Results  4^th April 2015

WE WON !!

It so happens that we not only won but won in style, although after the disappointment of losing the same match in 2102 and 2013, we would have taken any kind of a win that was on offer.

Many thanks to Coney Hill for playing a full part in such a big day at The Mote and we wish them the very best for their promotion campaign.

 Whilst for us it was never the nail-biting type of a match that nervous home-supporters prefer to avoid, there were periods in the second half with the score locked on 23-13, when one couldn’t help wondering if the comfortable lead from the first-half was going to be further eroded by a re-invigorated Coney Hill.  The eventual sight of Ollie Newton skipping over in the corner and grounding under the posts for the first of his two quick tries, was all the nerve-tonic that was needed for anxious supporters to be able to relax - and the final try, from Biddenden Vineyards MotM Matt Iles, was the icing on the cake.

Well done to club Captain Ben Williams, for leading from the front as usual. He is a marvellous testament to home-grown talent and loyalty and indeed it was fantastic that so many of the match day squad were home-grown products of our Youth Section.

As is usual on these occasions, it was a marvellous day to be a Maidstone member and supporter and truly gratifying to see the amount of effort put in by all sorts of volunteers, including all the usual faces like Julian & Marilyn Debnam, Peter and Diane Iles, David and Diane Hughes, Tony Murphy and Maidstone’s antidote to political correctness Francis Talbot, all of whom we often take for granted but also on Saturday, to the many who pitched-in especially for the big occasion.

It must have been immensely frustrating for Sean Charlton, our  Head of Playing, to be away in Lanzarote on a family holiday, as without his input this season – much of it unseen – there is no way that we would have had the team to deliver such a resounding result.  However, I am sure that his family were delighted to have his undivided attention for once, albeit punctuated by regular text updates.

So next stop Twickenham,at last !!

The website will carry details of arrangements for supporters but of course, meanwhile we have the visit of Crowborough to look forward to on Saturday – which COULD seal promotion, followed the week after on Sunday 19^th by the finals of The Late Red Veterans Trophy at Maidstone in which amongst other matches, Maidstone Vets will play Thanet Vets.

It’s a great time to be a Maidstone Rugby member.

RCE

Fixtures  11^th April  2015

Results  21st March 2015

Deal & Betts was probably the last potential banana skin on which this year’s promotion campaign could seriously slip-up, which is not to belittle the two remaining opponents but only to recognize how few points are now required from the 10 that could potentially be amassed. That the awkward and dangerous opponents were defeated whilst not fielding our strongest side is a cause for some satisfaction – albeit that it may not have made for the most thrilling display for our travelling supporters, especially as a number of gilt-edged chances went begging.  The back-row partnership of Josh Pankhurst and Eddie Cranston took the Biddenden Vineyards MotM award jointly this week : hope they shared the contents of their bottle nicely.

At home, the Mustangs went into their match vs Charlton Park II without a front-row, which meant that even had the home side won, the match would have been treated as a draw. As it happened, CPII won the match but by only a seven point margin, so whilst they gained maximum points from the game, Maidstone gained one point for playing and one bonus point for finishing within 7 points, which also made for an exciting finish as the home team pressed and pressed for the equalizing score in the closing minutes.   Once again, players from the Development Team stepped up to play 2^nd team rugby and were not found wanting in any way.  Despite the loss, the team did not seem at all down-hearted afterwards, as this seems to be a group of players that really enjoys playing together and for which the social life is as important as the rugby.   I actually ran into them later on in the evening as they took the development players out on the town with them, chaperoned by the almost paternal presence of Club Captain Ben Williams and accompanied by Gemma and Courtney their attentive physios.  One hears that later in the evening, a very public proposal of marriage was made to one of the aforementioned attendants, but news of whether the Man from Munster was accepted or rebuffed in his matrimonial ambitions has not yet reached this writer.

The Barbarians were faced with an unusually stiff test when they entertained Deal & Betts III on the bottom pitch, especially without their talismanic play-maker Simon Seal, who was otherwise engaged on the top pitch weaving his magic for the Mustangs with some outstanding running and try-scoring.  As it transpired, Deal & Betts II did not show up for their fixture with East Peckham (which was slightly annoying for the Villagers as they were changed and on the pitch when they found out), so our Barbarians were faced with the best that Deal & Betts could muster on the day.  It seemed fairly predictable that D&B would not be able to raise three sides, so it is disappointing that they did not go to East Peckham and play a better matched fixture than the one that they opted for.  We had had a number of offers of well-matched friendlies for the B Team during the week  and it was frustrating to have to turn them down.   Oh well, it was a game and the Babas seemed to be digging in as best they could during the time I was watching,  with Colin Frost having a stormer once again, but it proved to be a challenge too far in the end.

That brings me on nicely to what was for many of us the main event of the day, which was the final home Vets match of the season and the last match (excluding the forthcoming Beauvais Tour) for former Vets Skipper Glyn Richards, who has decided to call it a day a few months before his  sixtieth birthday.

Glyn joined the club in 1998, a few months before me as it happens, although for him it was a return to playing Rugby after a gap of some years.  He quickly settled in to Vets rugby and despite being Welsh,he became a prominent part of the social scene as well as a useful No8 on the field and within a year or two he took on the mantle of Vets Skipper, a role that he fulfilled with distinction for 9 full seasons.

To put that in context, there can have been no other skipper at Maidstone that has put in a stint of even half of that length in the last 20 years and I wonder how far back one would have to go to find a Captaincy lasting longer than Glyn’s.  During the period of Glyn’s captaincy, it was not all plain-sailing as good players came and went but there were some terrific seasons in which the Vets were the most successful team in the club, albeit that Glyn continued with the tradition of welcoming all-comers and making sure that everyone got a game  each week (with perhaps 1 or 2 hopeless exceptions over the years).

There were good times and there were some bad times as various players fell off the perch or coped with bereavement in their families and other difficult situations but Glyn could always be relied upon to exercise great judgement and to strike the right note when called upon to speak.

He always took his rugby seriously, giving short shrift to anyone who thought that friendly matches were anything other than there to be won but he would always be in the thick of the banter in the bar afterwards, whatever the result.  Nor would he blame the fixture-secretary after a hammering (luckily), taking the view that you can’t choose your opposition but you just get on with playing the team in front of you, win, lose or draw.

Glyn was often touted as a future Club Chairman but sadly, all of our blandishments have fallen on deaf ears over the years and it looks as though his management skills will now never be deployed on behalf of the club.  However, I still think he would make a good ref, so if he reads this, he should expect a call from me during the summer. 

Not much left to say except that Glyn’s last run down the tunnel on Saturday after an excellent match vs Cranbrook Vets was one that we all eventually have to make at some point, although few of us will leave the field of play with so many good wishes and a job so well done.   

Here's an archive picture from when he was still quite young - 2 or 3 years ago.

However, lets not overlook the fact that there was at least one other notable retirement on Saturday, which was also the final match for Keith Coomber who has occupied the No 15 slot for the Vets with languid aplomb for many a long year but who has now reached a stage where he no longer cares to be beaten by players with half his skill but half his age.  Luckily, he leaves behind him sons Ollie and George with whom we have all played and who are always welcome when they make their intermittent appearances for our various teams.

NEXT WEEK

Here we go again.  Another Easter, another Intermediate Cup Semi-Final at home and surely this time we have the team to go all the way to Twickenham, although Coney Hill are likely to be the stiffest test of the season, (including National League Westcombe Park whom Maidstone beat in the Kent Cup).

Whatever else you are doing over Easter, make sure that you are at the club on Saturday for the match of the year.  Entrance to the ground will be £5 for adults, which is the minimum entry mandated by the RFU for National Semi-finals.

Good luck to Ben Williams and all the Maidstone boys.

RCE

Fixtures  28th 2015

Results  21st^th March 2015

Sorry as I was to miss the pre-match lunch, including such luminaries as Helen Grant, MP for Maidstone and Tracey Crouch, MP for Aylesford, I compensated myself by emulating the example of Johann Delport, (the referee for the 1^st Team game) and scoffing an excellent  pre-match hot steak-pie from the bar, before heading to the bottom pitch for the Vets game vs Dartfordians.

For the corresponding away-match vs Darts earlier in the season, we had travelled with only 13 players and were pummelled by their powerful runners.  This time, we had a full complement + subs and an excellent game of Vets rugby ensued.  It was a glorious match and despite conceding an unconverted try within the first minute, Maidstone’s Vets proved to be too strong on this occasion, especially in the scrum, where a front-row of Rich Gray, Carl from Sheppey and Keith Nellist/John McIntyre dominated the opposing forwards, whilst Carl the hooker showed that he could not only strike for the ball in the scrum but could also throw-in with pin-point accuracy, giving Paul Massey a field-day in the line-out. 

After playing a game of rugby like that, it makes one wonder why so much of amateur rugby at lower levels revolves around Leagues, when playing friendlies can be so satisfying.

