your support to the Maidstone Team as they take on the worlds oldest Rugby Club with their hordes of travelling supporters. Don’t forget also that England v Scotland will be played out in the bar afterwards, hostilities commencing at 5:30, so make allowances for a great atmosphere and a long day at the club.
There are 4 home fixtures scheduled for Saturday so the place should be heaving.
RE