Match Report
Dover 41 v Maidstone 0 by Trevor Langley
London League 1 South
Away at The Crabble, Saturday 12th September, 2009, Kick Off –3.00pm
Maidstone travelled to Dover for their first away fixture of the season with a much changed side from the one that had lost to Elthamians the previous week. Injuries, holidays and graduation ceremonies had all taken their toll, resulting in four changes in the pack and three in the threequarters. For a side struggling for cohesion, this was not the best preparation.
That this side lost the game was not surprising but the final score of 41-0 was disappointing. The pack was found wanting in the tight and never established a sufficient level of control against an aggressive Dover eight, while the back line was slow in defence and the attack lacked a cutting edge.
The domination of the tight by the Dover pack was abetted by some dubious play from their hooker and blind side wing forward, which referee, Graham Charters, missed on more than one occasion. Nick East was on the receiving end of a deliberate stamp and an eye-gouging incident in the first half but it was Maidstone’s skipper, Steve Matthews, who spent time off the field for a technical offence in this period.
In order to give the Maidstone attack more width, Peter Horne was given the inside centre slot with Neil Graves switching to the outside berth. But the subtlety of this move was ultimately lost by the inability of the pack to deliver quick ball to get the attack underway.
Dover started the game playing through their forwards and their first move was a rolling maul that took them from the half-way line to Maidstone’s five-metre line. But their real strength lay in their ability to create openings, manufactured by fly half, Beaumont, and, on ten minutes, centre Charge was put in by the posts from such a move. Charge also added the conversion to post a 7-0 lead.
Maidstone was generating genuine pressure in this period and much of the play was in the Dover half. But the yellow carding of Matthews, for stopping a quick penalty, upset the balance and before he could return, Dover added to their lead with a penalty and a try by wing Mackintosh.
Dover’s creativity and strength now came into play and from a maul on the Maidstone 22, Beaumont slipped round the blind side to run unopposed to the posts. This was followed shortly by clever interplay with his scrum-half, deep in his own territory, when the classy fly-half broke clear and outran the defence, to quickly add a second try. With Charge slotting the points, Dover went to the half time with a 29-0 lead and damage limitation became the name of the game.
Tom Castle came on after the break, taking over from debutant, Crystal, at open side wing forward to try to reign in Beaumont. And from the way the scoring was reduced, it had some effect. While Maidstone could and should have scored in the second half, handling errors at vital times were punished by Dover and well-established attacking positions were turned into desperate defence.
Five minutes into the half, a chip ahead by Andy Bacon was quickly followed, making the tackle on the catcher, but Dover recycled the ball and with a swift riposte, moved the ball up the left wing to release Collins to score half way out. Charge, once again added the conversion to lengthen the Dover lead to 36 points.
Dover’s final score was much more controversial and came with five minutes left on the clock. From a ruck, on Maidstone’s 22, the Dover fly half appeared to cross behind his own player and this was followed by a knock on before the move was finished half way out. As neither offence was punished the score was allowed to stand, bringing the total to 41-0.
The second half demonstrated fighting qualities from the Maidstone team, with Ian Lee and Peter Horne carrying knocks that might make them doubtful for next week. But more speed of thought and action will be required to get a positive result.
Team
John O’Brien; Nick East; Rob Jeffrey (Sam Bailey 65 mins): Steve Matthews; Andy Bacon: Ian Lee; Billy Crystal (Tom Castle 40 mins); Ben Court : Craig WhiteheadHiH; James Dance: James Sullivan; Neil Graves; Peter Horne; Tommy King: Duncan McClintock