Thanks to the staggered kick-off times, there was time after the final whistle to trot up to the 1^st Team pitch and watch most of the match vs Aylesford.  In fact, when I arrived, Maidstone were losing, which certainly wasn’t in the script, but it wasn’t long before Maidstone were winning and racing away towards the predicted 3 figure score.  There isn’t too much that one can say about a match like this except give credit to the Maidstone players who excelled (especially Mike Werahiko who took the Biddenden Vineyards MotM award and Euan Caborn for his kicking) and to give credit to Aylesford for turning up with their patched-up team when, as pointed out in their own match report, Haywards Heath for example pulled out of the League at the start of the season rather than suffer repeated heavy defeats week after week.  If its true that in the old saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, I think we can be sure that Aylesford can look forward to a resurgent season next year when they play a division lower than now.  They can also count themselves fortunate that after a season like this, they haven’t been gifted a “reprieve” from relegation as happened to Maidstone 5 or 6 years ago, when after being pummelled for a whole season, we were “saved” from relegation by a fluke and endured a further pummelling for a whole season before the “relief” of relegation enabled us to rebuild .

Just a foot-note to the Aylesford match report.  Maidstone of course experienced Twickenham on a number of occasions in the 1970s as commemorated in this promotional video, shown here scoring an equalizer against an outfit from Southgate known as Saracens. 

Meanwhile, here is a piece from Graham Norton that was published in this week's match programme but that seems worthy of a wider audience.  Its In The Genes

Wiith a number of regular Mustangs in the First Team this week, numbers were rather thin for the 2^nd Team fixture vs Sevenoaks and, although supplemented by a number of the Development XV, the side fell to a predictable defeat at Sevenoaks, finishing the game with only 13 players on the pitch.

This had a knock on effect on the Development side itself, which went to Cranbrook with only 14 players and had to borrow several players from Cranbrook before the end of the game to get the game completed.  Well done to Mike Laurenson for his determination to get the game played and congratulations to Ciaran Abrams once again for what I gather was another eye-catching display, so soon after making his senior debut.

The B Team were away on their annual tour, this time to Yorkshire and poignantly, without their Tourist in Chief Trevor Bradley for the first time. I have no doubt that he would have been delighted that the tradition is in safe hands, even if a little less Guinness will be drunk than on previous occasions.  They appear to have been favoured on Saturday with that rarest of commodities ie a well-matched Tour Match, although they didn’t actually pull off that even rarer accomplishment ie a Tour win.   No word has yet emerged re the 2^nd game of the tour, but 2^nd tour matches rarely go better than the previous day’s game, so I am not over optimistic. 

I note that this year’s Tour regalia includes the most garish of Waist-coats, of which I fear we are destined to see much more in the coming months and years.  Nothing like the tasteful Vets tour Waistcoats, which were designed with the foresight to match the club blazer !!

RCE

Fixtures  28th March 2015

Results for 14^th & 15^th March 2015

Despite the biting wind on Saturday, it was a fabulous to welcome Chiswick RFC to the Mote for the first time for the regional final of the Intermediate Cup.  More than just the title of regional champions for the South-East, victory would earn the winners a place in the national semi-final and the prospect of a Twickenham final.

It was a gripping contest and a game that could have been very easily lost given the size and potency of the Chiswick Team but thankfully, for  spectators of a nervous disposition, apart from conceding the initial try, Maidstone never looked to be in any trouble and always had a cutting edge to their attacking play.  Home spectators would have been disappointed that Ben Brill was not fit to play, but Mike Werahiko was a more than adequate replacement at No 8 and had a storming match, amongst many other stand-out performances, Ben “bandaged head” Pitkin and James Douglas sharing the Biddenden Vineyards MotM  award this week.  The home crowd enjoyed especially Ben Williams try, not only because it established a decent margin of safety but because it left two defenders sprawling as he barged his way over  from 22 metres out . 

Commiserations to Chiswick and we wish them success in their promotion campaign in London NW 2.  You can read their match-report here.

The icing on the cake was the announcement of a home draw vs Coney Hill from Gloucestershire on the 4^th April in the National Semi-Final.

Personally, I forgot about the post match presentation and went straight from the First Team pitch to the bottom Pitch, where there was still an hour of action to watch in the 5^th team game vs Lordswood II.  I hadn’t intended to see the whole thing, but it was a compelling game between two teams that were giving their all and not for the first time this season, I was hugely impressed by Ian’s team and the way that they play for each other and the Barbarians shirt.  

Memorable moments were a superb text book tackle from Luke Turner when a break- away Lordswood try looked certain;  a drop-goal from Simon Seal (how often does one see a drop goal in 5^th team rugby?); an amazing weaving solo try from that man Simon Seal again after collecting the ball in open space from well inside his own half and last but not least, a yellow card for that “beast” of a player Barney Carpenter.  I would hazard a guess that it was the first of his career and almost certainly his last.  

It was a shame that in a full-blooded game, Jason Hudson sustained a smashed nose in an off the ball incident but that didn’t deter him from wanting to get back on the field to finish the match. Sadly, but to the delight of the Lordswood supporters, the visitors stole a not-undeserved victory in the last few minutes of the game with a try in the corner.

The Vets meanwhile, with a party of twenty players, were away at Gravesend, to play their friendliest of friendly rivals, the Gravesend Moles.  The only news that has come my way is that our Vets won by 4 tries to 1, which is a pretty satisfying outcome.

On then to Sunday, where a further contingent of Maidstone Vets were lying in wait for Canterbury Vets in the semi-final of the Late Red Veterans Trophy.

In retrospect, its fair to say that the timing of this semi-finals day was pretty unfortunate all round, coinciding as it did with Mother’s day (although Maidstone’s team seemed largely unaffected by such maternal sentiments: says a lot perhaps??)

Massive credit to Canterbury then, for assembling a team of Vets despite having 27 unavailabilities out of their 42 names.   However, the players they assembled included the father of their skipper, who was no spring-chicken himself and Dicky Ovenden, the legendary former Chairman and President of Canterbury who first played on our First Team Pitch 60 years ago and who at age 76, has lost something of his former pace, not to mention one of his eyes, his hearing and plenty of hair.   Fair play to them one might say  - unless your name is Matt Plowman, who seemed intent on playing his normal game despite the antiquity of some of the opposition.

Maidstone of course, fielded the kind of team that has been required to face the likes of Blackheath Vets in the Evergreen Cup and which, in fairness, drew with Aylesford, lost to Tunbridge Wells and beat Tonbridge by only 1 point in the earlier rounds.  However, it was far, far too strong for Canterbury’s brave but out-muscled side and apart from one try from the visitors, it was all one-way traffic.

So Maidstone go through to the final on 19^th April vs a Thanet Vets team that contains many of the side that won the inaugural Intermediate Cup at Twickenham in the 1990s and which appears to have despatched Sevenoaks mighty Acorns  with relative ease.

NEXT WEEK

There is a pre-match lunch at the club prior to the Aylesford game.  Given the relative disparity in playing fortunes for the two near neighbours this season, it will be an interesting reminder to all parties of how fortunes wax and wane in rugby, with memories very fresh in the mind of when Aylesford visited the Mote 4 or 5 years ago and beat Maidstone quite easily.  Few of their supporters would be optimistic of a repeat on this occasion, although we can be certain that their players will be up for an upset.   Game on.

RCE

Fixtures  14^th March 2015

Having recorded 4 wins out of 4 last week whilst I was away, it was I hope, nothing to do with my return that caused us to lose 3 out of 4 this week.

Thank goodness that the First Team continues to roll onwards, crushing all in its path despite being a few players short of maximum strength once again this week.  Well done to Josh McKenzie, who has only just returned to First Team contention after his Australian sabbatical and a prolonged injury, for taking the Biddenden Vineyards MotM award this week, giving the selectors an interesting selection head-ache for next week’s important Intermediate Cup Regional final.

The Mustangs were less fortunate, denuded as they were of some of their strongest players, losing heavily to a good Medway II.  Another returnee from injury– this time Lewis Fagg – caught the eye for a strong performance but Medway had too much pace for their under-strength hosts.

Likewise, the Development team, supplemented by 5 or 6 of our Vets Team, came up against league leaders T Wells III, who were large, powerful, well-organized and extremely quick. It was an unequal contest although still gave opportunities for players to shine – 17 year old Ciaran Abrams in particular getting a number of mentions in dispatches.

The B XV hosted Canterbury V with some trepidation, having been heavily beaten in the match at Canterbury in the first half of the season.

On this occasion however, they found themselves drawing 14-14 on the Somme with 5 minutes to go before conceding a late try to lose a very tight and enjoyable game.

Many of the Canterbury players will be back next Sunday as part of their Veterans team that will be playing a semi-final vs our Vets for a place in the final of the Late Red Veterans Trophy.   Kick-off is at 2:30 and a large and enthusiastic crowd of supporters would be greatly appreciated by the Maidstone wrinklies as they battle to be the first winners of this new trophy, the final of which will be staged at The Mote on 19^th April.

