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Maidstone 36 Old Midwhiftgiftians 0 |
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Before this match Maidstone had a 2 minute silence for Alan Firmin, who died recently. Alan was a dedicated follower and benefactor of Maidstone rugby, being a fine player and former chairman. He continued to follow the club’s fortunes right to the end with his generosity.
How happy he would have been with his clubs 5th win on Saturday dispatching Old Midwhitgiftians with 5 well taken tries. Maidstone pounded the ‘midwives’ line but it was 15 minutes before an off side offence let Craig Whitehead slot the first points. The scrum half then took the blind side option after a scrum to score in the corner and then converted his own try from the touchline. Centre Martin Arnold took the scoring pass wide out and then confidently made 5 side steps having crossed to get the touch down behind the posts. Bizarrely Whitehead missed the extras! Although Midwives finally got into the Maidstone half on several occasions good defence kept the home side line clean. The telling score and one that would settle the match was the killer blow just on half time. Mark Ryan took a crash ball well outside the 22 cut right inside the defence and with a swallow like dive got the point at the posts.
Half Time Maidstone 22 Old MidWhifgiftians 0
Maidstone will feel sorry for themselves for not getting more points in the second half as the had their chances. A potentially very serious head injury to Kiwi prop Scott McIlroy who clashed heads with a ‘midwife’ held up play. With so much blood, very quick action from Maidstone physio Sadie got Kent ambulance service called. They were there very fast. ‘Scotty’ fortunately is recovering well and it is in no small measure due the speed of all concerned. We must all thank them.
This delay spurred Maidstone to greater things and in spite of reorganisation in the pack Maidstone held firm. From a half break from Martin Arnold who then fed the ball to Tim Porter who then had Neil Graves calling for the ball on the wing who cut diagonally to the posts for the touchdown. The ‘audacious’ had the last say with chip kick over the defence to pick up and score at the posts. Dave Charlton added the points. This win puts them in 5th position it the league but there must be no cause for complacency as there are only 3 points between 4th and 9th place!
Next Saturday Maidstone are away at Gosport and Fareham
Tries: Whitehead, Arnold(2), Ryan, Graves Conversions: Whitehead 3, Charlton 1 Penalties: Craig Whitehead 1
Team: Dave Charlton, Tim Porter, Neil Graves, Martin Arnold,, Mark Ryan, Glen Aukett, Craig Whitehead (James Ferris), Scott McIlroy (Cameron Anning), Rob Jeffries, Simon Hollister, Sam Johnson, Steve Matthews, Ben Court (Nick Sargent), Jon Sargent(C), Ed Davis |