Thanks to the efforts of Club Chairman, Wendy Pound, Saturday saw Richard “The Woogster” Ewence and his band of “eggheads” under the team name “Six & a Half”, overcome some stiff competition from teams from the Veterans and 1st XV to take the 125 Cup in this years club quiz. With the 1st XV apparently very confident that they would take the trophy and the Veterans & 4th XV mounting a quieter challenge, it was the composite “Six & a Half”, which was hastily assembled on the night, that were a mine of information and trivia, most of it not particularly useful except for a quiz. After all, how useful can it be to know that John Emburey’s score of 46 is the highest individual first class cricket score consisting totally of boundaries!!!

Probably Maidstone’s highest-flying former player is Danny Caprice, currently part of the England squad on the IRB 7s circuit, now plying his trade with National League 1 side Blackheath having moved from Guinness Premiership side Saracens; but he is by no means the only one. Last season’s 1st XV hooker Sam Rogers made his National League debut for city club Canterbury in October against Bridgewater & Albion, stepping in for his brother and also recent club 1st XV hooker Tom. Another former front-row player making an impact is Tom Hughes, now an officer in the Army and currently breaking into what is a very strong British Army squad. Another player now plying his trade in the National Leagues is Nik Van Mol who has shaken off a summer illness and is beginning to work his way into senior squad contention at Blackheath. Another pair of brothers also playing higher level rugby are Tom & Jack Muggridge; both went on to be Harlequins Academy players with Tom now at National 3 club Bracknell having also spent time with National 2 club Henley. Jack, a former U16 England player is now playing university rugby at Loughborough. Finally, Ben Williams who we see back at the club fairly regularly has completed his studies at Hartpury College and is now playing for Chester in National 3 (North)

Photos: Former players Danny Caprice, Tom Rogers, Sam Rogers, Tom Hughes, Nik Van Mol, Tom Muggridge & Ben Williams

As was probably expected and despite the best intentions of both ourselves and Gravesend to take to the pitch and clear the fixture from our respective cards, the weather took its toll and the scheduled Kent Cup match was postponed. Elsewhere in the county the outlook was pretty much the same, with only two of the scheduled eight fixtures being played. In what will be seen as the upset of the tournament so far, L2SE Sevenoaks traveled to National League city club Canterbury and came away with a convincing 24-8 win in what at times were blizzard conditions. Elsewhere Folkestone made the trip from the coast to SE London to take on L3SE league rivals Charlton Park and in icy conditions were on the receiving end of a 47-7 defeat.

With the next round of the competition scheduled to be played on 6th/7th Feb and more wintry weather anticipated it is looking very much like the only thing that can be forecast with any certainty is a fixture backlog for most of the clubs involved, especially if there are further league postponements.

The wheel of fortune has been spun and the lucky numbers have been churned out by the random number generator for the winners of December's 500 Club draw. The lucky people are as follows:

• £250 - Andy Bacon
• £150 - Simon Wright (short)
• £100 - Mark Fish
• £100 - M Gammon
• £50 - Keith Richardson
• £50 - Steve Matthews
• £20 meal voucher sponsored by the clubs U10s sponsor, Tandoor Mahal - Mark Ryan

Winners are asked to contact the 500 Club organiser, Dave Tugwell

Maidstone’s Head Coach, Tim McBennett has been selected as part of the coaching team for the Under 19 Regional Academy team against the Australia High Schools XV at Hartbury College on Wednesday 16th December. The Junior Wallabies are on a tour of Ireland, Wales & England. This is the 3rd match in England for a tour that concludes this weekend. The England Under 20 Coach Mark Mapletoft is heading the coaching team and Tim will be focusing his expertise in helping to prepare the backs, which include several players he coached during last season in the England Under 18 AER team. Having watched them play earlier this week Tim sees is as an exciting challenge and a great chance for the team to measure themselves against one of the top teams at this age group.

The annual intra club Veterans XV v 5th (B) XV fixture saw the club’s veterans celebrate their 25th season with the introduction of a commemorative shirt. The side was formed in 1986 under the captaincy of the late Roger Nicholls for its first season and has gone from strength to strength since then. During its 25 seasons the side has been led by four other captains, Paul Ehrhart, Alan Hayward, Glyn Richards and currently Steve Vincent; Paul is the only player to have played every season since the team’s formation and is very much the team’s “elder statesman”, although the thought of hanging his boots up remains just that; “a thought”.

