Sat 26 Oct 2024
Maldon welcomed Basildon to Drapers Farm, and with the 2s playing at home too, a good crowd turned up to spectate.
Maldon started well, with aggression in attack & determination in defence. After a few minutes Jim Roblin broke tackles to close in on the try line, feeding Olly Lyons. His offload bobbled on the floor & was picked up by Louis Poynter, for the opening try, converted by Joshua Chadwick, 7-0.
Maldon then lowered their standards & let Basildon back into the game by giving away a silly penalty, which was kicked, 7-3.
The game didn’t really get going, due to the number of scrums, every one of which was reset at least once. Too many stoppages limited continuity for both teams. Maldon wanted to play a quick game, but this didn’t really happen. Maldon did manage to gain some territory, which allowed centre Lewis Nichols to break through attempted tackles to score a converted try, 14-3.
Maldon, yet again, then let Basildon back into the game, with more penalties, giving them field position, from which they crossed for a converted try, 14-10.
A penalty to Maldon was kicked by Chadwick to extend the lead to 17-10, which was the score at half-time.
The second half started with Maldon keen to eliminate mistakes & perform the basics more effectively. The first few minutes saw Maldon try to move the ball, but, again, the game slowed down, not allowing Maldon to play anything beyond a couple of phases. Some stand out moments in these short phases of play often include Keiran Reeven pin balling off any and every Basildon shirt that got near him. Lewis Nichols repeated his strong running of the first half, crossing once more for another converted try, 24-10. The next 20 minutes took about 30 minutes to get through, due to constant stopping & starting, which frustrated both sets of players. More Maldon pressure allowed Olly Lyons to score the bonus point try by brushing off Basildon defenders, converted again by Chadwick, 31-10.
But, with the game almost in the bag, Maldon did not push harder, which let Basildon back & they did well to claw a try back, 31-17. The game took a turn for the worse when Maldon had 2 yellow cards in the closing minutes of the match. But, Maldon worked hard to keep Basildon out & prevent further scores. When, eventually, the final whistle was blown (after more than 50 minutes) Maldon were pleased with maximum points from the game.
With other results not all going as predicted, Maldon are now 4th in the table, in a very tight top half.
Next week no game, but Maldon travels to Mavericks in a fortnight.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Dan Allen for excellent counter attacking from the back.
