Match Report
Chobham 111 v Maidstone 0
by Trevor Langley
League London 2 South
Away at Chobham, Saturday 20 September, 2008, Kick Off – 3.00pm
The crash that Maidstone suffered on Saturday was not, perhaps, on the scale of the US financial sector over the previous week, but it was serious, nonetheless. What might have gone wrong did, and a weakened team, missing regular captain Martin Arnold, ended up on the wrong end of a humiliating loss.
Maidstone’s woes began, when Jimmy Walker twisted an ankle in training on Tuesday and Nick Van Mol was a late cry off. This left a young, inexperienced line up even further depleted. But there were some positives: Ed Laurent at scrum half showed a fine break from the base of the scrum, to accompany a good pass, and the tackling of Sam Rogers showed the spirit required for the future.
On a beautiful September afternoon, with the sun shining from a cloudless sky, and barely a breath of wind, Chobham quickly showed their game plan with a series of forward drives followed by an incisive attack along the three-quarter line to their left wing, Bates, who managed to touch down in the corner. As well as the early score, Dane Smith injured a shoulder in his tackle and left the field to be replaced by Sam Rogers, a forward making his first team debut, on the wing.
A further devastating blow occurred on the half hour, when Mark Ryan, captaining the side on the day, was knocked unconscious and had to be carried from the field. He was replaced by Nick Sargeant, another forward playing out of position, and from this point on, Maidstone’s three-quarter line struggled to cope with Chobham’s more aggressive and dynamic backs.
The scrum coped remarkably well in the tight but because the momentum was invariably with the home side, Maidstone’s opportunities to put the ball in were few and far between. The line out functioned less well, but with the new experimental laws in effect, the level of kicking to touch, with subsequent line outs, was much reduced.
Three touch downs to Chobham in the first 15 minutes set the tone of the game, giving an early 19 point cushion, which were added to regularly through the conclusion of well orchestrated moves. Fly half, James Justice, pulled all the strings for Chobham, launching his potent back line or kicking into space to maintain field position within the Maidstone half.
By half-time, Chobham had posted a 48-0 advantage and the writing was very much on the wall for a comprehensive defeat which duly materialised. But for 25 minutes of the second half, the Maidstone side stuck to their guns and defended admirably against physically stronger and faster opponents. Only in the last 15 minutes did the flood gates truly open as tired bodies, and minds, were overwhelmed.
The return of the Club’s more experienced players is required to turn round this disastrous start to the season and to banish the memories of this traumatic game for everyone involved.
Team
Sam Bailey; Nick East; Matt Plowman (Martin Maytum 50 mins): Andy Bacon; Chris Trezise: Sam Johnston: Luke Day; Ben Court: Ed Laurent; Mike Laurenson: Dane Smith (Sam Rogers 15 Mins); Tommy King; Mark Ryan (Nick Sargeant 30 mins); Richard Glover: Ian Howson