The team remains a tight knit social group that very much adheres to the Corinthian ethos of the sport playing weekly social fixtures outside the county league structures, it has also traditionally been the one club side that has toured annually, with their travels having included France, Ireland, Holland, Jersey & Poland as well as a number of destinations closer to home.

Photos:

1. Current Veterans XV skipper Steve Vincent presents the ever present Paul Ehrhart with his commemorative shirt.
2. The Veterans XV team photo with their commemorative shirts.

Tickets for this season’s RFU Grand Draw have arrived and were distributed with the latest copy of the newsletter. First Prize = £10,000 cash.

Other prizes include:

2nd. – 2 tickets to Dubai
3rd. - £1,000 cash
4th. - £1,000 cash
5th. – A weekend for 2 to attend an Investec international match including hotel accommodation.
There are also a further 35 exciting & valuable prizes to be won!

THE BENEFITS

For every club ticket sold 90% goes to the club as a donation!!!
Tickets are £1 each & come in books of 5. So if you sell 10 books £45 goes to the club & if you sell 50 books this becomes £225.

Ticket stubs should be handed in with monies at the bar in an envelope marked for the attention of Bob Hayton or Charlotte Dilli-Ricci.

If you did not receive tickets, or require further books then a supply is available from the bar.

SUPPORT YOUR CLUB BY SELLING YOUR TICKETS

Saturday saw the 4th XV presented with new shirts thanks to team sponsor Players Gentlemen’s Club. Some of the girls were present to lend a hand and add a bit of glamour to the occasion, and whilst the shirts look decidedly better on them than the likes of team Captain Mark Staples and Vice Captain Craig Bowden, the girls decided against running out on the pitch to face OGs 2nd XV. Players’ owners Jamie Pemble, Adam Thomson, Jay Lambert & Kevin Ruaux were keen to get involved in supporting grassroots community sport, with Jay having been a previous player at the club and Kevin’s brother a current player. Players are looking to broaden their support to the club in the coming seasons.

Photos: 4th XV skipper Mark Staples presents Jay Lambert from team sponsors Players Gentlemens Club with one of this seasons playing shirts. Some of the girls from Players bring a bit of glamour to the team photo.

Mark Thompson, South East representative of Maidstone’s official kit supplier Samurai Sportswear was on hand on Saturday to present a new set of Post Pads and Flag Pads to the club as part of the agreement between the club and Samurai. Samurai Sportswear has been the club’s kit supplier for the past two seasons and this was formalised recently with the recent signing of a 3-year agreement between the two parties making Maidstone Rugby one of Samurai’s associated clubs. Contrary to recent trends elsewhere in the sportswear market, Samurai Sportswear continues to grow and recently moved its manufacturing premises to a location with 3 times the capacity.

Photo: Mark Thompson of Samurai Sportswear hands over the joint agreement to Kevin Bailey, Maidstone Rugby's Procurement Representative

Steven Brown of AgentSport dropped into the club this weekend. Steven had recommended 1st XV scrum half, Mike Molloy and centre Ben Clearly to the club and was in the area so dropped in to see how the players were getting on. Knowing Steven has a bit of a penchant for collecting club ties, Mike and Ben presented him with a Maidstone Rugby tie on behalf of the club and by way of thanks for finding them a new club.

Photo:
1st XV scrum half Mike Molloy presents a club tie to Steven Brown

With what is becoming a traditional event for this age group, Friday night saw the club full of people willing to pit their collective wits against a series of questions devised by Quizmaster for the evening Adrian Shaw. In the end the result was a draw between Team Crawford-Smith & Team Charles; and in a magnanimous gesture by both teams they decided that sooner than split the winnings or hold a tie-break question, the money should go into the U13s fund for their end of season tour. In addition to the quiz a successful raffle was held plus and auction, which included a 2009/10 Saracens shirt signed by the whole squad. With Adrian Webster receiving the bids, the whole event was particularly entertaining and also included the drama of a mystery telephone bidder, who eventually took the Saracens shirt.