In fact, its a massive Cup week-end at Maidstone Rugby as on Saturday, for the 3^rd time in 4 years, we contest the regional final of the Intermediate Cup.  It goes without saying that this is a huge occasion for the club and we hope to generate a large and enthusiastic crowd of supporters.  KO time has been provisionally agreed for 2pm, which ties in with various activities being run by our Youth Section on the day and will enable the maximum number of young people and their parents to watch the game. 

The team should be restored to full strength by next week, with captain Ben Williams in good shape to lead his troops to victory. 

COURT AND SOCIAL

Its over a week since the inaugural Ladies Night at the club but I was delighted to read to that as well as being a great Social evening, the event raised nearly £1000, half of which was donated to a Breast Cancer Charity.    What a fabulous effort.  Congratulations to all involved.

On Saturday I was honoured to be a guest at a Vigo RFC Vice-Presidents pre-match lunch as a guest of their retiring Fixture Secretary John Taylor.  Some wags there were questioning John’s commitment to the club, having done only 42 years in the role.  I understand that David Carver at TJs has done 38 years as their Fixture Sec.  Looks like I have a few more years to go before I really get the hang of it !!

RCE

Fixtures  14^th March 2015

Thursday night’s deluge made Friday morning’s match postponement for the First Team at Old Colfeians, inevitable – and so it proved.

This was far from ideal, given the fixture congestion facing a team conducting a League, Intermediate Cup and Kent Cup campaign, but that’s the price one has to pay for success.

With the First Team having a well earned break and with the pitches at the club deemed unplayable, the spotlight was on the Mustangs for their League Game vs Dover II, played on the firm turf of Mote Park.  Its pleasing to record that the assembled watchers were treated to a fine display, highlights of which were a try from Josh McKenzie, making his long awaited return to rugby after a 4 month injury lay-off, together with tries for Front-row pals Nathan Fitzpatrick and Will Fox.  Ian Antwis also caught the eye as he showed what he could do with ball in hand as he made a number of storming runs through the Dover defence.  A number of players were out of position eg one doesn’t often see a Horse on the wing or a Tom Chandler in the centre but acquitted themselves well.  Ali Fish played full-back for the first time and made at least 3 try-saving tackles when confronted by big Dover runners coming straight at him.  Euan Caborn landed a penalty from just inside the halfway line to great applause (which contrasted with the inexplicable missed conversion under the posts 5 minutes later). 

Another highlight of the game was to see five of a very good youth team re-united (albeit that the biggest one was just watching) as Josh McKenzie, Nathan Fitzpatrick, Karl Smissen and Euan Caborn took to the field with Ollie Hughes on hand to lend support.

The only other game to take place on the day was The Vets and a few of the Development team, who travelled to Vigo to play a friendly vs a combined Vigo 3^rd and 2^nd team in what was by all accounts an excellent and very enjoyable match.  In the end, the result was taken to represent the scheduled League match between Vigo II and Maidstone IV, as there is no gap in the fixture calendar to play a postponement and its better to record a loss than a forfeit.  Follow this link to the Vigo RFC website to see how a Match Report SHOULD be written !!    

Vaulting Ambition

Club President Jim Tinsley proved to be slightly less nimble on his feet than one might expect for a mere septuagenarian, when he attempted to emulate some companions with longer legs and step over the pointed stakes of the Mote picket fence on his way to watch the match in the park.  In attempting to keep the presidential wedding-tackle well clear of the spikes, he executed a long hop from one short leg to the other (I seem to have descended into Mote Cricket-speak) which resulted in a very un-presidential tumble although rounded off with a neat forward roll worthy of an Olympic gymnast.  Oh for a camera when you need one !! Perhaps the gate would be a better option for pensioners in future.

RCE

Fixtures  14^th Feb 2015

The round-up is very late and severely truncated this week, owing to the author’s keen desire to earn a living.

Next week

What with the First Team game at Diss and half-term etc, there are just two friendlies for the lower sides next week.  Anyone who is keen to get a game could contact either Ian Ausher (Babas) or Adrian Clark (Vets)

I have just noticed the following link on the Kent RFU website re Tracy and daughter Laura Pettingale, who live around a mile from our club and who have both been frequent visitors to The Mote as they have made their rapid rise through the refereeing ranks.  I am sure that we would all wish to add our congratulations and good wishes for their forthcoming matches in the Women’s six Nations.

RCE

Fixtures  14^th Feb 2015

Results  31st Jan 2015 

I didn't actually see any Brass Monkeys on the field on Saturday but,had there been any, I am pretty confident that they would have been short of a testicle or two.  It was FREEZiNG.

I don't know what it was like up in balmy Medway, where the First and Development sides were playing but back at HQ, icy drizzle, mud and  "staggered" kick-offs were the order of the day.

First out of the traps were Maidstone's Barbarians vs the visiting Ashford Barbarians in a hastily arranged friendly.  There was a bit of a cock-up at the outset when the referee couldn't find the teams, at which point it became clear that they gone to Mote Park to play.  Arguably, that was the point at which we should have moved Muhammad (the referee) to the mountain and left the teams in the park on the nice firm surface but because we hadn't booked the park pitch, the mountain was moved to Muhammad and the two teams upped sticks (or post-protectors and flags at any rate) and trotted back to the mud of our lower pitch, nicely warmed up.    I watched 10 minutes of play and it seemed nicely poised at two tries apiece but I gather that after I scuttled back to the warmth of the pavilion, the traffic was all in favour of Ashford's Barbarians, although skipper Ian Ausher was delighted with the performance and the quality of the rugby from his team.

My respite in the pavilion didn't last long, despite the news that our visitors from Calais had been delayed for an hour at the tunnel.  This allowed me some time to watch the start of the Mustangs match vs Gravesend II.  Sadly, after 15 mins the writing was well and truly on the wall and it was clear that despite some spirited efforts, a rout was on the cards, and so it proved, exacerbated by a series of injuries that reduced the team to 12 players by the end of the game. Beaten but not down-hearted could summarize the attitude of the team, judging by all the fun that they seemed to be having in the club-house afterwards.

To accommodate the late arrival of the French, Mayhem had his best pre-match warm up for a while as he quickly marked out the Somme so that the game could be played under flood-lights. Fortunately, this proved to be unnecessary as not long afterwards, the French turned up and play was possible on the only slightly less muddy lower pitch.

it was a bit daunting to walk into the French dressing room and to see how big the French vets were. It was even more alarming that every time the door opened, a bigger one walked through the door.   It's at times like these that little phrases come to mind like "the bigger they are, the harder they are to stop", or "the bigger they are, the more they hurt you", so it was with some trepidation that we took to the freezing mud for the battle vs Les Bleus.   Luckily, sheer size doesn't enhance mobility and, coupled with some tactical naivety, our Gallic foe proved to be less formidable than one might have thought.  in fact, it was Maidstone's vets that dominated the first half, turning around with a 7-0 lead thanks to a  rare try from our plucky hooker Miles Tempan (who has since provided a match report of his own).   Talking of hookers, it was an easy day for the guys in the No 2 Jersey as the French RFU will not allow their Veterans to scrummage, so all the 'melees' were uncontested.  This follows our recent match vs the veterans from Koln, in which we weren't allowed  to lift in the line-outs because the German RFU won't allow lifting for veterans.    What's wrong with these Molly-coddled Europeans ?   Or should I be asking why the English RFU don't care more for the health and safety of their "elderly" players?.    Perish the thought though, as I'm sure most veteran players would hate to be wrapped in cotton-wool simply on account of their age.

Anyway, back to the exciting narrative.  Two second half tries and one conversion for the French gave them a 12-7 lead until Neil Cole charged down a kick in front of the posts to take a late lead.     With an uncontested scrum awarded to Maidstone ( or Offsidestone as the French fly-half dubbed us) and last play called by the ref, victory was ours if we kicked straight to touch.   Instead, in true coarse-rugby fashion, we kicked straight back to the French and within seconds, we had conceded a penalty under our own posts.   3 points would have won the game for the visitors but they went for a tap penalty instead and knocked on.   I think that they were just keen to get back indoors

Once indoors, the French gave good voice to many a song and we responded as best we could. Eventually Ben "sick-note" Weston offered to lead everyone in Climbing up Sunshine Mountain.  All was going well, although one wondered whether the bar room chairs could possibly stand the weight of a 150 kilo Frenchman.  The question was quickly settled when he jumped in the air and reduced the chair to matchwood.  (That's another long winter evening ahead of me with my glue gun at full stretch).

Its fortunate that the French very generously brought some impressive gifts with them, which will make splendid raffle prizes that should more than cover the cost of the broken chair.

Just a quick note about the showers.  Staggered kick offs normally mean freezing showers for the last team to play because the earlier teams inevitably leave the showers running. This time, in an act of sheer genius, the right hand showers were locked so that only the push button showers were available, meaning there was still hot water for the  grateful Veterans when they came off the field .   Sharing the hot water on an equitable basis so that there's enough for all?     It's almost like Socialism.

