Match Report
Away Vs. Westcombe Park Gents
Maidstone 5th XV 35 – Westcombe Park Gents 33
After an intense summer training under the tutelage of coaches Colin Frost and Steve Oakley the Mighty Maidstone Barbarians head into our 1st game the confident underdogs under the joint captaincy of Steve Quinn and Trevor Bradley.
With twenty minute quarters and rolling subs agreed in advance the game was set as a training match against a youthful WPGents side .
With the toss won we opted to start offensively kicking down the hill. With the likes of Ben Foskett and Colin Frost chasing down the ball Maidstone secured possession early and attacked the home side lines, within minutes the unstoppable Mark Burrill had crashed his way across the lines supported by the entire pack for a well converted try.
Restarting Maidstone again surged forward, the home side now recognizing that these "tubby old guys" weren't so slow as Lance Lewis making his debut thrashed his way forward, he unleashed a miss pass straight to the centre Richard Nunn who bulldozed his way through the back line supported by the rampant flyhalf debutant Scott Andrews who not only secured the ball with an ear piercing shriek but charged under the posts for the second converted try of the game which marked the end of the 1st quarter, 14-0 to Maidstone.
The 2nd quarter started much the same bar a scrum from a kick straight to touch. Maidstone flanker Steve Quinn caught and totaled the WPG scrum half however and swiftly dispatched the ball to debutant flanker Mike Gammon. The following play was nothing short of superb with Gammon proving too strong for his opposite number before unleashing our ace in the hole once again, Richard Nunn who devastated the WPG defence to score a third converted try.
The restart didn't go to plan with a knock on and a penalty given away. With a number of gaps in the Maidstone defence it was the home side now on the offence, the last man (another debutant) Ace Knight stopped the attack with an incredible crunching tackle but was given a warning.
Their incredible No.8 lead a 2nd assault followed by their brutal centres. Against the line a poor tackle from the captain meant the No.8 scored with an outstretched hand placing the ball over the line.
With another similar play the score entering half time was Maidstone 21-Westcombe Park 14.
The third quarter was a gruelling contest of fitness, WPG had the edge as the Maidstone side slowed. Drawing us into the rucks and Mauls, any advantage we won with the possession was lost in the offence.
WPG spread the play, straining a tiring back row, creating an overlap against our centres and set to score again. A well rehearsed play saw the talented centres attacking the try line. With no option but to hold possession WPG were awarded the penalty, a mistake on my part perhaps but I brought the big guy down hard again..... without the 10 feet gap.
This time the penalty was against the line, a few charged forward, some did not. This was last years gripe and something we need to work on, the big guys from Westcombe Park found the gap and scored.
Another offence in this quarter saw the play spread from side to side, an overlap created and the home side utilized it. A burly prop like player had appeared on the wing, munching his way through the Maidstone defence, he clattered his way across the line leaving the Maidstone defence crawling on the floor.
The final quarter started 28 - 21 to Westcombe Park. With a number of changes, Maidstone started fresh again with Ace Knight tearing his way across the pitch to restart the offence. More quick moves saw the pressure once again against the home side 22, a quick pass out of a maul found Scott Warren Andrews who again left his opposite number stranded. The ball passed like a rocket to Brian Costello who planted the scores even under the try line with another converted try.
With more pressure on the panicking WPG scrum half, a poor excuse for a pass was intercepted by Maff Newman followed closely by Ben Foskett who found the space to score. As we've seen so many times before the pair proved unstoppable, ducking and weaving and dummying through poorly timed tackles, Ben scored between the uprights. Unfortunately this score was not converted.
Maidstone once again leading had less than 5 minutes left to secure the victory, unfortunately this proved too much, a spread of play and a break down of communication saw many players on one. The tackle was made but the ball was still moving forward. I got up to see the WestCombe Park Flyhalf score the final conversion of the game securing them the victory. 35-33.
With 5 tries each this game was very tight. We were the underdogs, against a side leagues ahead of our own. They cheered us off the pitch for finally giving them a game they had to fight to win. Although we lost this was perhaps the best start to a season in recent 5th team history.
With a big thanks to our coaches Colin Frost and Steve Oakley, with our drastic transformation of cohesion we have finally proven that a team that trains together and plays together pays off.
If this is the start of what is to come, then this season will be a very exciting one for the Mighty Maidstone Barbarians.
Point scorers in alphabetical order
Ben Foskett 5
Brian Costello 5
Mark Burrill 5
Richard Nunn 5
Scott Warren Andrews 13 - Man Of The Match
