Match Report

Maidstone 11 v Old Colfeians 10        

by Trevor Langley

London 2 South

Home at The Mote, Saturday 23 January, 2009, Kick Off –2.15pm

There was a palpable sigh of relief from the crowd at the end of this titanic encounter, signalling Maidstone’s first league win of the season, 11-10, against south-London rivals Old Colfeians. Every player contributed to the cause, particularly in the last five minutes, when Colfes were camped on the Maidstone try line, but were denied heroically by one last-ditch tackle after another.

The visitors, sitting comfortably in mid-table, proved themselves more than a match for Maidstone in the earlier fixture at Colfeians but, with Maidstone’s improving form over recent weeks, the coaching staff expressed pre-game confidence that this could be the season’s turning point.

The return of Craig Whitehead to the club allowed him to be drafted in at full back to replace the injured Mark Ryan, with Martin Arnold moving to outside centre in the starting line up. Tommy King took over the stand-off half position, replacing the departed Piers Morgan, and this proved an inspired choice as he used his strength and speed to probe the Colfe’s defence throughout.

The heavy rain over the previous week made the pitch very heavy and a serious knee injury to prop, John O’Brien, eleven minutes into the game, requiring his replacement by Martin Maytum, threatened to upset the team’s early equilibrium. A further disruption to the front row occurred when hooking debutant, Sam Rogers, had to leave the field at half time, to be replaced by Fin Davis, but even this proved incapable of disturbing the side’s rhythm.

Colfe’s elected to play the game principally through their forwards and early pressure on the Maidstone line resulted in Steve Matthews getting a yellow card for persistent infringement. But after resisting this initial assault, Maidstone began to ease themselves into the game and on the half hour were awarded a penalty 30 metres out, which Whitehead converted to post a 3-0 lead.

Colfe’s came back immediately, using their powerful forwards to drive down to Maidstone’s 22. But with a penalty awarded for off-side in front of the posts, the resulting miss by stand-off Poole, proved a costly error and it was into injury time before Colfe’s managed to cross the Maidstone line in the corner. This two point lead could have been extended further before the end of added time, when Colfe’s hooker, Gardener, collected a lose ball at the front of the lineout on the Maidstone 22 and ran unopposed to the try line, only to put a foot in touch.

With all to play for, Maidstone regained the lead seven minutes into the second half, after a well worked move saw Tommy King set up Neil Graves on a cut back run to crash over the Colfe’s line out wide. But this slender three point lead was soon under pressure from the rampaging Colfe’s pack and with 20 minutes on the clock, No 8, Bateson, finished off a spell of pressure with a try in the corner to establish a two point lead for the visitors.

With Maidstone probing through Tommy King’s runs, bringing both Graves and full back Whitehead into the game on numerous occasions, the game seemed far from over. And so it proved, with this axis taking play deep into the Colfeians’ half, resulting in a penalty on the 22, which Whitehead slotted to nose the Stones back in front on 80 minutes. But with 12 minutes of added time, ample opportunity was given to the visitors to overcome this slenderest of leads, and they set about doing just that with a series of forward drives that culminated in a five minutes spell when heroic Maidstone defending was required to keep them at bay.

A last minute break-out by King and Graves ultimately relieved the pressure, followed by the crowd’s collective sigh of relief and pleasure at the final whistle. With two points in the bag, the Stone’s season had belatedly begun.

Team

John O’Brien (Martin Maytum 11 mins); Sam Rogers (Fin Davis 40 mins); Luke Debnam: Andy Bacon; Steve Matthews: Matt Iles; Nick Sargent; Ben Court: Sam McPherson; Piers Francis: Tommy King; Neil Graves; Martin Arnold: James Sullivan: Craig Whitehead