Regarding the away matches, there is as always a good match report for the first team, where the big news of the day was a reality check that could have taken the edge of an unbeaten season.  Nice to see that only a week after coming back from a long injury layoff, Ben Brill was back to his Biddenden Vineyards MotM winning best.  (Medway’s Match Report reprinted below)

Little news has filtered through regarding the Development team match at Medway except for the result.  Any news emerging, will be appended here.

Meanwhile, catch up with the U15s excellent result  and other Youth news here

RCE

Fixtures  31st Jan 2015 

Results  24^th/25^th Jan 2015 

When I played rugby for Sevenoaks, back in the 1980s, I often used to go and watch the Mighty Maidstone when they played in cup matches. Maidstone were at that time, streets ahead of Sevenoaks  and regularly topped the Seven Counties Merit Table until the introduction of league rugby in 1987.  After 2 or 3 seasons of playing National League rugby, Maidstone were drawn against Westcombe Park in what I think was a Kent Cup semi final at 'Park's Craven Rd ground and I remember watching the ageing Maidstone team, which by now had lost a number of its best players from the eighties, well beaten by a Westcombe Park side that was emerging as one of the dominant forces in Kent Rugby.  It all seemed very symbolic to me at the time as the playing fortunes of the two clubs went in opposite directions.  After watching yesterday's thrilling Kent Cup match at Goddington Dene,, where Maidstone were certainly good value for their win, I couldn't help wondering if this was another symbolic moment.  Time will tell, but what we can say is that at the moment, Maidstone have an excellent First Team which could deliver a memorable season for the club.  As usual, there were a number of contenders for The Biddenden Vineyards MotM award, with Nick Child's staking a very good claim but Josh Pankhurst took the award for some clattering tackles and great breaks with ball in hand.

During a quick drive back to Maidstone after the game , the euphoria was enhanced by hearing the sensational FA Cup results on the car radio,  only to be greeted by the very welcome news that the Mustangs had pulled off an unlikely  win in their away fixture at Charlton Park, despite suffering 5 drop-outs on Friday night and being supplemented by call-ups from the development side.   Josh Smith scored one try and Jason Smith got two at least.  Details of the other scorers to follow.

Great news from the Mustangs then, but what news of the Vets who, supplemented by a few of the development boys, were playing the 3rd team fixture vs Thanet 3rds, who turned up looking by one account, like something out of Lord Of The Rings, complete with Giants, Trolls, bearded dwarves and one or two Orcs.  Amazingly, Maidstone were all over them for the first 15 mins, scoring a try and dominating all phases of play, but sadly this work rate couldn't continue and a number of try's were shipped when the younger legs of Thanet got running.  Well done to the makeshift back-row front-row of Keith Newman, Neil Cole and Glyn Richards, who would rather play out of position than uncontested.    Great to see our former Hon Treasurer Dave Coleman back on the field but sad to report a dislocated shoulder for young Dan Ellesmere.

To crown a good day, the Barbarians returned to action with a tight home win over Faversham II, who have been involved in a number of good games with Maidstone Teams in recent seasons - although strangely, theirs is perhaps the only ground in Kent where I myself have never played.  There is still time !!

On to Sunday, where Maidstone were scheduled to play their last Late Red Veterans Trophy pool match, this time vs a Tunbridge Wells side that had lost both of their previous matches.  With the heavier pack,  Maidstone started in fairly dominant fashion and scored a try in the first quarter following quick hands from centres Dominic Baxter and Mike Laurenson to find Justin Evans far out on the wing who beat 2 defenders to go over for an unconverted try.  This slender lead proved to be inadequate as Wells started to show that whenever the ball reached their backs, it was danger time, especially from their low and powerful number 10.  Two converted Wells tries put them into a half time lead of 14-5.   Maidstone were somewhat rejuvenated in the second half by the introduction of the relatively young legs of Fin Davis, who took an hour off from a family outing in Dunorlan Park to join the fray, but it wasn't enough to produce more than another Justin Evans try, giving a final score of 14-12 to Wells.  The 2 points for a losing bonus keep Maidstone at the top of the table for now, having played all of our Pool matches, but we could still be overtaken by Tonbridge or Sevenoaks, depending on the outcome of their final matches.

COURT AND SOCIAL

One notable absentee from the Late Red Veterans match yesterday, after having given a very good account of himself in the previous match at Tonbridge was club legend Matt Plowman.  Part of the legend surrounding Matt is his unreliability, as kick-off times mean very little to him and arriving before the end of a match has often been seen as a bonus where he is concerned.  His range of excuses is vast and his  grand-mother has died on a Saturday morning on 6 or 7 occasions over the years.  However, I am pleased to say that his non-appearance at Tunbridge Wells yesterday was owing for once to a legitimate excuse ie the birth of a baby Plowman on Friday night.  Congratulations to the proud parents.

See this week's Youth Reports

RCE

Fixtures  31st Jan 2015 

Results for  17^th Jan 2015 

RCE

Fixtures  24^th/25^th Jan 2015 

Results for  10^th Jan 2015 

Given some of the awful weather recently, Saturday was a relatively benign day at the Mote and, thanks to the withdrawal of Haywards Heath from London South East 2, there was a rare opportunity for the Mustangs to take centre stage this week.

Despite the return to action of Ben Brill and Luke Debnam, getting a rare run-out in the 2^nd team, as well as the inclusion of 8 or 9 other players who have featured in the First Team this season,  the team was well beaten by a very impressive looking Alleynians 2^nd Team, which has clearly strengthened considerably since the early season fixture in which the Mustangs prevailed 38-0.

I watched 25 minutes of the first-half and clung to the hope that it was playing up the hill and against a heavy wind that was the main reason for the Mustangs conceding 3 or 4 unanswered tries in the first half.  Sure enough the 2^nd half traffic was more 2-way than in the first half but there was no way that the change of ends was going to entirely bridge the gap between the two teams.

Whilst it was good to see Ben and Luke come through their return match unscathed, it was a considerable disappointment for the watching selectors that promising Munster recruit Sean O Connaill lasted only a minute before leaving the field following a heavy tackle.

Down on the bottom pitch, the Vets were playing a friendly vs New Ash Green III in a very evenly matched fixture.  A quick visit to pitch-side during the first half was well timed to see quick thinking from Dan Ellesmere as he took a quick throw-in to Marco allowing him to open the Maidstone scoring from 5 metres out.  The touch-line conversion attempt was approached by Mick Walker in confident manner, although I don’t think that the many on-lookers had any serious expectations of success, so it was to major applause that the ball sailed between the uprights.  To his credit, Mick managed to look as though he wasn’t surprised at all – although we all knew that he was.

In fact, Mick was to kick all 3 of the conversions on offer, which was an important element in securing for Maidstone a last-gasp victory to do the double over NAG in this season’s friendly fixtures.   

With Dan Ellesmere turning out alongside his father Matt, some of the current Vets have now played with three generations of Ellesmeres, having started out as playing contemporaries of Dan's grandfather, the late but legendary Shaun Ellesmere, who graced the Maidstone First Team in the 70s and 80s. 

Marco, our highly enthusiastic Italian import, has written this week’s Vets match report, which has been left totally unexpurgated for extra enjoyment .  (Next week, I am going to write this round-up in Italian. How difficult can it be?)

Away from home, the Development side made the short trip to Sittingbourne to play the 3^rd team fixture, where they played well and achieved a comfortable win.  It was good to see Ben Pitkin get 80 minutes of action at scrum-half on his return from a knee injury that  interrupted a promising start to his Maidstone career, where he had been playing as part of the 1^st Team Squad.

FUTURE WEEKS

The start of 2015 will have proved to have been an intense few weeks for the First Team.

The Intermediate Cup Match vs Medway last week; the first league game of 2015 vs Thanet next week; Westcombe Park in the Kent Cup the week after: heavy League games vs Medway and Sevenoaks to follow, with the semi-final of the Intermediate Cup South East Region away to Diss on 14^th Feb.     There is lots to savour for the players and for their supporters, as there is no doubt that the current squad has got the credentials to win all their matches if they keep focused on the job in hand.    Exciting times.

RCE

Fixtures for  17^th Jan 2015 

Fixtures for  3^rd/4^th Jan 2015 

This seems like a good opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to all our readers and to hope for a successful and prosperous year for all sections of Maidstone FC.  I see no reason why those good wishes should not be extended to all our friends at The Mote Cricket Club, with whom we share occupancy of the lovely Mote ground, and lets hope that 2015 sees an agreement to move forward together in a mutually beneficial development that does not entail the loss of vital playing or training space.

There weren’t many games played at the weekend, but the two senior matches that were played were good ‘uns.  

What a shame though, that the beautiful weather of Friday gave way to torrential overnight rain and an inevitable mud-bath of a Cup Match on Saturday, which probably favoured the visitors from Medway and stymied Maidstone’s normal high tempo attacking game.  On the other hand, the team showed that they could dog out a win in heavy conditions and probably had the upper-hand in the scrum, which was quite significant in difficult conditions for handling.  Fly Half Jonno Skelton took the Biddenden Vineyards MotM award but Ben Williams must have run him close, with some really strong breaks and the crucial 2^nd try to his credit, which put the match beyond the reach of a dangerous Medway and allowed the home supporters to relax – although, in truth, Medway had never looked like scoring until the last 10 minutes.  (Medway Match report pasted at the foot of this page)

On then to the regional semi-finals of this National Cup Competition and lets hope for another Home draw..

