Sat 23 Mar 2024
Maldon welcomed Old Cooperians to Drapers Farm on a windy day, with both teams hoping for a higher scoring game than the 0-3 victory to Maldon before Christmas.
Maldon were keen for a better start than last week & they succeeded in this respect, by confidently catching the kick-off then taking the ball to Old Coopers. Strong carrying & good passing resulted in full back Dan Allen finding space to score an early try, converted by Joshua Chadwick, for a 7-0 lead after a couple of minutes. Old Coopers responded well, gaining territory & carrying strongly, especially their number 8, who proved hard to stop. Once inside the Maldon 22, Old Coopers moved the ball & fly-half Brad White went for the one-handed interception, which didn’t come off, but Brad saw yellow for the second time in 2 games. The penalty was kicked, 7-3. Old Coopers took confidence from this & attacked once more. Too many missed tackles & poor discipline did not help Maldon & Old Coopers worked their way down the pitch. From a line-out Old Coopers mauled the ball over the line for a try 7-8. Maldon responded well, with all players getting involved in carrying strongly & linking together. Pressure inside Old Coopers 22 brought about a scrum, from which the backs ran a pre-planned move, resulting in winger Sam Langston passing to Zak Knight to cross under the posts, converted by Chadwick, 18-8. The pressure continued & Maldon immediately gained territory once more. Slick handling gave winger Sam Johnson the ball out wide & he beat 2 covering defenders to score in the corner, converted again by Chadwick, 21-8 at half-time.
Maldon realised that if they kept the ball in their possession Old Coopers would struggle to contain them. The second half started brilliantly, as Maldon got possession from the kick off. Another backs move saw great interplay with the centres, allowing Chadwick to cross over for a try, 26-8. Old Coopers then had their best 10 minutes of the game. Within the space of 10 minutes they scored 2 converted tries, had a yellow card & kept Maldon out from their try line with some last gap defence. They brought the score back to 26-22 & Maldon knew that the game was far from won. But, Maldon raised their game. A great chip over the defence by Brad White allowed Chadwick to touch down & convert, 33-22. This was closely followed by Chadwick kicking 2 penalties to extend the lead to 39-22. Old Coopers were keen to score another try, to secure a bonus point. They succeeded due to quick thinking by their scrum-half, to bring the score to 39-29. Maldon knew that there were only minutes left, but this did not stop prop Chris Roper from displaying his own silky skills & with a destructive pick and go from a few metres out, he dummied, shimmied & beat numerous Old Coopers guards for pace, touching down to the delight of the crowd, who couldn’t believe that he had such skills in his locker. The final conversion by Chadwick saw the game finish at 46-29, for a convincing victory. With one league game remaining, depending on results, Maldon could finish 8th (their current position) or even 5th, both of which would be very pleasing following last season’s promotion. The final league game is against Mavericks, away, in a fortnight.
MAN OF THE MATCH - Jamie Farrup, on his return to the 1s, was outstanding in attack & defence.
