Mustangs vs Old Elthamians – Sat 1st November 2008

In some of the worst weather experienced in quite a while, in which Neavsey discovered his Maidstone Coach’s jacket wasn’t anywhere near as waterproof as first thought, the Mustangs put in a great team performance to defeat league leaders Old Elthamians.

The home side got off to a terrible start, as they were caught napping by a blind side kick which an Elthamian back won the race to the ball and touch down to score. However, after this ominous start, Maidstone settled and gradually worked their way into the game, primarily through the forwards and some powerful running from Tommy King. It was inevitably the forwards who got the team on the score sheet, with a powerful maul culminating with Nick Sargent emerging from the pile up to having scored. Not long after and more forward pressure sucked in the Elts defence near the line, and the ball was shifted right for centre Richard Glover to crash over. The first half ended 12-5 to Maidstone.

As the conditions worsened and the pitch deteriorated further, the Maidstone pack continued to dominate. Elts were penalised in front of their own posts and Gary Whitehead stepped up to convert and extend the lead to 15-5. A further Mustangs try followed, Nick Sargent scoring his second of the day, giving Maidstone a 20-5 lead and were in total dominance. An unfortunate interception gave Elts an easy converted try to reduce the gap to just 8 points and make those on the sidelines slightly more nervous, however the team responded perfectly and after a period camped on the Elts line, number 8 Ben Court scored under the posts, Whitehead converted and the ref blew the whistle, the final score being 27-12 to Maidstone, and also ending Elts unbeaten run.

It is probably fair to say that the weather had an effect on the Elts game plan, however its all about being adaptable, which the Mustangs are proving to be. As shown a couple of weeks ago, the Mustangs can play an expansive game, however conditions determined to keep things tight, although had some passes gone to hand the home side could have scored a couple more tries. Sometimes players were a little too keen to offload in the tackle when they would have been better served to wait for support and recycle possession.

There were good performances all round. The front row of O’Brien, Walker and Thurgood had the beating of the opposite numbers in the main. Ben Walker again showed what a great link man he is between the pack and backs. In an unprecedented occurrence, Mark Thurgood has had 3 “trundles” in 3 games, covering a combined distance of 13.68 metres. The second row partnership Maytum and Charlie Simpson were superb all afternoon. Mayhem had divine inspiration, and was a real presence around the breakdown, always offering to “hit-up” and did a lot of graft before coming off after an hour. Those on the sidelines commented that they had never seen Martin move so fast, except for when KFC was about to shut.

The back row worked together as a unit and complimented each other. Ben Court seemed to relish the conditions and kept great control of things from the base of the scrum. Sargent and Rogers were a constant thorn in the side of Elts and were often first to the breakdown.

Obviously the conditions were never going to favour the backs, however the half  backs (Graves and King) had great games and often were able to be the target men with the ball for the pack to follow. Hipkins and Glover were solid in defence, but didn’t have a great deal of ball to work with, but used what they had to good effect. The wingers really didn’t have a great deal to do, apart from get cold, but again did what was necessary when required, as did Gary Whitehead, drafted in at full back after Mike Laurenson’s late call up to the 1’s.

A big thank you to Tom Harvey, drafted in to bench last minute and help out, who was brought on for his first Mustangs appearance with 5 or so minutes to go (so coach Neaves thought), but it seemed the ref blew the whistle early, so all Tom got out of the day was soaking wet and a cup of tea.

Man of the Match this week goes to Charlie Simpson, for an all round outstanding display. He stole numerous Elts lineouts, secured our own lineout throws and was everywhere on the pitch, making tackles, ball carries. He has been a great find for the Mustangs.

Div of the Day – a couple of nominations: firstly Mr Sullivan. Not going to talk about that in this report, but as Mayhem would say “ He knows what he did” – as do the rest of us. The award goes to Ben Walker, who, follwing some excellent passing  by the team in a move which started from their own half and with the line at his mercy and no defender near by, decided to pass right over the head of Andy Cairns and into touch, stuffing up what would have been one of the better Mustangs tries this season.

Next week, another important and tough encounter away to Old Dunstonians. Please ensure you are at training on Thursday so that the team can prepare properly.

And another remind, “Snakey’s Last Stand” is on this Saturday at the club. Please make every effort to attend.

Team:-

O’Brien, Walker, Thurgood, Simpson, Maytum, Sargent, Rogers, Court, Graves, King, Powis, Hipkins, Glover, Sullivan, Whitehead, Flynn, Cairns, Harvey.

Coach – Shaun Neaves

Physio’s – Catherine Grundy & Ann Rooke

Manager – Laurence Waters

Scorers:-

Tries – Sargent x 2, Glover, Court

Conversions – Whitehead x 2

Penalties - Whitehead