The Maidstone quagmire meant that there was no chance of staging our Late Red Veterans Trophy match vs Tonbridge Judds Vets at the Mote on Sunday, so the match was switched to Tonbridge without any loss to our playing strength.  There was good banter in the changing room (most of it from Matt Plowman, who decided that Steve Matthews had had a perm since he saw him last) and clear enjoyment at the prospect of playing together again in an important match, whilst running off the Christmas excesses.

Maidstone established an early scrum dominance from an ultra- strong front row platform of Rich Gray, Pete Gray and far from grey John McIntyre.  In the line-out, Pete Gray hit his jumpers regularly but despite all of this possession, the TJ defence held firm throughout and their flankers were first class when it came to disrupting the break-down, making it hard to re-cycle quick ball.  After 40 mins of hard endeavour,

Maidstone turned around with only a Dave Charlton penalty to show for their efforts,  a lead which was overturned within 5 minutes of the re-start when TJs scored an unconverted try in the corner from a quick tap free-kick.

Maidstone then applied massive pressure on the TJ line and went for a series of push-over tries that must have made the ref at least consider awarding a penalty try but with only a further Dave Charlton penalty to show for such sustained pressure.   The crucial 1 point advantage was enough however, to see out the game and secure victory for Maidstone albeit allowing TJs a losing bonus point for their resolute defence.

This now means that Maidstone only now need a win in their last pool match vs T Wells Vets on 25^th Jan, to secure a home Semi Final as winners of the West Kent Pool vs the runners up from the East Kent Pool.

Details of the other Pool matches and updated tables will be published on the LRVT page of our website later in the week.

NEXT WEEK

The First Team have no League game next week owing to the withdrawal of Haywards Heath, so the Mustangs will take centre stage at home.   

RCE

Fixtures for  10^th Jan 2015 

Maidstone 14 Medway 0 (Intermediate Cup Quarter Final) - 3 January 2015

The pitch at the Mote was surprisingly good despite the very heavy overnight rain that had fallen. However, conditions for rugby were far from ideal and it was Maidstone who managed to cope with the slippery ball and heavy underfoot conditions better than the Medway team. Both sides made errors, but Medway far more than Maidstone and because of this, Medway were never able to control the ball for sustained passages of play, gain good field position and build pressure on the Maidstone defence.

On the positive side Medway’s set piece worked well and provided a constant supply of ball, their defence was mostly good and was tested to the limit on many occasions by the direct running style of the Maidstone team.

Medway opened the game in positive mood and within a minute won a long range penalty kick that just drifted wide of the posts. The following exchanges were typical of the rest of the game, with Medway winning plenty of possession but all too often gifting possession straight back to Maidstone through simple handling or game management errors. Maidstone on the other hand looked dangerous in possession, retained the ball far better and thus built pressure on the Med’s defence.

Maidstone opened the scoring after 15 minutes when Medway kicked straight into touch having carried the ball back into their 22. From the resulting lineout and drive, the Maidstone centre crashed through two tackles to score a deserved converted try.

The pattern of the game had been set and continued for the remainder of the first half and the opening 25 minutes of the second half. Almost all of the play was in Medway territory but the visitors defence was excellent and refused to let Maidstone through. Maidstone surprisingly missed several simple penalty kicks and with only seven points separating the two sides the game remained tense. Eventually Medway’s resistance broke when, after 25 minutes of the second half, Maidstone ran a clearance kick from inside their own half. Good offloading and direct running enabled them to score their second converted try of the game and open up a fourteen point advantage. 

As often happens, this two score cushion, changed the pattern of the game and as Maidstone relaxed, Medway attacked. They spent the final 15 minutes of the game camped in the Maidstone 22 and despite going close on several occasions were unable to cross the home teams’ line.
Overall, Maidstone fully deserved their victory and showed why they sit top of the league. Medway enjoyed the challenge and will look to learn and improve from the game. Although error strewn, their performance was full of fight and brave defence kept the score line close until deep into the second half. The two sides meet again late in January in a league fixture at Preistfields. 

Medway team; Petch, Sandison, O’Leary, Johnson, Rutherford, Huntley, Beaumont, Flanagan, Dance, Harvey, Liua’ana, Meares, Tila, Chalmers, Wardzynski, Subs; Cooley, Brice, Garofalo, Morant (all used).

Results for  20th December  2014 

The last Saturday before Christmas is always a big day at the club and this year was if anything, bigger than ever, what with the pre-match lunch and a huge turn-out for the annual memorial game.

Unfortunately, Christmas festivities got in the way of this weekly round-up, and I never got further than the opening paragraph, above.

Cynics might say that I couldn’t bear to report on the (very narrow) defeat of the Maidstone Vets by the Maidstone Barbarians in the memorial Match, but surely, no-one could be that partisan. 

There is just time to recall the packed clubhouse, with Santa hats and Christmas Jumpers galore.  The stage was set for Euan Caborn to lead us all in Christmas Carols on his small but entirely adequate electric organ, when he turned to me with a face as white as a ghost and said that he had to go straight home (where he spent three days in bed recovering from teacher’s end of term flu).  This meant that once again, the Christmas Carols were led by a rather beleaguered guitarist who was then thoroughly upstaged by a virtuoso set from 5^th team musical maestro Gary Griffiths as he belted out a number of guaranteed crowd-pleasers.

Never mind.  The day was made entirely worthwhile when Charlotte Walker pulled MY winning ticket out of the Christmas Hamper draw (generously donated once again by Marian and Julian Debnam) and it was crowned when I won £250 in the £500 club draw.    Everything else has faded into oblivion.

So that was Christmas 2014 at Maidstone Rugby Club  - or all that I remember of it – and that’s really all that I can write about.

Lets hope that 2015 is a fabulous year for the club and all of its members.

RCE

Fixtures for  3^rd/4^th Jan 2015 

Results 13^th December  2014 

What a total cock-up.

Sometimes in life, it becomes blindingly obvious exactly what one should have done the previous day.  Given a moment to reflect on the previous day's thought processes, a course of action that seemed perfectly reasonable the day before can suddenly be revealed as unbelievably stupid.

I had one of those moments at about 3 minutes past 2 on Saturday, which would have been just about when Weavering were converting their 3rd try of the match against a reasonably strong Vets team, (aided and abetted by 3 or 4 of the Barbarians), who were stepping up to play what should have been a 3rd Team fixture.

To think that at 8pm on Friday evening, we had informed the Mustangs players that we couldn't find a fixture for them, when we could instead have sent them out to give Weavering a well matched fixture whilst the old chaps in the Vets had a well deserved week off.

Credit to Weavering.  They are a very decent side these days and have probably up to half a dozen players that could compete for places in our First Team.   Whilst there was some hope of containing them in the forwards, there was no chance of containing the pace, power and handling of their backs and, apart from a 20 minute score-free period in the 3rd quarter after Wilkie and Chris Tomlin (who turned up to watch with his dog and was soon pressed into service) had joined the fray and both made an immediate impact, it was all one way traffic.  See pictures from Phil Hadfield

Were we down-hearted?  Not really. You have to play the team that is there in front of you and to,put it in perspective, the score was little different from last week's First Team match vs Aylesford.   Was I down-hearted ? Too right, knowing that there were 15 fit, fast, powerful young players of our own who were either back at the club watching the First Team play, or out shopping.   I repeat. What a cock-up – and I take most of the blame.   

Meanwhile, back at HQ, two other matches took place I understand.

A potential banana skin was avoided vs Deal & Betts, who are one of the teams in the division that can produce surprisingly good results as we have found out to our cost in recent seasons.  Despite a tightly contested first half, a relatively comfortable win and the bonus point was secured in the second half to wrap up a clean sweep of the first half of the season, Mike Werahiko taking the Biddenden Vineyards MotM award.

Meanwhile, the Development side did fantastically well to pull off another win, this time vs New Ash Green II. A try for Rocky Kannan and a penalty and conversion for Cam Laurenson accounted for all of Maidstone’s points in what was a very closely contested match.

What then of the two forfeits on the board.  

One was the Barbarians game away to Deal & Betts III. It was obvious on Tuesday that we only had 4 or 5 players for the trip, so the match was conceded on Tuesday.

The other was the Mustangs fixture vs Charlton Park.  4 or 5 drop outs left us on Thursday evening with just 12 players available for the trip to Kidbroke, at which point it seemed unrealistic to proceed and only fair to CP to give them sufficient notice to look for another match.  Later on Thursday evening, Nathan Fitzpatrick had scraped together enough players to play the fixture after all, but by then CP had already binned their 2^nd team and it was too late to get them back together (one wonders if they were very keen to play the match themselves?)    We thought we had picked up a replacement fixture for Nathan and his team vs Old Colfeians but in the end, their pitches were unfit.  So, this was the point at which we should have sent them to play Weavering and given the Vets a week off but somehow, the opportunity was missed.   

