weekly round-up 30th Jan 2010

Weekly Roundup 30th jan 2010

RESULTS for 30th Jan

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Chobham	A	Lost 59-5	London 1 South
2nd (Mustangs)	Sidcup II	H	Lost 8 - 68	Invicta Division I
3rd	Bromley II	A	Won 34 - 15	Invicta Division II
4th	Gillingham Anchs II	H	Lost 0 - 34	Mid Kent A
5th	Aylesford V	H	Postponed (frost)	Mid Kent C
Vets	Tunbridge Wells IV	A	Lost 17-5	Friendly

A substantial loss for the 1sts again this week, albeit nowhere near the record loss that was incurred in the same fixture last year, but somewhat dispiriting none the less. Well done to the 1st Team guys who continue to give their all to the cause in another difficult season. Their loyalty and commitment has been superb, and it was good to see Ian Overton getting onto the score sheet with a fine solo effort.

It was a similar story for the Mustangs against Sidcup II, although in contrast with the 1st team scenario, it is as recently as last season that the Mustangs beat Sidcup II home and away. Good to see Gary Whitehead on the team sheet at this level following what seems like absolutely ages for a knee injury, and one hopes that he will soon be back in the 1st Team. Maidstone's points came from the boot of Alan McCabe and from a try from Ben Rookledge, who continues to turn in storming performances at number 7, week after week.

The 3rd team had only 15 players for the trip to Bromley but they proved to be more than adequate for the job against a much better Bromley II than they remembered from the 1st half of the season. There were 2 tries for Jacques Vrey , one each for Martin Arnold and Eugen Moore and 2 more for man of the match Sean Charlton.

The 4ths met a big, brawny Anchorians 2nd Team that had too much hustle and bustle in the forwards and too much fire-power in the backs to be contained for long. Despite excellent work in the line-out from Ben Foskett in particular and parity at least in the scrums, the traffic was ultimately all one way. Bright points for Maidstone were a useful debut from new centre Craig Tuffrey, who was playing for Anchorians as recently as last week and also the return of Frank The Tank, who hasnt been seen in action since before Christmas,

Owing to the fact that there were only 2 pitches safe to play upon, the 5th team game vs Aylesford V had to be postponed at the very last minute, which was hugely frustrating for our 5ths who were already changed and ready for action when the decision was made. When it became clear that only 2 pitches would be playable, it was hoped that the 5th team game could be switched to Aylesford but, having failed to get an answer on the 4 phone numbers we could find for Aylesford Club and officials and with the Aylesford Web-site down, there was no way to contact their 5th team to discuss the situation before they travelled. Fortunately, it was not far for them to return home afterwards. After a week of pretty good weather, it was so annoying (and so predictable ina sods-law kind of way) that there should be a heavy frost on Friday night.

The Vets had a shocker at Tunbridge Wells (their words not mine) and played well below their normal expectations. Maybe, going out on a friday night (as many of them did, I can personally confirm) is just too much for them at their ages. Ovaltine and an early night would have been much better preparation!!

Next Week

At the time of writing, the only certain fixtures for next week are the postponed 1st team game vs Sidcup and the 3rd Team game vs our regular touring visitors from Llanishen. Other fixtures will be confirmed as the week progresses. Snow and frost has wreaked havoc with friendly fixtures as playing postponed League games takes priority.

Court and Social

During a sombre week, there was some very happy news that came my way regarding our lovely physio Sadie and her equally lovely consort, 1st team Skipper Mark "Private" Ryan, one of whom is "with child" and one of whom is claiming the credit for it. We wish the three of them every happiness.

Fixtures for 6th Feb

Team	Opposition	H/A		Competition
1st	Sidcup	H	Sat 2:15	London 1 South
2nd (Mustangs)	TBA	H	Sat 2:15	Invicta League
3rd	Llanishen	H	Sat 2:15	Invicta II
4th	TBA		Sat 2:15	Mid Kent A
5th	TBA		Sat 2:15	Mid Kent C
Vets	TBA		Sat 2:15	Friendly