Maidstone Rugby Club

Weekly Roundup 9th April 2011

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Results for 9th April

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Old Midwhitgiftians	H	Won 37-28	London 2 S East
2nd (Mustangs)	No Fixture			Invicta II
3rd	Snowdown	A	Lost 39-13	Invicta III
4th	Weavering	H	Won 30-0	Mid Kent A
5th	Gravesend V	H	Lost 5-73	Friendly
Vets	No fixture			Friendly

Well , thats it for another season although we still have another week to go before we hand over the clubhouse to cricket for the summer. The 5ths have a game scheduled for next week and it may be that we will try to get out a couple of other 15s next weekend, just to make use of the opportunity, but to all intents and purposes, this was the last big weekend of rugby. STOP PRESS: WE NOW HAVE A HOME GAME FOR 16TH APRIL VS A SITTINGBOURNE 2ND XV INCLUDING A COUPLE OF THEIR 1STS. A MAIDSTONE TEAM WILL BE SELECTED FROM 4THS, 3RDS AND 2NDS. 2:30 KO. STILL WAITING FOR NEWS OF A FIXTURE FOR OUR 5THS.

It was pleasing that the First XV managed to finish the season in the way that they started it ie with a win over Midwives - not that we have anything against Midwives, who are a thoroughly friendly bunch. The main difference is that, at the start of the season we were on a level playing field whereas we entered this match labouring under a 50 point deduction, which has imposed relegation to level 8 for the first time in our club's history.

Well done to all the players who have stuck at it this year in the First XV squad and who have been undaunted by off-the-field matters that have dominated the head-lines. You have been a credit to the club and to one another and can surely look forward to a much better season next year.

No fixture for the Mustangs this week, but skipper Duncan McClintock was thrown the ultimate hospital-pass when Mike Laurenson asked him to skipper the team for a difficult away trip to Snowdown. Chaotic scenes followed this at the club on saturday, as an alarmingly small group of players and an even smaller number of cars assembled for the long trip to Aylesham. With no one quite sure who was supposed to be playing or how many had gone direct, Roger Bentley did a marvellous job of rounding up the team such as it was and getting them on the road before any of them could cut and run for the safety of the 5th team bench.

When they reached Snowdown, they found that they had 13 players in total, including 3 hookers and only one prop. The sensible thing would have been to concede the League points, to even-up the two sides and to play a friendly but instead they took the field with the 13 they had. According to Roger, they then fought like tigers against a team that would have offered formidable opposition even with a full strength side, tackling anything that moved and playing out of their skins to a man. Outstanding amongst the team was Matt Vickers (one of the three hookers) who played 2nd row including line-out jumping and who came off the field with his shoulders rubbed raw. Whilst no one exactly enjoys taking the field with 13, (and finishing with 12) its what coarse-rugby is sometimes about and it beats the hell out of phoning ahead to say that the team is not coming.

At home, the 4th's had all but one of their regulars on board to meet the challenge of local rivals Weavering. In a somewhat niggly affair in which the slide tackle seemed to be the preferred method of stopping Maidstone attacks, the result was never in much doubt although the hard ground took its toll, Ben Jones messing up his knee big-time and George Coomber playing for half an hour with a broken arm. The team also acquitted itself extremely well at the end of season party, which they attended enthusiastically and en masse - of which more later.

The omens did not look good for the 5ths when a formidable looking Gravesnd 5th team turned up, including a number of students back from University and more tattoos than a bosun's reunion party. One look at the state of the Somme was enough to convince everyone that they would be better off on the soft-ish turf of Mote Park, so the two teams upped sticks and post-protectors and trotted up to the park where a massacre ensued. Ho hum. Not the best end to a season, so lets hope that next week's fixture comes good.

COURT & SOCIAL

Well, it was billed as an end of season party but somehow it morphed into "Drink the Bar Dry" night as usual. However, this year there were far more than just the usual 1st team suspects and it was great to see parents from the youth section, cricketers, WAGS and players from all sections of the club enjoying themselves . The raffle was a big success, Dane Smith winning the coveted first prize of a Wave Scooter although foolishly he was not on hand to claim it. This allowed Neil Graves the opportunity to test drive it across the cricket outfield, although sadly, by the time the bar closed at 2 am, it had disappeared altogether. No news has yet emerged of anyone being found drunk-in-charge of a scooter, but there must be plenty of suspects. Hopefully, Dane won't be so careless in future with his new toy( if it ever finds its way to him). Other notable wins were an electric blanket for Jack Lamb, a case of wine for Paul Ehrhart, a single malt for Keith Newman and a signed Saracens ball for Paul Firmin. Our thanks to everyone who bought tickets, especially the visitors from Mid-Wives and some of our sponsors who were in attendance.

Thanks also to Neavesy, who finally ignited the crowd at the end of a 2 hour set during which almost no-one ventured out of the bar, by letting rip with his very own "Town Called Maidstone" , followed by a rip-roaring "Tube-Station" and "La Bamba". Takes years to become a cult but he's a cult alright.

Great job done by Carol McKenzie and the bar-staff, most of whom went to Lashings after the bar closed at 2 am and stayed till silly-o'clock but were still on hand to get the club-house looking clean and tidy for the Junior open-day this morning. What an asset they are.. STOP PRESS: I gather that the cleanliness of the club-house at 10am was largely thanks to the youth section coaches and parents who had been working on it for 90 minutes by then. Well done them.

EVERGREEN UPDATE

Unfortunately, this years competition is rapidly descending into a disappointing anti-climax. The date for the finals at Croydon has been altered to Saturday 7th May as the original date proved to be Easter Sunday. Meanwhile there is still no firm date for the home semi-final vs Sutton & Epsom following their failure to play last week, but Easter Monday and 1st May look possible.

Fixtures for 16th April 2011

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st				London 2 S East
2nd (Mustangs)				Invicta II
Select XV	Sittingbourne II	H 2:30 KO	A team will be selected from 2nd/3rd/4th team players with an emphasis where possible on youth.	Invicta III
4th				Mid Kent A
5th	TBA			Mid Kent C
Vets (over 45)				Friendly