Whilst occasional cock-ups are perhaps useful to remind people that most of the time, things work out pretty smoothly, this week’s situation also highlighted the importance of knowing players availability.  Its no use finding out that people are available if it has already been necessary to cancel a match.   The key is to give one’s availability to ones’ skipper a week in advance and then only to drop out if 100% unavoidable.  Whilst its always good to hear from a player late in the week that they have become unexpectedly available and we will always try to fit someone into a team under these circumstances, its much better to know our numbers at the start of a week.

NEXT WEEK

Next saturday is of course the last before Christmas and is the date of the hotly contested annual memorial game between the Vets and the Barbarians Team, always observed as a sincere tribute to our former team-mates but made more poignant perhaps than ever given the recent tragic death of Barbarians icon Trevor Bradley.

I gather that there will be a First Team game at home at the same time – preceded by a sumptuous Christmas Lunch for the lucky few who managed to book their tickets early.

The matches will be followed by lots of traditional Christmas Cheer, including Mulled Wine and Mince Pies and Christmas Carols in the bar, with our very own Music -Teacher extraordinaire Euan Caborn tinkling the ivories, aided and abetted by anyone of a musical inclination who wishes to turn up with their instrument.   It is not unknown in these circumstances for an impromptu talent/karaoke session to take place afterwards, so if you have a party piece of your own to offer, make sure you polish it up to a performance-ready standard for our collective enjoyment.

RCE

Fixtures for  20th December  2014 

Results  6^th December  2014 

Saturday was an interesting and pretty satisfying day’s rugby for your humble correspondent.

Eschewing the lavish hospitality on offer at Aylesford and what promised to be the most one-sided fixture since Germany vs Poland 1939, a trip to Dartfordians for a good old-fashioned Vets game with a 2pm KO allowed sufficient time after the final whistle for a quick dash down the A2 to catch the last 25 minutes of the afore-mentioned First Team game.

 Imagine therefore my horror at arriving at pitch-side to mingle with the fairly subdued crowd only to see a score-line of 0-0 on the scoreboard.  I know that even the lowliest teams will raise their game for a local derby but I hadn’t expected this !!    My horror was soon allayed as it became apparent that the home score-board wasn’t functioning for the day  (its probably operated by the same person who write’s the home team’s match-reports) whilst the Stone Train was rolling along virtually unhindered – albeit after what I hear was a relatively slow start.  (It has since been pointed out to me that it was only the away Team's side of the score-board that wasnt working properly !!)

Congratulations to Pickle Bunyan for getting his 2^nd MotM award on the same ground within 7 days, after a similar rampaging performance in the Vets game last Sunday.   Maybe there’s something about the Aylesford Shirts that acts as a Red-Rag to a Bull  - or should that be a Red-Bull to a bigger bull ??  Congrats also to his second row-partner James Iles for his 50^th First Team appearance.

Back at home, The Mustangs had a battle on their hands vs Sevenoaks II, starting the game with only 15 players,no front-row and no scrum-half.  Alex Clark stepped in to the Scrum-half position but when Sam Kendal left the field injured, the team were down to 14 players.  However, on the plus-side, Maidstone had the benefit of a superb debut from Irish flanker Jack O’Connor and also the welcome return of Tom McMulkin for his first game of the season, none of which was able to salvage for them more than a losing bonus point.

A bare 15 players turned out for the development side vs Cranbrook II and did extremely well to bag themselves a win  - although no information has reached me re scorers etc.  What one can say however, is that the experimental strategy of playing our U18s alongside more experienced players in their first season of adult rugby , which was due to be reviewed in December, has been judged to be successful and will be continued for the remainder of the season and for the future.

The Barbarians played “at home” on the somewhat challenging pitch at New Line Learning, where they borrowed a player from Hastings for the first half and managed to post a half-time score of 19-0 to the home side. The same player then swapped sides for the second half (when  Maidstone’s 15^th man turned up late) and proceeded to run riot through the Maidstone ranks, scoring two tries that led to a final score of 22-24.

At Dartfordians, a plucky Maidstone XV turned up to face an enormous Darts side in front of a surprisingly large crowd and realised from the outset that it was going to be one of those difficult afternoons.  However, after conceding 2 early tries without reply and losing the first of two Coombers to leave the field of play, the Maidstone Vets then surprised themselves by dominating the scrums and line-outs and scoring a try of their own (modesty inhibits me from naming the scorer of what is likely to be his standard “one try per season”) and then another try and before they knew what was happening and despite the loss of a second Coomber, they actually found themselves back in contention for what had seemed a hopeless cause in the opening exchanges.  Sportingly, Darts took a player off in order to make the sides more even and Bobby Keynes , John Brooker and Neil Cole in particular, did a superb job as a 3 man defensive line, Neil scoring a fantastic solo try from 25 metres out.    However, MotM for Maidstone was probably Bob Purfit, who scored two tries and whose appetite for contact in these tough games is awesome.   All in all, it was a very good afternoon’s coarse rugby against an excellent bunch of Vets and enough to remind several of the older players why they still play the game despite their inevitable flirtation with the age of 60.

RCE

Fixtures for  13^th December  2014 

Results  for  29^th & 30th November  2014 

 A very unusual set of results this week, but pretty satisfying for the Fixture Secretary on a weekend when a) many clubs will not have played any rugby at all and b) when mismatches and loaded teams are a distinct possibility, we clearly managed to conspire successfully with our opposition to pitch our respective teams at a level that made for highly competitive fixtures.    

No one likes to get a thrashing and likewise, its not a lot of fun to turn up with a team of ringers and hand out a hiding, so one can only be pleased with the outcome of these matches  - except that a 1 point win for Maidstone in each of the 3 games would have been even better – especially in the Late Red match vs Aylesford where a win would have helped us en route to what we hope will be a home semi-final in March.

Of course, there will be few plaudits for the aforementioned Fixture Secretary from the Barbarians XV, who turned up at 12 noon at “The Ditch” on the fair island of Sheppey for a 1pm KO, only to find the gates locked, at which point it was realised that the FS had dropped a major bollock and forgotten to confirm the early KO with the oppo.    Its hard to imagine how one spends a spare hour on Sheppey but the team had little choice but to while away the time until the ref and oppo turned up. An enjoyable match ensued, with 2 tries apiece for irregular Barbarians Olly Newton and Alex Eastwood and extras provide by Cam Laurenson.  Sheppey scored a try out wide with the last play of the game (whilst the society referee ignored the raised linesman’s flag apparently) and then Sheppey converted to earn themselves a draw.    Net result, good match, lots of happy players and a good  One Club experience as players (including one complete novice) rubbed shoulders with players from the opposite end of the club. 

Not much news has emerged from the Vets fixture vs Gravesend 5ths on the banana pitch at Gravesend, except that one hears that it was a somewhat scrappy affair on a day when there was no other rugby played at Gravesend.  George Coomber got the solitary try for Maidstone and in the bar back at Maidstone, Glyn Richards and Neil Cole were still re-living their try saving tackle on the giant Gravesend no 8 as one took him high and one took him low, rugby-league style.   Its moments like that, which make the whole day worthwhile.

On then to the Sunday Veterans match vs the orange shirts of Aylesford, where a decent sized crowd had turned out to see who would claim local bragging rights in the new Late Red Veterans Trophy competition.  Aylesford were late entries into the Western Pool of this competition – which just goes to prove that it is important not just to make contact with a club, but to make contact with the right people within a club. 

Steve Brown of Aylesford only found out about the competition by reading our web-site and quickly got a team together including many players who no longer turn out for the club on a Saturday but who relished the chance to play some proper Veterans rugby.  They quickly proved that their omission from the tournament would have been a travesty and an absorbing, if not exactly top-quality, game ensued.    

In fact, Aylesford were first onto the score-sheet, having absorbed sustained Maidstone pressure, to put together an unconverted try through some nifty backs play in the corner.  Maidstone hit back almost immediately through an unconverted try from Maidstone’s MotM “Pickle” Bunyan, who wreaked havoc through a number of storming runs throughout his time on the pitch  - which unfortunately seemed to take its toll on his ageing body, as he had to keep leaving the field of play. (He must be all of 36, after all, poor old chap ). 

Penalties were exchanged for an 8-8 half-time score and despite turning around confidently for the second half, Maidstone were unable to trouble the scorers in the ensuing 40 minutes, despite scrum superiority and a  5 metre scrum opportunity that was horribly butchered as the pack pushed Aylesford back over their line.  At the final whistle, whilst neither side was delighted with the result, both were extremely pleased not to have lost to their nearest neighbours.  The game was well refereed and a spectator observed afterwards that it was great to watch a game where there was so much laughter on the pitch despite the outcome being so keenly contested.

Well done to brand-new Grand-Dad Paul Massey, for getting the team organised and for actually participating personally on this occasion, given that he seems to be experiencing a brief "injury-free" spell before the next one ensues.

