Sunday 9 November 2008
Maidstone 0 - Medway Cougars 27
Tries: Shears 2, Gowdy, Fenton 2
Con: Gowdy
A local derby against a side that has always in the past provided a stern test is what awaited the Cougars this Sunday and congratulations must go to a very spirited Maidstone side who, despite arriving with a depleted squad of only thirteen, put up one hell of a fight with the assistance of a number of volunteers from Medway.
Following a well respected minutes silence at 11am for Remembrance Sunday a game of three sessions followed. The first started very even and for ten minutes the play hardly moved more than 20 metres from the halfway line. Alex Morgan was commanding in the line out securing Medway ball and disrupting Maidstone's but eventually it was Medway's Sam Cornell who made the breakthrough, only being stopped with a high tackle short of the line. A quickly taken penalty was fed out to Adam Shears who scored in the corner, with a very good conversion from Luke Gowdy taking the score to 0-7. Maidstone returned the kick-off well and a powerful drive took them into the Medway 22 but they couldn't make it count. Cornell made good ground again breaking through the Maidstone backs and when the ball found Charlie Wardzynski a clever chip and chase got to within 10 metres of the Maidstone line. Medway backs played some good rugby with a number of dummies and switches ending with Wardzynski being tackled into touch for a 5 metre line out. Maidstone had the put in but failed to gather cleanly and Medway stole, fed the ball to the opposite wing and Gowdy cut inside, skipping a number of tackles to push the score to 0-12. Gowdy's attempt to convert his own try bounced back off the upright with cross winds making the kicking difficult.
Maidstone kicked off the second period and Sam Nicholls showed great confidence when collecting a difficult ball out of the sky and supplying Wardzynski who sprinted clear from half way to make 35 metres. Maidstone continued to kick well and Jack Johnston had to make sure he controlled a clearance that was skidding on the greasy surface. He smothered it well and set Tom Brown off on a very good run back to half way. All through this period the Medway pack was supporting each other well. Tomisin Mosuro was ever present at the break downs helping to secure regular ball for the Cougars to build on. This level of support pushed Medway forward and eventually Max Fenton was able to drive over. Gowdy was again unlucky, this time seeing his conversion attempt bounce back off the crossbar, 0-17. The next Medway break saw Johnston determined to gain ground,, getting up from three separate tackles before eventually being held. Good support from Matthew Kennedy, Harrison Irons and Jake Christodoulou amongst others took the ball over the line but strong Maidstone defensive work held it up. The next drive saw Lewis Bailey help the push which finally gave Fenton the chance to drive over for his second of the game. No help needed from the woodwork this time as the conversion attempt fell short, 0-22. Shortly after the kick off, Gowdy kicked through high and Johnston chased down to set up another attack. There was some quick, clever passing between Nicholls and Christoloudou but Maidstone again got bodies under the ball holding it up well as the second session ended 0-22.
Maidstone made a very positive start to the third session and put a lot of pressure on the Medway pack and back line. To their credit against many rested Medway legs, they played the majority of the session in Medway's half. There were a lot of turnovers with neither team made any significant ground until Cornell broke through again, the resultant move feeding out to Shears who sprinted a full forty metres for his second try and the final score of the game. So once again a big thank you to Maidstone for playing on with a depleted squad and a very big thank you to all the Medway boys who donned a Maidstone shirt at times to help keep the game alive.
(Match Report by P. Cornell)
