Sat 7 Oct 2023
Maldon welcomed Chingford to Draper’s Farm on yet another sunny, warm day, with the same rock-hard pitch as last week. Some personnel & positional changes saw Callum Melville in at prop & a reshuffle of the back line, with Sam Moon starting on the wing.
The start was delayed as some Chingford players were stuck on the A12 due to traffic, so the crowd enjoyed the sunshine for a few more minutes before the game started.
Maldon started positively, on the front foot, competing well at rucks, securing good possession, which produced an overlap & Olly Lyons crossed for the first score from running a great short line, converted by Joshua Chadwick, 7-0.
More good play, passing was accurate & territory was gained, which saw Max Knight take the ball with less than 10m to go to the try line. So, Max looked for the offload and paused for an eternity, before realising that he could score himself, 12-0.
Maldon were on top, again, securing territory, stealing a Chingford lineout, giving Jim Roblin the chance to run, unopposed through & past defenders, throwing a dummy pass, for Maldon’s third try, 17-0.
Then it was time for the period of play when Maldon switched off & allowed their opponents to get back in the game. Chingford accepted this gift & spent 10 minutes inside Maldon’s 22m area, eventually crossing in the corner, 17-5.
Maldon then woke up, but managed to fall short of scoring a couple of tries as they were doing so. But, the pressure told, with Dan Allen finishing off some good interplay, converted again by Joshua Chadwick, 24-5 at half-time.
The second half started with George Alden-Smith making a break, linking with the backs, who showed great composure to gain ground, with Sam Johnson continuing his scoring spree, converted by Joshua Chadwick, 31-5.
The bench all contributed to the game, Jamie Farrup, Chris Hadfield & Louis Poynter, brought fresh legs & energy into the team with great carrying and physicality.
Next, with Chingford tiring & some injuries affecting them, Maldon took full control. Sam Langston finished off another good move in one corner, Sam Moon then scored in the other corner off a huge pass from Olly Anthony & Maldon were coasting, 41-5. Skipper Joshua Chadwick, took a bouncing ball & ran from 40m out, rolling over tackles to score & convert, 48-5. From the scrum, after the kick off failed to go 10m, Maldon opted for a scrum, and some simple hands from the backs allowed Dan Allen to skip past players & run through his opposite man, scoring again, converted by Chadwick, 55-5.
The game finished with Chingford still trying their best & being awarded a penalty try in the final seconds for repeated infringements from Maldon, a final score of 55-12.
Maldon can take many positives from this game, 9 tries & 5 conversions, but, more importantly, they played much better rugby at times, clearing their lines better than previous games & supporting each other more in attack. This victory moved Maldon up the table for the first time this season.
Next week, Stanford-Le-Hope, who were promoted alongside Maldon last season.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Brad White for setting up a number of tries with accurate passing and making line breaks & Callum Melville for stepping up to start in the front row and showing great work rate around the pitch.