NEXT WEEK

I see that Aylesford feature in next week’s fixtures as well.  Despite the gap in the League table between the two sides, I am absolutely sure that Maidstone will be taking nothing for granted as there is nothing more likely to raise a team’s game than a local derby match.    The other big question of the day is whether we should ask our Vets to step up and play the 3^rd team match vs Aylesford’s 2^nd team, which would be a huge ask but also an intriguing challenge with nothing to lose except the match.

KICK OFF TIMES NEXT WEEK

All matches will kick off at 2pm next week and throughout December and January EXCEPT for the First Team game which will kick off at 3pm under floodlights.

YOUTH REPORTS

Some strong performances from the U14s this week amongst others  Reports here

RCE

Fixtures for  6^th December  2014 

Results for  22^nd  November  2014 

Saturday arrived with the exciting prospect of the keenly anticipated clash between the top two sides in the division. 

In the event, the big match was absorbing and ultimately satisfying for Maidstone but it wasn’t quite the spectacle one had hoped for, with Maidstone uncharacteristically butter-fingered in the handling on several occasions, in contrast with their normal spectacular passing and handling. However, one sumptuous break from Jamie Perigo in the 2^nd half, destroyed the visitors defensive efforts and clinched this vital win for the home side, albeit that the forwards in particular still had to fight off a battering onslaught as Wells fought to regain the lead.  

One disappointment for the home crowd was that “The Train” was never released from the sidings, as seeing him attack from the back of a scrum at pace is a magnificent spectacle guaranteed to get the supporters cheering, not quite equalled by his forays onto the field with the water bottles.   However, if the crowd was denied this spectacle, they were at least treated to a Biddenden Vineyards MotM performance from Skipper Ben Williams, who turns in back-rowesque performances week after week from his position of Loose Head prop.

The Mustangs had a disappointing loss to Medway II away at Priestfields, where a particularly poor first-half left them too much to do in the 2^nd half, although one bright spot was a try for Alex Hadi on his return to action following a 4 week lay off.

The 3^rd team League fixture vs Canterbury IV was played by The Vets who once again started slowly (its their geriatric metabolisms) and shipped 19 first half-points only to  close the gap in the 2^nd half to 15-19 before conceding a late break-away try as they pushed for a win.  I watched the build up for Maidstone’s first try which involved a 15 metre controlled shove in the scrum with Wilkie orchestrating matters from No 8, before the ball found its way to centre Stuart Russell (who retired from rugby 10 years ago) for his first try in Maidstone colours.

The development side had perhaps their toughest assignment of the season as they faced the  gargantuan League leaders T Wells III, so they could be relatively pleased with their performance, Dan Fisher scoring a try and Cam Laurenson kicking a conversion and a penalty.

The 5^th team had the novel experience of finishing their match as clean as they started it, playing for the first time on the 4g pitch at Canterbury where they enjoyed a fast and competitive game, Simon Seal and Mike Gillies scoring tries with Craig Nicholas kicking the extras.

NEXT WEEK

Its an uncharacteristically quiet day next Saturday on a weekend when one might have expected to see the next round of the Intermediate Cup take place.  Instead, we have just two fixtures on Saturday, one at home and one away.  The Vets team will be supplemented by some of the development squad players, against a similarly composed Bexley side.  KO time TBA.

The 5ths will be travelling to Sheppey to play the Sheppey 3^rd team, which only really gets to play when their 2nds don’t have a game, as they are struggling for numbers to get 3 sides out, especially as they have a Late Red Veterans Trophy game on Sunday.

Talking of LRVT, the undoubted highlight of the weekend will be the visit of Maidstone’s Late Red team to Aylesford on Sunday for a 1pm KO.  Anyone who thinks that the current parlous state of Aylesford’s First Team will have any bearing on the competitiveness of this fixture is sure to be surprised, as the guys who built Aylesford into a level 7 club over the last decade or two will be sure to turn out in force to give their nearest neighbours a bloody nose if they possibly can.   Miss it at your peril.

RCE

Fixtures for  29^th & 30th November  2014 

Results for  15th November  2014 

On a wet weekend, I gather that the sun shone brightly on Beckenham, although the meteorological gods were certainly kinder to the hosts than were the visitors from Maidstone.  A  glorious hat-trick of tries for winger James Douglas, earned him the Biddenden Vineyards Man of the Match award.  This keeps Maidstone at the top of the table and sets up next week’s match vs 2^nd placed Tunbridge Wells for a mouth-watering home tie.

On a much gloomier afternoon in Thanet, the Mustangs visited with 4 of the Vets on board to make up the numbers, where one in particular made a huge impact.  Mayhem joined the fray with 20 minutes played and 2 Thanet tries on the board.  He scored from at least a metre out within a minute of coming on to the field and then dominated the scrums and loose to turn the tide in favour of Maidstone. In fact , The Mustangs went on to lead twice prior to conceding a 10 point advantage with 10 minutes on the clock.  There was sufficient time to pull back a converted try but not enough time to snatch back the lead for a 3^rd time.  Whilst Mayhem had a big match, the game would have been quickly beyond reach without the electrifying runs of Neil “The Train” Graves from the base of the scrum.  In fact he was unfortunate to have only one try to show for his exploits, with two 70 metre runs being halted inches from the line.  The other factor in keeping Maidstone in the game was a faultless place-kicking display from Euan Caborn at No 10.

For anyone who cares, the scoring went:

7-0

7-3 Euan Caborn Penalty

14-3

14-10 Mayhem try, EC Conversion

14-17 Train try, EC Conversion

17-17 Half time score

17-24 Chunk McLintock try, EC Conversion

24-24

31-24

34-24

34-31 Toby Young try, EC Conversion

Full time and a long drive home, without the obligatory cabbage-stealing.

It was clear at the start of the week that we would not have enough players to make the trip to Ash for the 3^rd team League game.  A combination of long-distance, early kick-off and likely mis-match deterred the Vets from stepping in to take over the fixture, so they opted instead for a short trip up Bluebell Hill to face Lordswood II instead,  a decision that back-fired when Lordswood cried off on Saturday morning.

The development side meanwhile played a highly competitive match vs Gillingham Anchs II, although the promised match report has not yet reached me, so there’s not much else to say.

Likewise, I know that the Maidstone Barbarians managed a creditable 12-19 win, away at Dover, which made their skipper Ian Ausher very happy with the team’s effort and performance, but not much other news has filtered through to me, except that it was good to see Steve Oakley and son Mike making a rare appearance in the Baba line-up and Simon Seal returning to action after an injury lay-off.  If I were a betting man, I would happily wager that Mike Gillies got at least one of the tries – even if he wasn’t playing !!

COURT AND SOCIAL

I was gutted to be unable to attend the social on Saturday night but I gather that Gary Griffiths and his band were superb as ever, playing from around 8pm right through to 1:30am for a healthy cross-section of club-members from youth section to Barbarians,  First team to Veterans.

Big thanks to Gary and also to Sam McPherson and Carol who planned  and staged the whole event, which raised useful funds for the club and provided a great night out.

YOUTH SECTION BRING A FRIEND DAY

Also looking back to the week-end, its great to be able to report on a very successful Bring a Friend Day on Sunday, which brought 65 new recruits to the club. 

I won’t even begin to thank people as so many did so much and one wouldn’t know where to begin and end but suffice to say that its marvellous to see the Youth section in such good health and pulling together under the One Club banner.

It was also a privilege to witness the first Girls match at the club, which was enjoyed enormously by all involved, despite (or because of) the somewhat muddy conditions on the Somme.  Big thanks to Sevenoaks for their excellent contribution to the proceedings but most of all to Miles Tempan, who has coached the girls since early summer with enormous dedication and enthusiasm.  Onwards and upwards from here, one hopes.

NEXT WEEK

A massive Saturday at the club with the visit of Tunbridge Wells and a packed pre-match lunch-event.   Make sure you are there for what could be a pivotal match in the club’s promotion push.

On Sunday, the Youth section are in need of support from the senior club to help out whilst their coaches attend a concussion work-shop.  Any volunteers should make themselves known to Tuggy and Eva.

Link to Girls Rugby

RCE

Fixtures for  22^nd  November  2014 

Results for  8^th/9th November  2014 

LOOKING AHEAD

If you haven’t already done so, make sure that you have marked Saturday 15^th November into your diaries for a club social evening with Beats Workin’,  Gary Griffith’s superb 3 piece covers band.  (Gary is the silver-fox who plays mainly for the Barbarians XV, for those who don’t know him)

Tickets are £10 in advance, which includes food and a free drink.  Make sure you have bought yours as spaces are limited.   It would be especially good to see lots of the youth section and parents enjoying the evening.  Keep an eye on the Maidstone Rugby Facebook  page this week for further details on ticketing, as it may prove to be possible to pay on the night albeit with no food, as we need to know those numbers in advance.

