Sat 4 Oct 2025
Maldon finally hosted a home fixture at Drapers Farm, against Upminster. The last game between these 2 teams was the final fixture last season, which finished with a narrow victory to Maldon in a high scoring game. Upminster, like Maldon, had won one & lost one so far this season.
The weather was very windy, with Hurricane Amy blowing across the pitch. The crowd was looking forward to the 1s game & the 2s game on the next pitch. Maldon had a few changes from the last game, but were confident of pleasing the crowd.
Maldon started with a bang, running hard & showing good hands to create opportunities, but they failed to capitalise on 2 great chances & Upminster cleared their lines. But, Maldon managed to link with more good hands from the lineout, seeing Dimi Sofocleous make a break and give flanker Zak Knight the chance to skip around the full-back & score under the posts, converted by Joshua Chadwick for a 7-0 lead.
Maldon realised that by moving the ball around they could create space to attack. The ball was moved quickly again, from deep within their own half. After impressive handling from a number of players and a break down the wing from Sam Langston, Joshua Chadwick ran in for a score, 12-0.
Maldon then played for 10 minutes or so as if they had already won the game, by throwing the ball around without much care, choosing the wrong option & putting themselves under pressure. Upminster showed that they had a dominant scrum & drove Maldon back, winning penalties giving them territory & pushed Maldon back to their try line. Maldon defended strongly, but could not keep Upminster out forever & they scored to narrow the gap to 12-7.
Maldon then reverted to their previous standard & displayed the good handling shown earlier & made better choices tactically. Moving down into the Upminster half Maldon were able to run powerfully, going through a number of phases before Zak Knight scored again, 17-7.
Maldon maintained the pressure, despite their continued challenges in the scrum. Upminster turned over but a loose pass bobbled around & Joshua Chadwick showed more determination that the Upminster defenders, scooped up the ball, ran under the posts & converted his own try, 24-7, which was the half-time score.
The second half started strongly for Upminster, who improved their first half performance by retaining possession more & hitting contact more powerfully. This caused problems for Maldon, who were giving away too many penalties, allowing Upminster to gain territory. Upminster broke through the Maldon defence to score a converted try, closely followed by a penalty, to close the difference to 24-15. Maldon woke up at this point, realising that Upminster were right back in the game. Maldon started to compete better in the set pieces, which resulted in more time & space to move the ball as they wanted to do. Kicking from hand improved & decisions about when to run or when to kick were clearer. But, too many high tackles were resulting in penalties, which stemmed the flow of the game. Maldon found some continuity for a short while, allowing good team play, with excellent ball retention, good handling & good decision-making which resulted in a scrum by the Upminster 22m line. The scrum, which was much improved by this time, saw the ball moved wide to winger Sam Langston who scored in the corner, 29-15. Maldon maintained the pressure after this score, as Zak Knight powered his way over the line for a converted try, giving him a hat-trick & a final score of 36-15.
This was a good victory, putting Maldon into 3rd place in the table.
Next week Maldon travel to Old Coopers, who are at the bottom of the table.
Man of the Match - Zak Knight & Ben Marshall