The evening was a great success and thanks go to the U13s and their dynamic group of coaches and parents.

Photo: Auctioneer for the evening, Adrian Webster keeps the bidding moving

The past weekend saw the matches in the preliminary round of this year’s Kent Cup; It must be said that in the main results went as the formbook would have predicted although Friday night saw near neighbours Aylesford run Westcombe Pk close, going down 5-7 under the floodlights. Saturday’s fixtures saw Medway recover from a 26-0 half-time deficit, but eventually losing out 43-19 to Deal & Betteshanger from a division higher. Beckenham played O Colfeians for the second time in a week, with the hosts taking the honours in a 55-31 scoreline; In fact the Beckenham match report described the first half scoring as “tit for tat” with a 17-21 interval scoreline in favour of the visitors, but the second half very much as “tit for tit”!! Perhaps the result of the day was Sevenoaks overturning Sidcup 24-27 at Crescent farm, in what, to use the old cliché, “was a game of two halves”, with Sevenoaks taking a 24-point lead into the second half and Sidcup just falling short in their efforts to win the match.

The results of these matches finalise the draw for the next round as follows: Old Colfeians travel to Whitstable, Westcombe Pk host Bromley, Deal & Betteshanger entertain Old Elthamians and Sevenoaks have the unenviable trip to Canterbury. Full details of the 2nd round draw are below:

2nd Round, to be played on or before the Sunday 3rd January 2010

• Whitstable v Old Colfeians
• Westcombe Park v Bromley
• Tunbridge Wells v Thanet Wanderers
• Old Dunstonians v Blackheath
• Deal & Betteshanger v Old Elthamians
• Maidstone v Gravesend
• Canterbury v Sevenoaks
• Charlton Park v Folkestone

Members should have received their latest version of Touchline, the club newsletter in the post. If not, don't panic; as a further step forward into the 21st century and the technical benefits now available, and with the long term aim of reducing club costs, the Touchline Newsletter will now be available online in pdf format in addition to a paper publication. In the shorter term the two options will run alongside each other, but the long-term plan is to reduce both publication and postal costs where possible and make the newsletter only available as an online publication next season. A potential positive to this process is the possibility of more regular and full colour editions, although with both the website Club News and Weekly Round Up pages, as well as other content providing a commentary on current club events, the newsletter is very much seen as providing overarching summaries.

For the current edition of the newsletter, go to the homepage and click the appropriate navigation button on the left of the screen. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 to open the pdf, if you don't aleady have Acrobat Reader this is available as a free download from the following link: http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/otherversions/

The draw for the quarter final of the Invicta Cup threw up what is likely to be a hard fought battle for the Mustangs, away against the local rivals Sevenoaks. Matches between these teams have normally been hard fought and tight affairs so more of the same would appear to be on the agenda. The match is scheduled to be played on the 19th Dec. In the other quarter final matches Westcombe Pk 3rd XV host Beckenham 2nd XV, TJs 2nds face Sidcup 2s and Colfes' 2nd XV make the trip to the coast to play Dover 2s.

In the Invicta 2 Cup, the “Dream Team” having lost narrowly to Folkestone 2nd XV in the preliminary round will have to wait until after the quarter finals to find out their opposition in the Plate competition, with the draw taking place after those matches have been completed.

Following their early season success at Chingford in an invitational tournament, the county town club’s U17s were finally able to get their league campaign started following a number of cancellations by scheduled opposition teams. Team sponsors Ilhan from Flaming Henrys & Steve Ellis of ASM Residential were on hand to present a new strip to the side for this season and then watch the team in home action against Thanet Wanderers. Lack of fixtures and atrocious weather on the day hadn’t appeared to dull their skills as the home side ran out 50-0 winners.

Coach Richard Weston said “the team has improved significantly over recent seasons and are now a force to be reckoned with at their age group, the squad has increased in size this season with the arrival of several new players who have moved to the Maidstone area”.

Photos:
1. Team sponsors Ilhan from Flaming Henrys & Steve Ellis from ASM Residential present this seasons strip to the U17s.
2. Team sponsor Ilhan from Flaming Henrys is presented with a team shirt by U17s player Sam Weston

This weekend Maidstone FC & Sittingbourne RFC played hosts to Boitsfort RC, one of the top clubs in Belgium, for their first visit to the UK in 20 years. 38 Under 9, 10 and 11 players and their coaching teams crossed the Channel for a weekend of spirited Mini & Midi rugby.

