roundup 27th March

Weekly Roundup 27th March 2010

RESULTS for 27th March

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Od Colfeains	H	Lost 12-50	London 1 South
2nd (Mustangs)	Sevenoaks II		Forfeited	Invicta Division I
3rd	Canterbury III	H	Won 28-8	Invicta II
4th	Vigo II	H	Lost 5-6	Mid Kent A
5th	Weavering	A	Lost 46-5	Friendly
Vets	Sheppey Vets	A	Drew 5-5	Friendly

From a vantage point at the far end of the 1st team pitch, its possible to watch 2 games at once, the high level view of the Somme providing a very good perspective of the 4th team match vs Vigo II whilst the 1st team performance vs Colfes provided quite a bit in the way of entertainment. Held together with sticking plaster Trevor said of the 1st Team in his match report, yet despite that the 1st team guys played some great rugby at times and but for a highly contentious forward-pass decision, they would have delivered up a beautiful try scored by Andy Cairns to top the two scored by Josh Pankhurst and Sam Bailey. How the home crowd would have enjoyed that. Once again, Tuggy relished the battle and belied his 42 years as he challenged for every ball, harrying and harrassing his opposite number relentlessly. Mention must also be made of veteran Props Mark Thurgood and Martin Maytum, who both played despite carrying injuries, knowing that the alternative was for Maidstone to forfeit the match. Martin had the rare distinction of giving away a penalty on the grounds of "flopping" . Not sure I've ever seen that offence in the law book but it sounds plausible where Mayhem is concerned. EMERGENCY STOP PRESS: TUGGY IS NOT 42. HE IS A MERE 40 YRS OLD, WHICH MAKES HIS ACHEIVEMENTS MUCH LESS IMPRESSIVE. HOWEVER, MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVELY, WHEN HE REACHES 42 HE WILL HAVE PLAYED RUGBY FOR MAIDSTONE FOR 35 YEARS - UNLESS HE GETS PERMANENTLY MUNCHED BY SOME NEANDERTHAL FLANKER BEFORE THEN. (QUITE LIKELY IN MY VIEW)

The Mustangs were forced to forfeit their League Match vs Sevenoaks II owing to a lack of players: not a good outcome but at this stage of the season after such a difficult year it make life a lot easier for the lower teams in the club rather than trying to soldier on regardless with all 6 teams.

The 3rds entertained Canterbury III on the bottom pitch, where the final score did not reflect the closeness of the play. Darren Banfield carried off the MoM award after carving swathes through the Canterbury ranks. Apparently, he fielded around a dozen long kicks and never once kicked it back, running straight into the Canterbury defenders every time, who strangely became less and less enthusiatic about tackling him as the game proceeded. The 3rds are now just two wins away from winning the Invicta II league although the next game vs Old Alleynian II will probably decide the title.

The 4ths played out a fascinating encounter vs Vigo II and after a scoreless 1st half, took a 5 - 0 lead early in the 2nd half. This was whittled away by 2 Vigo penalties and despite a kickable penalty being presented with which the match could have been won for Maidstone, there was no-one in the team who could be trusted with the kick. Instead, the team were left ruing a 1 point defeat. How good, by the way, to be playing back on the Somme for the first time since before Christmas.

The 5ths needed afriendly fixture and were happy to take on Weavering in a friendly match but the 2 Division gulf in class was too much for the brave Barbarians, who could muster no more than a Trevor Bradley Try to redress the balance. The front row seem to be getting all the tries in the 5th team at the moment.

The Vets had an enjoyable game at Sheppey against Sheppey Vets, where they felt aftrewards that they had done well to gain a draw against a lumpy Sheppey side. Man of the match was the urbane Mr Keith Coomber, who played a blinder - and almost certainly without a hair our of place. If ever they need a new James Bond.........

Evergreen Cup By Something of an oversight, we have agreed to play our Evergreen Cup Semi-Final vs Haywards Heath on Sunday 11th April at 2pm. Regrettably, this is on the day following the 3rd team League show-down with Old Alleynians and on top of that, there are around 5 of the regular Evergreen side unavailable - including the likes of Hogy, Fishy and even the skipper, Paul Massey who has a priority booking elsewehere. However, I am sure that we can still put out a competitive side on the day.

Help for Heroes Quiz Night On Friday 9th March, there is a quiz night at the club, organized by a local ex-serviceman in favour of Help for Heroes. There are several teams from the club taking part. Details can be obtained from Tracey behind the bar if anyone is interested in supporting this event and enjoying a good evening out.

Fixtures for 10th/11th April

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Old elthamians	A	Sat 3pm	London 1 South
2nd (Mustangs)	Old Colfeians	H	Sat 3pm	Invicta I
3rd ...................................... Evergreen team	Old alleynians II .................................... Haywards heath Vets	A .......... H	Sat 3pm ................................... Sun 2pm	Invicta II ........................... Evergreen Cup
4th	Sevenoaks Acorns	H	Sat 3pm	Mid Kent A
5th	Sevenoaks V	A	Sat 3pm	Mid Kent C
Vets	Gravesend Moles	A	Sat 3pm	friendly