Mustangs vs Thanet 2’s – 20th December 2008

The Mustangs finished off 2008 with a very satisfactory win over Thanet, who have struggled thus far in the league.

Due to flu, injuries, unavailability and last minute first team call ups, a very different looking Mustangs took to the field, however a team with a mix of youth and experience played exceptionally well. The scrum was an area of slight concern from the start, however any fears were soon alleviated at the opening scrum, where the Mustangs drove Thanet off their own ball at a rate of knots. Unfortunately, the referee seemed excessively whistle happy and the Mustangs were the team who suffered most, often getting into good positions only to give away penalties, some justified, some no one knew what they were for. However, the Mustangs, who had the strong wind at their back, continually forced their way into the Thanet 22. Finally the Mustangs were rewarded for their efforts as Tommy King took a quick penalty and bulldozed his way over the line. Fedorcio converted.

It was TK who again got on the scoreboard, with another powerful run from inside the Thanet 22, again Leo Fedorcio converting. The best score of the half however was yet to come. Following a good drive deep into the home side’s 22 by the forwards, following it up with some good pick and go’s from the base of a couple of rucks, the home side’s defence was sucked in and with an overlap created, the ball was fed along the backline, Laurenson drew the last defender and passed to Tom Harvey who had the easy job of finishing off the move. Leo Fedorcio again added the extra 2 points. This saw the end to a very satisfying half for the Mustangs.

Maidstone now had to play up the slope and into the wind, however this initially didn’t affect the run of play. Maidstone were awarded a penalty just inside the Thanet 22. Unfortunately the attempt at goal went wide. Following this, Thanet made their way into the Mustangs half and were awarded a penalty of their own which they duly kicked to get themselves on the score sheet. A period of stalemate ensued as neither side were able to build on the possession they had. Inside the final quarter of the match, and the tries once again started to come. Firstly, Maidstone scored their best try of the match. Under pressure on their own line in the left corner, the Mustangs stole the Thanet line out and ran the ball out of defence, moving along the back line until Laurenson passed to Fedorcio on the right wing. Leo set of on a mesmerising run, beating defenders at will as he worked his way up field and back across to the left, where he timed his pass to perfection to left wing Andy Cairns who raced in to score from 30 metres. Fedorcio added the 2 points.

Thanet came back to score a good try of their own, finished off well by the left wing. However, Tommy King had been quiet for far too long, and went on a bullocking run from just inside the Thanet half, which saw him run past, through and side stepping the defence before handing off two attempted tackles and finally diving under the posts to complete his hatrick. Fedorcio again added the conversion.

Thanet however showed some great spirit in the final moments of the game and scored a great try themselves from their own 22, with the left winger again beating the defence and running in from 60 metres. Shortly after the ref blew the final whistle, the Mustangs walking away from Thanet victorious, winning 35-15.

As mentioned before, this was a great effort from a bunch of guys who had not really played any rugby together before.

Firstly, well done to Olly Coomber, who until he came off injured did a great job at prop in his Mustangs debut, having been plucked from the 4th team on Friday night. A second big thankyou to Simon Wright (little) who dragged himself from his flu bed to play. Tom Hughes had a good game at hooker, doing a lot of good work in defence and at the breakdown.

The second row combination of Chris Trezise and Richard Coles added considerable power to the scrum and Trezzy in particular was great in the loose as well as dominating the lineout especially the Thanet throw.

The back row combination of Moon, Andy Vickers and Ben Court all had great games, Moony in particular making one fantastic tackle and turnover all seemingly in one movement.

The team also welcomed Julian the Frenchman to the side. He showed some moments of flair common to the way the French play their rugby, but there was also the odd “merde” moment, the highlight being the reverse pass which went no where near any team mate and rolled 25 metres behind the team into touch to give Thanet an excellent position for their lineout.

Mikey Laurenson kindly volunteered to play at 12, but was solid in defence and distributed the ball well. Kenton Parbut also made his Mustangs well, and for a 17 year old, acquitted himself very well. Both wingers, Tom Harvey and Andy Cairns, made the odd mistake early on but made up for it by both scoring. And it was this combination that executed “Campaign Cauliflower” in order to bring back the goods for Lurch.

Leo Fedorcio had an awesome game at full back, making some crunching tackles when required and running the ball back with gusto. He also kicked all 5 conversions, most of which weren’t straight forward. This is all the more remarkable bearing in mind he hadn’t touched a rugby ball since the start of September.

Man of the Match – Trezzy and Fedders were very strong contenders for this, however there can be only 1 winner, Tommy King for a great display at 10 and a hatrick (though he has a shocking blond mullet). Please note that Tommy owes the team a hatrick jug.

Div of the Day – Tommy King receives a nomination for his mullet and lack of jug buying, closely followed by Steve Coates, who when trying to clear Tom Moon out of a ruck mid-week, only managed to break a finger or two. However, the award goes to Gary Whitehead, who not only failed to make it pitch side due to being entertained in the Thanet bar, heckled the good people at KFC, fell asleep in the car on the way home, was rubbish (partly deliberately) at peanut racing and Battleships, and was last seen asleep in the toilets at the club house about 9.30pm. Finally he also let down Richard Ewence on the refereeing front on Sunday, despite kit and transport being provided (not that he remembers being asked to do it in the first place).

We now move into the midseason break, so Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers, let’s have a good 2009. Training will be back on in the New Year and please make every effort to attend, especially some of the youngsters who played on Saturday (after being kindly released from the 4’s), you’ll only improve through practicing.

Team:-

O. Coomber, Hughes, Wright (S), Trezise, Coles, Moon, A Vickers, Court, Julian the Frenchman, King, Cairns, Laurenson, Parbut, Harvey, Fedorcio, Glover, G Coomber

Scorers:-

Tries – King x 3, Harvey, Cairns

Conversions – Fedorcio x 5

Coaches – Neavsey & Whitelegs (Absent)

Manager – Lol

Physio - AWOL