On Saturday Maidstone led a joint training session to practice specially varied Laws, kindly hosted by Maidstone Grammar School - giving Maidstone an early taste of Continental Rugby, where contact is played from 6 years old (in the UK it is only played from 8). On Sunday, and in weather more common in the North of Scotland, Boitsfort joined Maidstone, Sittingbourne and Dover for a mini tournament at Sittingbourne's grounds. Across the age groups the Belgians' confidence in contact resulted in rugby that was truly inspiring to watch - the home sides held their own in their first ever 'International Fixture', but ultimately Boitsfort left as decisive, though gracious victors. All the sides hope to build strong Club ties over coming years, with a return fixture to Belgium already being planned by the Kent sides for next summer.

Local youngsters are benefiting from the generosity of local Maidstone businessman Edward Martin of The Golden Boot on Gabriel’s Hill.

There been some big changes at Maidstone Rugby Club, with a large influx of incredibly enthusiastic, boisterous and energetic wannabe rugby players. Thanks to amazing support from The Golden Boot, the young players of Maidstone have a lot to get excited about too!

Tag Rugby is an exciting way for younger boys and girls, from reception to year to experience the fun of rugby, without the possible risk of the full contact version of the game. And this season’s young players have an exciting new mascot, which brings alive the lion from the club shield, emblazoned across the back of their new kit. In fact it’s proved so popular that many of the players are now wearing their tops 24/7.

The under 7's and 8's squads at Maidstone Tag Rugby have been growing in numbers due to the commitment of local rugby enthusiasts who approached Edward Martin, Managing Director and owner of the Golden Boot, Lower Stone Street, Maidstone with some exciting ideas to involve more local children.

“Sponsorship of the team is important to help us involve more players and introduce them to rugby” said Head Coach Nick Williams " The Golden Boot is a natural fit who were very keen to support a local youth sport as a local long established Maidstone Business. Edward was excited about our plans to introduce coaching for under 6’s and improve the opportunities for our current under 7 and 8 squads. He was only too keen to offer help and be involved”

Edward from The Golden Boot said, “It seemed a perfect opportunity for The Golden Boot to get involved and give support to youth rugby in Maidstone. We are keen to do all we can to increase the opportunity for any young person to experience something new, especially if it offers the chance to improve their fitness”.

Nick added “The Golden Boot has not only sponsored the new kit, but have also provided us with a fantastic marquee to keep players warm and dry, as rugby is not exactly a fair weather sport! Their support has been amazing and far exceeded our expectations, putting us in a position to welcome anyone who would like to give tag rugby a go”!

“Thanks to their support, there is now a new U6 squad which means boys and girls in reception and year one can now try tag rugby without any financial commitment, as well as enabling more coaches to provide structured development for U7 and U8 (up to year3).

Edward added “we’re hoping to introduce as many boys and girls to rugby as possible and at this age it’s all about enjoying the game. If they manage to run one way and pass the ball the other, that’s great!. Throw in those moments of brilliance, that only a 7 year old with no fear can produce, and it’s just about the most satisfying way to spend a Sunday morning!”

For more information, visit the Tag rugby page or call Nick on 07973 834923

Photos:
1. Edward Martin, Managing Director of Maidstone Tag Rugby’s sponsor The Golden Boot with some of the clubs youngest generation of players at the company premises on Gabriel’s Hill.
2. Maidstone Rugby’s Nick Williams, who has been the club’s driving force behind the Maidstone Tag Rugby brand identity.
3. Players from Maidstone Rugby’s burgeoning Tag Rugby Section getting stuck in!!
4. Some of Maidstone’s Tag Rugby section enjoying the benefit of sponsored marquee provided by The Golden Boot.

Following the weekends league win the senior squads spent Tuesday evening’s training session at the excellent facilities of one of the club’s sponsors, The Village Hotel. As part a series of scheduled fitness sessions conducted in cooperation with the hotel, Village fitness instructor Lewis Davis put the squad through their paces with a serious aerobic and cardio vascular workout using some of the fitness centres “state of the art” equipment in a competitive “spinning” session on the exercise cycles and was followed by an opportunity for the squad to take advantage some of the centres more relaxing facilities in the swimming pool, sauna and Jacuzzi.

