Results for 19th April
Team |
Opposition |
H/A |
|
Competition |
1st |
Haywards Heath |
H |
Lost 0-75 |
London 2 South |
2nd
(Mustangs) |
Old Dunstonians |
H |
Won 75-15 |
Invicta League |
3rd |
Canterbury III |
H |
Lost 0-28 |
Friendly |
4th |
Gravesend IV |
H |
Won 12-7 |
Mid Kent B |
5th |
Rye Goons |
A |
cancelled |
Friendly |
Vets |
Gravesend Moles |
A |
Won 3-0 |
Friendly |
| |
|
|
|
|
And so another season ends.
Not quite the story-book ending we would have hoped for (where we beat Haywards Heath at home, Jersey get promoted and we don’t have to pay for a week-end for 20 in the Channel Isles next season) but it could have been a lot worse – except of course for the unfortunate Martin Arnold who was stretchered to hospital after the game and appears to have snapped a ham-string.
Commiserations to Martin - and to the 1sts, who soldiered on in the face of serious injuries and unavailabilities in the 2nd half of the season and still managed to finish in 8th place, (a position currently occupied by Manchester City who also had some great results in the first half of the season but fell away towards the end).
Back-tracking to Hayward’s Heath for a moment, congratulations are due to them for their splendid victory and for winning the league in style, having lost just twice all season. It was great to have their supporters at the club on the last day of the season and their entourage of drag-queens will live long in the memory. Good luck to them in London One next year.
Whilst the First team were suffering their biggest League defeat for a number of years, the Mustangs were inflicting one on Old Dunstonians II. (See Laurence Waters' hugely entertaining match report) With Mark and Neil Graves to the fore, it was an outstanding performance – especially considering the number of regulars who were playing in the 1st team. However, it didn’t alter the picture in the Invicta League where runners-up spot for a 2nd successive year was not really sufficient reward for a great season. Special thanks are due to David Arnold, who agreed to step in and referee the game after the Kent Society ref dropped out on Friday night. He seems to have coped OK, although counting up to 75 must have been stretching for him.
The 3rds met their match in a friendly against a talented young Canterbury development side, which had some outstanding players, particularly at scrum-half and fly-half. It was a close contest in the forwards but there was just too much pace and skill amongst the Canterbury back-line to be contained for long, despite the close attentions of James Hughes, Aaron Bishop and Paul Massey who all had excellent games in the Maidstone back-row. Having lost the Kent Society Ref for this game also, Paul Ehrhart stood in, despite his dodgy knees, and saved the day. It was just a shame that Ross was injured and couldn’t play in this match, his last as 3rd team skipper, as Paul would undoubtedly have enjoyed giving him a hard time. Adam Green called before kick-off to apologize and to explain that he couldn’t get to the game, which was a great disappointment for him, being last match of the season but I gather that his consolation prize was the birth of his first child – a son. A reasonable excuse for not showing up, I guess.
The 4ths turned in one of their best performances of the season, to turn over a very powerful Gravesend 4th team, who were playing for runner’s up spot in the Mid-Kent B. (I’m pleased to say that the losing bonus point that they picked up for finishing less than 10 points behind was sufficient for them to gain runners up spot on points difference) So many people played well that its almost a shame to mention any individual, but Dan Wilkins at full back, Jack Budgen in the 2nd row, Alan McCabe and David Wahl in the centre and Ben Rookledge at open-side all spring to mind, with Craig Bowden master-minding events from fly-half. Player of the day though was David Scanlan who absconded from 2nd-row in the 3rds to play number 8 in the 4ths for his last match before leaving Maidstone and to play along-side his old school-mate from Wales, Ben Jones. Ben was last season’s 4th team player of the year but has not played at all this year owing to dodgy knees. However, judging by this performance, we should look forward to seeing him back again next year. Sincere thanks are due to Will Arnold for agreeing to referee what was never going to be an easy game, although to their credit both sides acted with considerable discipline and restraint.
The Vets picked up an away fixture with Gravesend Moles and won a tight game 3-0, despite conceding a very kickable penalty just before the end, which the Gravesend kicker managed to miss despite the most elaborate “Wilkinsonesque”preparations. Vets skipper Glyn Richards, was sporting an impressive shiner when he turned up at the VP lunch on Sunday after getting a pretty hefty bang just above his nose but he seemed none the worse for it - except in the good-looks department where it had unfortunately done little to enhance his features.
Evergreen Cup
-
Regular readers will remember that Maidstone were knocked out in the semi-final by Purley John Fisher, who were particularly strong in the front five. Now, by an ironic quirk of fate, it appears that PJF cant field a front-row for the final at Croydon RFC on May 11th owing to a pre-arranged tour and so the Cup organisers have asked us if we would be able to contest the final instead. Watch out on the web-site for confirmation and details of what could/should be a great way to end the season.
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U17s
-
Congratulations to the U17s, many of whom are now 4th team regulars, for winning the Kent 7s Plate Final against Aylesford yesterday. With the score tied at 12-12, Maidstone won it on drop-goals, which made up for losing the Kent Bowl final on drop-goals last month. Just a word about Ben Rookledge, who trained for the U17s 7s team on Saturday morning, played for the 4ths on Saturday afternoon, played 7s for the U17s on Sunday and then stepped up to the U18s team to help them out after they lost 5 players to injuries on the day. Keen or what !! (U18s lost on drop-goals in the semis by the way)
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And finally
So, after having played just over 180 senior fixtures (85 wins), including 3 outings for a 7th side for the first time since the late 1970s, and having attracted around 70 new players, most of whom have stayed to enjoy regular rugby at Maidstone, we can now close the door on Maidstone’s 128th season and listen out for the crack of willow on leather at the Mote until we meet again for pre-season training in July, ready to build on this year’s achievements and hopefully to go on to better things next. See you there !!
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RE 20-04-08
