Match Report

Maidstone 3 vs Beckenham 27  

by Trevor Langley

London 2 South

Home at the Mote, Saturday 25 October, 2008, Kick Off – 3.00pm

After last weeks stirring performance in the EDF Intermediate Cup, it was back to the important business of London 2 South League, with fellow strugglers, Beckenham, as the visitors. And, once again, Maidstone was found wanting, losing by 27points to3 to a side that were too strong in a number of key positions.

For Beckenham head coach, John Whitehead, formerly an important member of the Maidstone coaching team, it was a grateful return to the Mote. With son, Craig, at stand-off half, his side maintained a three game winning streak after a start to the season equally as poor as Maidstone’s. Beckenham’s desire to dominate play was evident in the surging runs by No 8, Peter Thorne, who looked dangerous every time he picked up from the base of the scrum, his display capped by three tries. Maidstone could offer nothing to counter this threat and ultimately paid the price.

Maidstone showed only two changes from the previous week, with skipper, Martin Arnold, returning at full back and new face, Gareth Hill coming in on the left wing for his debut. With an unchanged pack, the expectation of further improvements in the tight play was anticipated but it was here that the disappointments began. Last week the line out was fitful while this week it worked well; but the scrum took the opposite road, last weeks solidity replaced by confusion, as the eight went back, on their own put in, on too many occasions.

The other major disappointment was the lack of penetration by the three-quarters, particularly in the centre, where last weeks stars, Mark Ryan and Nick Van Mol, were this weeks duffers, rarely breaking the gain line and seldom threatening the opponents goal line.

A further disappointment was the start of the game, where, once again, Maidstone were a score down within two minutes, after a first line tackle was missed, to allow No 8 Thorne to score his first try of the afternoon, out wide. Consolidation was the name of the game after this and Maidstone achieved this limited goal, with Beckenham conceding three successive penalties as Maidstone probed the visitors defence.

But the next score went to the visitors, after twenty minutes. Thorne was the try scorer again, following a penalty to the visitors on Maidstone’s five metre line after Steve Matthews was penalised for being on the wrong side of the ruck. The conversion took the lead to 12 points before Maidstone hit back with a 40-metre penalty from Piers Frances boot a few minutes later.

A yellow card for Beckenham winger, Rayner, should have provided Maidstone with a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit but at no point did they make use of their numerical superiority. Just before the half time whistle, the role was reversed, with Sam Bailey attracting the referee’s attention for entering the loose maul from the side, ensuring the start period of the second half would be testing for the Stones.

The failure of Beckenham to take advantage of this position was due to sloppy handling on their part with at least one try-scoring opportunity spilled at the last. But between the tenth and twentieth minutes of the half, each of the oppositions wingers scored a try to take the lead to 22-3, effectively burying Maidstone’s hopes with them. The second of these came after a breakaway by skipper, Arnold, took play from Maidstone’s 22 deep into the visitors half before finding Ryan. Uncharacteristically, he hesitated and looked for a team mate, rather than sprinting for the line, feeding the Beckenham wing in the process giving him a trouble free run to the Maidstone line.

The last score for the visitors was a tour de force of No 8 play under the new laws. Picking up from the base of the scrum, he broke from the half way line before feeding his colleagues and, from the ensuing ruck, picked up again to drive over the line. This dynamism was, sadly, lacking in the Maidstone play, all afternoon, but which must be found if the position is to improve.

Team

Sam Bailey; Nick East; Steve Coates (Martin Maytum 75 mins): Andy Bacon; Steve Matthews: Sam Johnston; Tom Castle; Matt Iles (Nick Sargent 60 mins): Ed Laurent; Piers Frances: Gareth Hill; Mark Ryan (Tom Searles 68 mins); Nick Van Mol; Duncan McClintock: Martin Arnold (Capt)