Match Report

Maidstone 27 vs Diss 32 

by Trevor Langley

EDF Energy Intermediate Cup

Home at the Mote, Saturday 18 October, 2008, Kick Off – 3.00pm

Maidstone was beaten by the narrowest of margins, 32-27, in this EDF Energy Intermediate cup encounter with Diss, currently top of London 2 North. What turned out to be the winning try was awarded after Diss, controversially, regained the ball in their own half, to set up a breakaway move. But in what was an open, fluctuating game, the home side gained credibility and confidence with their best performance of the season and spent the last ten minutes of the game pressuring the Diss line.

The record of the two teams entering this game were mirror images of the other with Diss having won all five of their league games, with Maidstone yet to register a point. But the cup is a different environment, as Maidstone found last year, when a successful start to the season was halted in this same round. Could this be the game that Maidstone found their feet and belatedly got their season back on track?

With injuries and absences from last week’s three quarter line, Nick Van Mol returned to the team in the outside centre role, to partner Mark Ryan, while Mike Laurenson came in at full back and Duncan McClintock, a new face this season from East Peckham, retained his place on the wing. Matt Iles, came in for his debut at No 8, the only change in the pack.

The game started badly for Maidstone, as it has so often this year, when Diss were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, for not releasing, which gave the visitors an early lead. But directly from the restart, the home team forwards got in among their opponents and this allowed Ryan to hack the loose ball through to score.

Both sides were playing a high tempo game with the three quarters being released at every opportunity and, after a sustained attack, Maidstone were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which allowed Frances to extend the lead to 8-3 on 10 minutes. The Diss reply was equally emphatic and, after using their forwards to establish good field position, they moved the ball to winger Thorpe who crossed wide on the left to even the score.

By applying more forward pressure, Diss scored again on 25 minutes after a penalty was kicked deep into the Maidstone 22 and from the line out, a rolling maul secured the score. The visitors continued to press through their tight-nit pack and put the Stones under considerable pressure. The line out was a continuing source of problems for Maidstone, which resulted in the loss of their own put-in a number of times, but the scrum was looking increasingly secure against larger opponents.

Shortly before half-time, a searing outside break by Mark Ryan from the Diss ten-metre line set up Sam Johnston, coming up on the inside, to score half way out to level the scores once more. Maidstone looked like they would score again before the whistle, when scrum half Laurent broke away from his own half only to be tackled in the corner by the last Diss cover.

The visitors began the second half as if they meant to kill the game early and their early pressure paid off with two tries in the first ten minutes. The first came from outside centre, Wardlow, who finished strongly after a relieving Maidstone kick was fielded and moved to open space. The conversion established a seven point lead and the next try, worked almost exclusively through the Diss pack, extended this to twelve.

A long distance penalty attempt by Frances, to get Maidstone back on the score sheet, narrowly missed and on 25 minutes, Diss took the score to 32-13 when, after concerted Maidstone pressure, which saw a surging run by Van Mol stopped, Diss regained the ball and quickly moved it to winger Thorpe who ran unopposed from his own half to score in the corner.

In past weeks, this could have been the signal for the flood gates to open but with Iles increasingly prominent in open play, it was Maidstone who had been playing the better rugby at this point in the half and from the restart, with Van Mol to the fore, the ball was moved back inside for Frances to score near the posts with the conversion a formality.

With ten minutes left on the clock, and with replacement scrum half, Sam McPherson, instigating a number of quick moves, Maidstone showed an increasing maturity as they probed the Diss defence through their dynamic centre pairing. And this paid off when Van Mol finished off a move under the posts after Maidstone won a scrum wide on the right, deep in the Diss 22 and Laurenson added the points.

With time running out, Maidstone were now attacking from every part of the field and stretching the visitors defence to breaking point. But the final chink could not be found and the final whistle came as relief to Diss and disappointment to the home side.

Team

Sam Bailey; Nick East (Fin Davis 57 mins); Steve Coates: Andy Bacon; Steve Matthews: Sam Johnston; Tom Castle; Matt Iles: Ed Laurent (Sam McPherson 60 mins); Piers Frances: James Sullivan; Mark Ryan; Nick Van Mol;Duncan McClintock: Mike Laurenson