New Hotel Leisure Manager, Chris Guildford was on hand at the evening and stated “he saw the link up with the county towns rugby club as a natural fit between two organisations that have a healthy lifestyle and physical fitness as part of their core values and also a visible sign of the Village Hotel’s commitment to community based sport in the town”.

The Village Hotel offers preferential corporate rates for all members of Maidstone Rugby that not only covers club membership but also entitlement to further additional benefits.

Photos (V1, 2, 3 & 4): Village Hotel fitness instructor Lewis Davis puts Maidstone’s players through their paces.

Despite a recent improvement in performance as the club’s new players start to gel as a unit, Saturday’s “basement battle” was always likely to throw any form out of the window. In what Aylesford always bill as a major fixture and local derby, Maidstone were very much looking at the game as Match 8 in a 26 match season. Despite the opposition’s home advantage and the normal partisan crowd, it was the county town club’s recent improvement in form that continued its upward trend to end their winless streak and take the points in a deserved but hard fought and morale boosting, if somewhat last gasp win. Although morale has remained buoyant across the club, the victory was always going to be a morale boosting result on what Fixtures Sec, Richard Ewence had always identified as one of the most challenging weekends of the season for the wider club, in particular the four senior sides in the restructured Invicta & Mid Kent leagues. The Mustangs were taking on National League 2 Canterbury’s second string with the 3rds against Aylesfords’ 2s and the 4ths hosting Anchorian’s 2nd XV. In the end, despite the results not all going the way of the county town club, all of the teams were competitive. More information on the weekend events can be seen in this week’s “Weekly Round Up”.

Supporters and players alike will have noticed a number of new faces around the club and on the pitch this season. Whilst continuing to promote home grown players from an established youth policy that has in recent years produced the likes of Danny Caprice (England 7s and Blackheath), Sam & Tom Rogers (Canterbury), Nik Van Mol (Blackheath) & Tom Hughes (Army), as well as previous and current club captains Jon Sargent, Martin Arnold & Mark Ryan. This investment in youth has also produced a crop of current senior squad players Sam Bailey, Euan Caborn, Luke Debnam, Lewis Fawcett, Neil Graves, Matt Iles, Jack Lamb, Ed Pritchard, Nick Sargent, Harry Stockford, David Ruaux, James Sullivan & Tim Wetjen.

To compliment this youth policy, the Club is also keen to attract new players from further afield, where appropriate, and this season has attracted players from both home & abroad. Amongst this season’s recruits the club welcomes, from South Africa, Peter Horne (Crusaders), Mike Molloy (Crusaders/St Ives), with Lionel Tsime (Golden Lions Academy) due to arrive shortly. From the Antipodes we welcome Kiwis, Matt Butterworth & Ryan Mills (Christchurch U19s) and Aussie, Ben Cleary (Euros RUFC). Closer to home we have been joined by Lee Thompson (Paphos Tigers) from Cyprus, Gavin Milne (Edinburgh Gunners Academy), Tom McMulkin (Army Academy), Dan Salvage (RE & Army U23) Sean Walker (Old Albanians and Saracens Academy) as well as seeing Kent U20 hooker Josh Pankhurst, HM Prison Service prop Rob Jeffrey and Ed Pritchard return to the club.

Photo: Some of Maidstone’s new recruits and returning players for this season

Saturday’s league fixture against Chobham saw the club entertain a number of its sponsors; on hand were Chris Guildford (Leisure Manager) & Nicola Meredith (Hotel Sales Manager) from new official sponsors this season The Village Hotel. The club’s sponsorship agreement with The Village Hotel sees the club senior squads make use of the excellent fitness facilities and also offers excellent corporate membership rates for club members. In addition the club uses the modern leisure facilities at the hotel for major social events. Also present were Phil Cunningham from Mustangs sponsor Brachers Law and Chris White from one of the club’s longer-term supporters Aylesford Newsprint. Senior squad shirts were presented to all three sponsors.

Photos:
1. Club Captain Mark Ryan & DoR Andy Golding present one of this season’s 1st XV shirts to Chris Guildford & Nicola Meredith of the Village Hotel.

