Weekly Roundup 21st November

RESULTS

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	No fixture	H		London One
2nd (Mustangs)	Dover II	H	Lost 12-30	Friendly
Evergreens	Old Bec	H	Won 53-0	Evergreen Cup
4th	Sittingbourne II	A	Lost 24-12	Mid Kent A
5th	Sittingbourne III	H	they cried off	Mid Kent C
Vets	Canterbury 5th	A	Lost 12-22	Friendly

Not much to write home about this week, apart from the useful win over a decent Old Becs side in the Evergreen cup on sunday.

The Mustangs played a friendly against Dover II with a "mix and match" side, having the distinction of 3 front row players in the back-row in Luke Debnam, Nick East and Josh Pankhurst. The game was effectively lost by half-time although the 2nd half belonged to Maidstone in as much as that they scored 12 points to Dover's 10.  The game also marked useful debuts for new players Daniel Adams and Jonathan Shepherd-Burgess, both of whom have been out of rugby action for a little while but have good rugby pedigrees to bring with them to the club.

The 4ths played pretty well down at Sittingbourne and played virtually all of the rugby in the 1st half hour, yet found themselves 12 points down at the end of that period, which was a defecit that they then failed to overcome.

More straight running from Maidstone might have helped them to turn pressure into points but instead this has to go down on the season's record as another very winnable game that was lost.

The 5ths didnt get a game after a late-ish cry off from Sittingbourne, although the 5th team players who travelled with the 4ths, gave a good account of themeslves there.

The Vets looked like they had been in a battle when they got back from Canterbury but had that look of satisfaction that comes with giving one's all in a great game of Rugby. Turns out that Canterbury dont have a Vets side anymore and the opposition were younger to a man, so it was the classic battle of slower, heavier and more-experienced against a callow but lighter and faster opposition, all of which was played out  with the benefit of a superb ref in front of something of a crowd as it was the only home game at Canterbury. (They're not used to seeing top-quality rugby down there !!)

Which brings us to a rain-lashed sunday where the prospects for a bright afternoon's rugby still looked absolutely appalling at 12:30.  However, not another drop of rain fell after that time and with both teams keen to get on and get the fixture played, an enthusiastic crowd were treated to a surprisingly good display of running rugby. The eventual score-line does no justice to the battle put up by Becs, who made Maidstone work hard for every point scored and bearing in mind that 20 of his players proved to be unavailable or dropped out before the day, the Becs skipper had done extraordinarily well to get a credible side into the field - albeit a bare 15. This is worth emphasising, as many of the ties in the first round were conceded, so its refreshing that Becs were willing to turn up and give it a good go. 

Stand-out players for Maidstone were the irrepressible Tuggy, and his half-back counter-part Mike Laurenson, whilst Mayhem raised big cheers with some battering runs - and also raised quite a laugh when he was too big to fit into the one-piece subsuit when he came off at half-time. Biggest laugh was  reserved for the look of innocence on Matt Plowman's face when he "accidentally" impeded the Becs scrum-half after a kick ahead.  Butter wouldnt melt in his mouth.  Anyway, on to the next round and a determined attempt to reach a third successive final.

NEXT WEEK

4 matches at home next week, including an interesting over 45s fixture against Sevenoaks, by way of an often-discussed experiment.  

Also not to be missed will be the presentation of the new 4th team shirts by their generous sponsors, Players Gentleman's Club, who will no doubt bring a touch of glamour to the proceedings, as those who have already patronised their establishment will be able to testify.  Rugby players have a well known propensity for getting their kit off in public, so one feels there is a natural affinity here. (Maybe Jim Walker should have had a career as a table-dancer?)

RE

Fixtures for 28th November 

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Thanet	H	Sat 2:30	London 1 South
2nd (Mustangs)	Sevenoaks II	H	Sat 2:30	Invicta 1
3rd	Canterbury III	A	Sat 2:30	Invicta II
4th	Old Gravesndians II	H	Sat 2:30	Mid Kent A
5th	Old Gravesendians III	A	Sat 2:30	Mid Kent C
Vets (O45s)	7'Oaks Over 45s	H	Sat 2:30	Knobbliest Knees

Click on a link below for previous weekly round ups

14th November

November 7th

October 31st

October 24th

October 17th

October 10th

October 3rd

September 26th

September 19th

September 12th

September 5th