Maidstone vs Aylesford, 7 January 2007.

Our first home game of the New Year was against the “old enemy” Aylesford at Mote Park. Conditions were very heavy underfoot and blustery but the threatened rain did not arrive at least but it was clear from the start that this would be an arduous contest. There was little between the teams in the first half although Maidstone, against the wind and somewhat uphill, found it difficult to get out of their own half and so for much of time were in a defensive structure. Aylesford had the heavier and bigger pack but the Maidstone Forwards competed well and the tackling was generally robust and effective. Aylesford had more possession and eventually penetrated the ‘Stones defiant defence to score the only try of the first period. The conversion was missed.

The 2nd half promised more of the same although at least this time the ‘Stones had the benefit of the wind. The ‘Stones started the stronger, winning more possession from set pieces and playing more in the opposition half of the pitch. Unfortunately some basic handling errors robbed us of several good opportunities to score and the Aylesford defence was largely equal to the task of thwarting our attacking options. It was nearly 20 tiring minutes before Maidstone broke the Aylesford resilience. A scrum 20 mtrs out resulted in the ‘Stones scrum half, Ben Hollingsworth, going on a fast, sniping run for the line. He beat several tackles to score under the posts, with Dan Eastwood kicking a high pressure conversion to give Maidstone a slender lead. To their credit the Aylesford team didn’t lose heart and within a few minutes they had picked up possession, moved the ball swiftly wide and scored in the corner. The conversion was missed. With only a couple of minutes left two very tired teams slugged it out in the middle and Aylesford hung on for the narrowest of victories.

There were many positives for the Maidstone team from this game. Tackling and defence in general was excellent across the team and they coped well with some very outsize Aylesford players. The Maidstone scrum worked well against a much heavier outfit. We had several good opportunities in possession only for unfortunate errors to end them precipitously but overall the team continues to progress match by match.

Maidstone Man of the Match: Ben Hollingsworth

Final score: Maidstone 7, Aylesford 12