2. Mustangs XV Capt, Nick East presents one of this season’s Mustangs XV shirts to Phil Cunningham of the teams lead sponsor Brachers Law.

3. Maidstone Rugby’s Director of Rugby, Andy Golding presents Mustangs XV shirt to Chris White, Recycling Manager for Aylesford Newsprint.

Three convincing wins and a solitary loss in the opening game to Barking in the Group stages meant an appearance in the Plate final against Sevenoaks. And what a final! Sevenoaks went one up only for Jenkins Kiwanuka to cross the ‘Oaks line with most of their team hanging off him to levels the scores. The sides were fairly evenly matched with Maidstone ’s attacks being thwarted by herculean efforts from the Oaks’ defence. Maidstone were just shading it, so with the final score at 1-1 our boys were raring to go for extra time, ‘Oaks possibly a little less so. The festival rules however determined that the team with the best results in the group stages were the winners in the event of a draw, so Maidstone were crowned Plate Champions not only thanks to the 9 on the pitch in the final, but the due to the efforts of the whole squad during the day. A fitting end to a great start to the season. Most memorable moment? THAT tackle by Evan.

The club's rapidly improving U17 side's first encounter of the season was to be invited to an Essex festival at Chingford.

The Jack Conn Cup is contested every year by invited U17 teams. The pool stages were played in warm conditions and after a lot of big physical challenges by the Essex teams, Maidstone won through to the knockout stages of the competition, conceding only 5 points in the process.

Maidstone faced a very large & physical team from South Woodham Ferrers in the Semi-Final and an exciting game was won by a battling Maidstone side by 14-0.

The final saw Maidstone play a Westcliffe side that are by tradition always competitive and the performance was nothing short of spectacular. As the air temperature rose so did the tempo of the game and no side gave any ground but Maidstone scored the only try of the match to win 8-0 and lift the trophy. Maidstone's U17's can feel very pleased with themselves that in the crucial and more pressurised knockout stages of the competition no side was able to breach their defence.

When your a on a tight schedule with appointments on opposite sides of the county, but don’t want to give up your afternoon’s rugby then sometimes the only means of transport is a helicopter; which was just the decision that club sponsor Simon Wright came to. Following appearing for the Mustangs XV against TJs on Saturday, Simon brought his helicopter to The Mote in order to make sure his programme ran on time. However he still found time to get the pilot to take a few kids (incl Tuggy) on a short flight which was the highllight of their day, of course the promised trip in someones sportscar may not hold the same attraction for them anymore.

Saturday saw Mark Anderson, one of the partners from club sponsors Horwath Clark Whitehill at the club to receive a 1st XV shirt from the club in recognition of the support for this season as well as their support in previous years. In addition to sponsoring the club Horwath Clark Whitehill also sponsored the shirts for the barstaff this season, so it was only fitting that we should get Tracey and some of the girls to present the shirt on the club’s behalf. Horwath Clark Whitehill’s managing partner, Keith Newman was also on hand for the presentation but is apparently a bit camera shy!!!

Photos:

DSC0007: - House Chmn & Bar Manager Tracey Wakefield presents a 1st XV shirt to Mark Anderson from Horwath Clark Whitehill.

DSC0016: Some of the busy staff in their new 2009/10 shirts.

K Newman - Sometimes you have to con someone into having their picture taken

Prior to the fixture against Westcombe Park and at the start of what promises to be an extremely challenging Invicta League campaign for Maidstone’s Mustangs XV; Phil Cunningham, Head of Corporate & Commercial Services for Brachers Law was on hand to present the new shirts for this season to Richards Coles, the team captain on the day.

Unfortunately usual skipper Nick East was unavailable due to a call up to the 1st XV but had left the reins in the safe and experienced hands of Richard.

This is the second year that Brachers Law have made a significant commitment to the county town club as Official Sponsors and in particular as lead sponsors for the Mustangs XV.

Simon Wright the Chief Executive of Maidstone Rugby's primary sponsor Simon Wright Homes was on hand at the 1st XVs first league fixture to present new club captain Mark Ryan with the new shirts for the 2009/10 season. Following a brief appearance in the 1st XV photo, Simon then had to dash to SE London in order to turn out for the 3rd XV in their opening fixture in the Invicta League against Old Dunstonians.

