Maidstone 15
Deal & Betteshanger 0
by Trevor Langley
League: London 2 South East
Home at The Mote, Saturday 26 February, 2011 Kick Off –2.00pm
With further rain during the week, the pitch was muddy and just about playable for this rematch with Deal Betteshanger. The earlier, away game ended in a loss for Maidstone, when a victory should have been forthcoming, but this time there was no mistake, with the home side posting a solid 15-0 victory.
Both the pack and the threequarter line played well throughout, with no spells where the opposition was allowed to dominate. The error count was also lower than last week and by the final quarter of the game, Maidstone were on top and playing with verve and composure.
With the only change from last week being a positional switch, Matt Plowman moving into the front row with John O’Brien moving back to the second, the side had a solid look about it from the off. But it was the visitors that applied the early pressure, spending the first ten minutes in the Maidstone half. Having resisted Deal’s early assault, Maidstone began to get into the game and were first on the scoreboard after 20 minutes with a Ben Smith penalty from 35 metres.
Both sides were trying to play a 15 man game on a pitch that quickly cut up and handling errors did result. Getting the ball wide to the havens of green near the wings was proving difficult and both defences were nullifying the attacking flair round the scrum and through the backs.
A late spell of pressure by Deal was contained by Maidstone and the half ended without addition to the score. Maidstone shaded the half, looking more penetrative than the visitors but the game was far from won at this stage.
Deal started the second half with the slope in their favour and showed intent to kick for position before launching attacks. A thrust down the right wing illustrated early promise for this strategy.
With Luke Debnam taking a blow to the head, a rearrangement of the Maidstone pack was required after five minutes. This reshuffle was further compromised when his replacement, Damian Grab, also suffered a knock to the head, this time Alex Hadi coming on.
But Maidstone quickly shook off any impact of the changes and began to show greater penetration. With just over fifteen minutes gone, a Deal relieving kick was picked up by Mark Ryan on the ten metre line, who fed Ben Smith to make further ground before offloading to skipper, John O’Brien, who made the final yards to touch down. With Ben Smith adding the conversion from the fifteen metre line, Maidstone moved to a ten point margin over the visitors. And with Maidstone’s defence looking increasingly secure, this gave Deal a steep hill to climb.
A knock to Lee Thomson required his replacement after twenty minutes, this time Matt Iles moving into the back row, but once again, Maidstone regrouped and increasingly began to dominate proceedings. Apart from the occasional breakout, Deal were forced to defend for long periods. The victory was finally confirmed just past the half hour, when Gareth Hill picked up a loose ball to feed Mark Ryan, whose forceful run beat a number of defenders before feeding Ollie Newton, coming up fast on his inside, to get the touchdown.
The last ten minutes showed Maidstone at their best, running the ball with purpose on every occasion. That they did not score was a testament to the commitment of the visitors’ defence.
With two wins on the trot, both in appalling conditions, Maidstone will have gathered considerable confidence as the season enters its final phase. The return of a number of experienced players has stiffened the spine of the team to make them a competitive force once more.
Team
Luke Debnam (Damian Grab 45 mins; Alex Hadi 55mins); Josh McKenzie; Matt Plowman; John O’Brien; Andy Bacon: Charlie Simpson; Jack Lamb; Lee Thomson (Gareth Hill 60 mins): Ben Swinson; Ollie Newton: Jason Smith; Dane Smith; Matt Iles; Mark Ryan: Ben Smith
