Mustangs vs Dover – 15th November 2008

On yet another dark and dreary afternoon, the Mustangs put in a terrific team defensive display to capture a closely fought victory over Dover 2’s, who joined the Invicta League this season.

Unfortunately with last minute call ups and injuries, several changes were made, however a more than decent team took to the field.

The Mustangs were the first to get on the scoreboard with well executed passing by the backline leaving James Sullivan with only his opposite winger to beat. Sully handed off the defender and ran in to score on the right hand side and Gary Whitehead added the conversion, giving the home team a 7-0 advantage within 3 minutes.

It soon became evident however that Dover would prove to be a competitive opponent, with a large pack and a very elusive outside centre, who was allowed too much space early on and with the help of some sloppy tacking in midfield proved a constant threat. Dover got themselves on the scoreboard with a penalty goal. The majority of the first half was a very even contest, with both sides being guilty of losing possession just as they were looking to build an attack.

The half ended 7-3 to Maidstone.

The 2nd half showed how much momentum can shift in any sporting contest. Despite conceding another penalty goal, the Mustangs dominated the first 20 minutes of the half. Tommy King jinked and powered his way through the defence to score from 15 metre and give Whitehead a simple conversion. At this point, Dover lost a player to the sin bin and Maidstone took advantage. More swift handling again saw Sullivan put into space on the right hand wing, and he sped off to beat the cover defence and sign off a good try with a swan dive to score. Despite the conversion going wide, this 3rd try seemed to have killed off Dover, who now trailed 19-6. However it possibly made the Mustangs relax too early, as almost straight from the kick off, Dover secured the ball and the outside centre slipped a tackle to run in and score. With the conversion going over, Dover now only trailed 19-13, and following the conversion Dover were back to a full compliment of players, as the man in the sin bin returned.

For the remaining 20 minutes, there was a total momentum shift, as Dover, who were playing with the slope, dominated proceedings and used their bulky pack to press forward. Maidstone managed to withstand everything that Dover threw at them, often making turnovers at a crucial times and putting bodies on the line. From one catch and drive, it looked as if Dover were certain to score, however a fantastic counter drive from the Mustangs repelled the opposition and they actually managed to turn the ball over. However the referee judged it had been done illegally and Jack Lamb was the unfortunate person sent to the sin bin.

Thankfully though, the remaining 14 clung on for an extremely hard fought and well earned victory.

Dover were a very good team, probably the toughest faced this year by the Mustangs, so it was a superb effort by the 17 guys who played for the Mustangs and extended the winning run to 6 games.

There were great performances all round. It was good to see Jim Walker back in action following a long injury lay off. The new “streamlined” version of Walker got around the pitch well and reminded us of some of the surprising pace he possesses. Matt Vickers had a very good game at hooker which is pleasing to see. For the most part the lineout functioned well, with Matt’s throwing being a key contributor. Steve Coates was as consistent as always, and again showed surprising speed for a prop.

It was good to welcome back Charlie Simpson to the team, who along with Ian Lee did a good job securing decent ball in the lineout and both put in a tremendous amount of effort around the pitch. Unfortunately Jack Wainhouse was injured early on and wasn’t able to be as effective as he had been the previous week.

The two young’uns in the back row, Jack Lamb and Tom Jarrett, have different styles of play but are equally as effective. Jack ran all afternoon, making endless tackles. Tom is a strong ball carrier and tackler, and it will have done both of them good to play a full 80 minutes.

John Francis, who again was drafted in at the last minute, had a very good game, especially as the scrum wasn’t as steady as normal. He even showed his worth as a lineout jumper this week.

Tommy King had another solid game at 10, making his trademark runs and tackles in midfield. His centre counter parts were slow to get into the game this week, but both Jerry Hipkins and Gav Dyke improved as the game went on, especially on the defensive front.

Andy Cairns didn’t see much ball to attack with, however when he got the chance he showed what a strong runner he is. Gary Whitehead had good game at 15, making some very important tackles.

Man of the Match this week goes to James Sullivan, who has grown in confidence over the past 2 weeks and scored 2 very well taken tries.

On to more important matters and Div of the Day, which for one week only shall be called “Div of the Clay”, for reasons that can’t be disclosed. The award this week goes to Jim Walker, who not only put his head on upside down when he got up in the morning, plus had some terrible post match underwear on display, but also tried to kick the ball to touch and made a complete hash of the attempt. Jim has never been able to kick, as proved in 1996 vs Rochester Maths when a similar attempt by Jim actually went backwards. Stop it Walker.

Next week the Mustangs face the very tough prospect of East Grinstead 1st team, who play in London & South East Division 4.

Team:-

Coates, Vickers, Walker, Wainhouse, Simpson, Jarrett, Lamb, Lee, Francis, King, Cairns, Hipkins, Dyke, Sullivan, Whitehead, Hutchinson, Stockford.

Scorers:-

Tries – Sullivan x 2, King

Conversions – Whitehead x 2

Physio – Ben Walker

Manager – Laurence Waters