Photos: 1. Simon Wright presents the 2009/10 seasons shirts to new Club Captain, Mark Ryan. 2. The 1st XV prior to the start of this seasons league campaign.

The start of the 2009/10 Season sees the launch of the club’s new website. The summer months have seen a lot of activity on the design and building of a professional new website for the club. The whole project has been led by Michael Gammon (currently playing with the 5th XV) with the cooperation of his web design company Vivid Associates based in Sutton, Surrey.

The target had always been for the new site to “go live” in time for the new season and despite the disruption that the July & August holiday season creates, thanks to the efforts of Michael and a number of other contributors, the target date has been achieved. Whilst the new site is by no means complete, the construction has been taken as far as possible and looked to use all the best elements of the previous website but in a more logical layout and professional look. Its success is now reliant on contributions of content from respective senior & youth teams, as well as some committee members.

The next month or so will see some minor “tweaks” to the site but the main drive has to be on maintaining up to date content.

The club would like to thank Michael for his excellent work on this project in taking the evolution of the club’s web portal to a new level. Additionally, the club would also like to thank Steve Oakley at Allteks for his work on the previous website over the last 3 years, which in itself was a major step forward at the time.

To many people the “club blazer” is a bit of a niche market and for many it is either linked with the generation that are often seen occupying bench seats on the promenade on Eastbourne seafront, or those quaffing Pimms on the banks of the Thames at Henley Regatta.

Not so, the traditional rugby club blazer is alive and well and making something of resurgence with the younger generation, although in a somewhat revamped format. Maidstone Rugby has long been known for its club blazer, affectionately referred to as the “deckchair” for its somewhat garish colours and design; however, the club is moving with the times and whilst maintaining the traditional club colours, a new and somewhat more discreet design made its debut at the weekend.

An initial order of 30 blazers was made and the club’s Deputy Chairman, Bob Hayton is optimistic that further orders will follow once the season starts and the blazers receive a wider viewing across the membership. Time will tell, but it appears that some of the sports Corinthian traditions continue to live on.

Note: There is still material left to make 7-8 more blazers, orders will be taken on a "first come- first served" basis; 50% deposit required.

Photo: Maidstone Rugby’s new club blazer makes its debut at The Mote

As a prelude to the new season a young Maidstone team finished runners up in the main competition of the “Help for Heroes 7s” held at Aylesford, losing 22-19 in an exciting and bruising final to an experienced Fijian Invitational side. The Maidstone team coached by Shaun Neaves was selected to continue its strong youth development programme from last season with all but one in the squad being under 21 and six of this season’s current U18s on display.

The pool stages of the competition saw Maidstone finish second in their pool and this meant a semi final draw against the winners of the other pool. The draw saw them pitched against “Dave’s Drunkards”, a side comprising of players from the host club, Maidstone’s young side were not overawed and in what was a hard fought encounter produced some of their best rugby of the day to progress to the final, much to the annoyance of what was a very partisan crowd

The final was to be against the Invitational Fijian side that had inflicted a 19-10 defeat on Stones in their earlier pool match. Following some inspirational words from skipper Ben Williams, the referee started the final, and from the kick off Maidstone attacked and were able to post a 2 try lead, with excellent work from Aaron Bishop, who unknowingly was playing with a fractured tibia from the previous encounter with Fijian side. Through excellent work rate and flowing rugby the Fijians were able to then post 4 unanswered tries, and although Maidstone completed the scoring with a fine individual try from Lewis Fawcett it was not enough and the Fijians ran out narrow victors.

However, Maidstone should take credit from an excellent squad performance from a team that was by far the youngest in the tournament.

Maidstone Squad: Williams (Capt.), McKenzie, Vickers A, Vickers M, Walker, Bishop, Wetjen, Fawcett, Fitzpatrick, Caborn, Stewart, Bailey.

Photos:
Top left: Maidstone skipper Ben Williams leads by example.
Middle left: Maidstone's U18 players combine to launch another attack.
Bottom left: Members of the H4H 7s Tournament squad with Coach Shaun Neaves

The Kent RFU AGM held at Westcombe Park RFC saw the draw being made for the coming season Kent Cup.  As in previous seasons the draw threw up some interesting fixtures, perhaps most notable being near neighbours Aylesford against Westcombe Park in the 1st round.

