Sat 29 Nov 2025
Maldon welcomed Romford to Drapers Farm, joint leaders, who were undefeated this season. After last week’s tough game against Thurrock, another tough game was in prospect.
The rain thankfully stayed away for most of the game, allowing both teams to play expansively when possible. Romford were keen to throw the ball around & showed some early dominance in the scrums too. Maldon’s defence was good in the early stages of the game, but Maldon gave away too many penalties. There was some positive attacking play too, with some good handling & the line-out showed some signs of improvement.
The majority of the first half was played near the middle of the pitch, as neither side were able to maintain possession long enough to get into a scoring position. Defences were on top & the penalty count was high.
Eventually, near the end of the first half, Maldon had territory & maintained possession. This allowed fly-half Alfie Summers to cross kick to full back Dan Allen to score the opening try, 5-0, which was the score at the break.
Maldon felt good going into half time having just taken the lead, hoping to apply more scoreboard pressure after the break. However, Romford had other ideas. The opening 10 minutes of the second half saw two defensive lapses by Maldon, which let Romford take a lead of 5-12. Romford then started to dominate collisions & were getting over the gain line regularly, as Maldon’s tackling became less effective. Romford also proved to be quicker in attack, moving the ball well to create space. Maldon did have some good patches of play, but were obviously tiring, due to the amount of defensive work. Maldon managed to assert some more pressure & kept possession near the Romford try-line. Skipper Kieran Reeve fought his way over the line for Maldon’s second score, 10-12.
Romford tried to see the game out, denying Maldon opportunities generally. But, Maldon did have a couple of great chances with not long to go, a penalty attempt just missing and inaccurate passing meant Romford retained their unbeaten record.
Man of the match - Josh Chadwick
Next league fixture is at away against Stanford-Le-Hope on 06.12