YOUTH SECTION BRING A FRIEND DAY

On Sunday the 16^th Nov, the Youth section will be staging a very well publicized  ”Bring a Friend” day.  They require volunteers from the senior section to help with such matters as car-parking and hospitality to help make sure that the day is the success that it deserves to be.  If you make your names known to Tuggy or Eva Howson, (Co-Youth-Chairs), your services are sure to be welcome.

Don’t forget also to keep up to date with Youth News and some very entertaining match reports here or accessed via the Youth Tab, although you might need to wear your reading glasses or use a magnifying glass.

RCE

Fixtures for  15th November  2014 

Results  for  1^st November  2014  (2:30 KO)

Notwithstanding one or two minor disappointments, Saturday proved to be another really good day for the club.

Following another very enjoyable and successful pre-match lunch, which was hosted by one of our major sponsors Kevin Hollingsworth of KH Electrical, there was barely time to trot up to the first-team pitch in time to catch the kickoff (Not literally of course: I would have got my blazer muddy) With a couple of significant changes to the first team it was going to be interesting to see if the team could carry on where they left off in last week's game against Sevenoaks and  it appeared that they could. Despite the fact that Old Colfeians (“call feelings” according to my ipad voice recognition) had certainly not come to rural Kent to return to London empty-handed, our first-team had far too much pace and muscle power for the visitors.  For once,  Ben Brill was not the best player on the field, (largely because he was hobbling around the perimeter on crutches following his injury at Sevenoaks). This week’s Biddenden vineyards man of the match was Centre Jamie Perigo, following a fine display in attack and defence.

Meanwhile the Mustangs did well to go to Dover and return from there with a good win under their belts. Trailing 25-19 at half time they put in a very good second-half performance to close out the Game 19-31. Sam Austin, who only joined the club a few weeks ago, had a very good game in the centre by all accounts  and Ben "sick-note" Weston had a great time playing in the 2nd-row alongside old pal Kenny Murray.

At home the veterans XV had elected to play the third team league fixture versus Folkestone III instead of playing their own friendly fixture versus Vigo III.  It was a brave decision because one can never be sure of the standard of opposition to be encountered in these league games although one can generally be sure that the opposition will be younger than our plucky veterans.  In the event it was looking like a bridge too far when Folkestone's younger legs ran in a couple of early tries. The score at half time was 21-8 to Folkestone but an excellent second-half rally saw our old boys Secure a 35-26 victory including three tries for Jason Bishop -who is ironically not a vet himself but the son of Veteran Graham Bishop.  It was one of those games where the players were literally buzzing with adrenalin when they came off the field, knowing that they had played a full part in a terrific match.

Away from home, the results were less satisfactory, although the development side did very well to come away from Vigo with such a small loss, especially without the ever-reliable Mark Thurgood who's car broke down en-route,  and indeed could have won the game but for one or two butchered overlaps.  Not sure who got all the points but Dan Ellesmere was pleased to score his first try in senior rugby.

The Barbarians meanwhile were away at Lordswood, where their game was rather spoiled by the lack of a qualified referee. It's difficult to be critical in the circumstances because sometimes, as hard as one tries it is not possible to find a referee when you need one.  In this case the referee appeared to be somewhat the worse for wear having had only 20 minutes notice and regrettably he walked off the field of play with 15 minutes to go.  Probably the right response here is to be thankful for the 65 minutes of much time that was played, but that doesn't avoid the reality which was that the whole day was rather spoilt, although none of our players were claiming that they were likely to have won the match had it run its full course.

NEXT WEEK

On Saturday we have only two fixtures.  The Barbarians are due to Kick off at 1:00pm at home in a friendly vs an occasional side from HMP Cookham Wood in Borstal. 

This is followed at 2pm by a mouth-watering Intermediate Cup-Match vs Harrow on the first team pitch, for which I hope there will be a big turn-out of supporters.

Whilst there are currently no other scheduled fixtures for saturday, if there are sufficient numbers of players wanting a game on saturday, we may try for an extra fixture for a club XV. We should know more following Tuesday night’s selection.

Moving on from Saturday, the other big event of the week is the inaugural fixture in the new Late Red Veterans Trophy, which sees Maidstone Vets playing Sevenoaks Acorns at the Mote (2:30 KO)

Whilst Maidstone and Sevenoaks have played regular Veterans matches home and away over the years, strangely, we have never been drawn against one another in the former Evergreen Cup competition, so it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top in this first ever competitive match. Whilst it is not a straight knock-out at this stage of the competition, no-one should imagine that either team will wish to accept defeat.   Should be a cracker and once again, massive support will be welcomed by the players of both teams.

LOOKING AHEAD

If you haven’t already done so, make sure that you have marked Saturday 15^th November into your diaries for a club social evening with Beats Workin’,  Gary Griffith’s superb 3 piece covers band.  (Gary is the silver-fox who plays mainly for the Barbarians XV, for those who don’t know him)

Tickets are £10 in advance, which includes food and a free drink.  Make sure you have bought yours as spaces are limited.   It would be especially good to see lots of the youth section and parents enjoying the evening.

RCE

Youth section Newshttp://www.maidstonerugby.org.uk/youth_match_reports

Fixtures for  8^th/9th November  2014 

Very little time available for the round-up this week.

We came very close this week to being able to get 6 sides out but in the end, we had to settle for postponing the 5^th team match vs Sheppey III and moving two thirds of the 5^th team up to the 3^rd team in order to play Sheppey II at home.

It was a typically entertaining visit to Sevenoaks, to enjoy the hospitality and an ultra competitive First Team fixture, that came close to coming unstuck in the second-half after having appeared to be comfortably in control at half-time.  Josh Pankhurst took the Biddenden Vineyards MotM award for a dynamic performance that included two tries, both of which were scored from powerful bursts through a crowded midfield to power over the line.  Ben Brill took a heavy knock that took him off the field in the second half and one hopes that it wont keep him out of action for long, as his performances week after week are so strong.

At home, the Mustangs pulled off a very impressive victory over T Wells II in a match that went to uncontested scrums soon after the start when the Wells hooker sustained an injury.

Also at home, the 3^rd team found themselves way off the pace in their game vs Sheppey II and came off comprehensively second best, although temporary skipper Will Rush scored a consolation try for Maidstone in his last game before going to work in Australia.

The Development side took on a powerful and experienced Sevenoaks 4^th Team and probably deserved more out of the game than the scoreline delivered.    Former First Team No 8 and current club Hon Treasurer Ben Court made a return to the colours for the development side this week after a lay off of several years and only realised how much time had elapsed in the interim when he found a tub of hair gel in his Kit bag, which has outlived its usefulness given the scarcity of the hair that he can now muster.

The Vets went off to Crawley mob-handed for a fixture that has become much enjoyed in their annual calendar and came away with a tight victory – which is just the way they like it.

NEXT WEEK

Another home game for the First Team next week, with a Sponsor’s pre-match lunch for which tickets are still available at £20 per head.  Judging by the last lunch, this should be a very pleasant occasion and a great prelude to an entertaining day’s rugby.

There are six fixtures on the card once again, so we need maximum availability in order to get all the fixtures played.

Lastly, hopefully Tuesday’s training session will be extremely well attended for the visit of World Cup Winner Will Greenwood – as detailed in club-news on the home page of the website.

RCE

Fixtures for  1^st November  2014  (2:30 KO)

We had been anticipating a big weekend at the club and it certainly lived up to our expectations. The main disappointment was the withdrawal by Warlingham from the Intermediate Cup match which left our first team without a fixture to play,  but otherwise everything pretty much ived up to expectations.

Congratulations to Maidstone u14's who enjoyed an excellent opening weekend to the season. 

Not only did they enjoy a fine 36 - 0 win away to local rivals Aylesford in a very well spirited and contested match but also saw their large squad hold a well attended training session back at Maidstone which was the first time numbers had allowed them to do this. 

With an expanded fixture list designed to give the whole squad as much rugby as possible it bodes for the rest of the season. 

The Youth section was training hard across the club and Park, with just the Tag sections due to start on 5th October.

The U9’s who have just started tackling this season were given an early master class from hard hitting Ben ‘Fridge’ Williams fresh (well almost!) from beating Ashford yesterday.

Their coaches said – ‘Just wanted to say a big thank you again for helping with today's session. The kids really responded to you being there as well as us coaches :) Honestly saw an improvement in them today !!

Congratulations to Maidstone u14's who enjoyed an excellent opening weekend to the season. 

Not only did they enjoy a fine 36 - 0 win away to local rivals Aylesford in a very well spirited and contested match but also saw their large squad hold a well attended training session back at Maidstone which was the first time numbers had allowed them to do this. 

With an expanded fixture list designed to give the whole squad as much rugby as possible it bodes for the rest of the season. 

The Youth section was training hard across the club and Park, with just the Tag sections due to start on 5th October.

The U9’s who have just started tackling this season were given an early master class from hard hitting Ben ‘Fridge’ Williams fresh (well almost!) from beating Ashford yesterday.

Their coaches said – ‘Just wanted to say a big thank you again for helping with today's session. The kids really responded to you being there as well as us coaches :) Honestly saw an improvement in them today !!