Maidstone received a bye in round one but play Gravesend in the second round on 2nd/3rd January 2010.

The full draw for rounds one & two is shown below:

1st Round, to be played on or before Sunday 22nd November 2009

1. Sidcup v Sevenoaks
2. Deal & Betteshanger v Medway
3. O Colfeians v Beckenham
4. Aylesford Bulls v Westcombe Park

2nd Round, to be played on or before the Sunday 3rd January 2010

1. Whitstable v O Colfeians or Beckenham
2. Aylesford Bulls or Westcombe Park v Bromley
3. Tunbridge Wells  v Thanet Wanderers
4. O Dunstonians v Blackheath
5. Deal & Betteshanger or Medway v O Elthamians
6. Maidstone v Gravesend
7. Canterbury v Sidcup or Sevenoaks
8. Charlton Park v Folkestone

3rd Round is on or before the Sunday 7th February 2010 Semi Finals are on or before the Sunday 28th February 2010 Final is on the Sunday 24th April 2010, Venue tbc

Sat 12th June saw Maidstone’s Village Hotel celebrate their fifth birthday in the town with a day of events.

Part of the celebrations saw the presentation of a sponsorship cheque to Chairman, Wendy Pound and Director of rugby, Andy Golding by the hotel’s General Manager, Veronica Kingham.

The Village Hotel teams up with the county town’s rugby club as one of their Official Sponsors and will play a significant part in the club’s fitness training programme.  Both Kim Brockhurst who manages the hotel’s Health & Fitness Centre and the rugby club’s Andy Golding see this as a significant partnership between two organisations that have fitness and healthy lifestyle as one of their core values.

Photo:  Village Hotel General Manager, Veronica Kingham (L) presents a sponsorship cheque to club Chairman, Wendy Pound.

The traditional dinner held on Maundy Thursday saw a new venue this year with the event taking place at the Village Hotel. Under new DoR, Andy Golding the event ran to a slightly different format than in previous years; however, the emphasis of the evening was to recognise the efforts of the players and those behind the scenes in what has been a long season.

The following awards were presented:

Bernard Hinks Award (1st XV) – Gareth Hill Bernard Hinks Award (other XV’s) – Martin Maytum Bernard Hinks Award (non-playing) – Bob Hayton

David Arnold Award (Young Player) – Sam Rogers

Millennium Trophy (Team of the Season) – A (3rd) XV

Teams Player Awards: 1st XV – Steve Matthews Mustangs (2nd) XV – Mike Laurenson A (3rd) XV – Peter Mattinson Ex A (4th) XV – Alan McCabe B (5th) XV – Paul Edwards Veterans XV (Mike Sharples Plate) – Steve Vincent

Vice Presidencies were awarded to:

Martin Arnold, Dominic Baxter, Trevor Marvin, Keith Newman & John Whitehead.

Photos: Gareth Hill receives the Bernard Hinks Award from President, Trevor Langley

Sam Rogers, winner of the David Arnold Award for the young player of the season receives the trophy from David Arnold (Snr)

The pre-match lunch for the 1st XV league fixture against Basingstoke saw Simon Wright, the CEO for the club’s Primary Sponsor, Simon Wright Homes put pen to paper with the signing of a 3-year sponsorship agreement that means a significant uplift in funding for the club. Simon; a committed club member and player sees the agreement reaching beyond the current period and the additional funds will allow the club to implement an Academy Funding Scheme to attract talented young players to the club.

As a committed local businessman Simon sees a commitment to grassroots community based sport in the environment where he both conducts his business and draws his workforce as a key aspect of image his group of companies represent.

Photo: Simon Wright Homes CEO, Simon Wright puts pen to paper with the club’s Deputy Chairman, Bob Hayton.

Throughout the winter the club has made use of the gym facilities at Invicta Park Bks, in gratitude for the use of the facilities the club has made a donation of £275 to the county town regiment’s Afghanistan Fund.

Photo: Club President, Trevor Langley presents a cheque to WO1 Richie Davies of 36 Regiment, Royal Engineers