Sat 25 Oct 2025, 14:00
Maldon welcomed Southend II to Drapers Farm on a still Autumn day, perfect conditions for some exciting cup rugby. Southend II were an unknown entity to Maldon, being part of a different counties league, but at the same level. This was reflected in the first ten minutes of game when a lot of rugby was played in the middle of the pitch as both teams tried to figure each other out.
It was brilliant to see both Ben Harbutt and Tom Britton making their debuts for Maldon 1s, both started confidently.
Maldon took the first points of the day, Demetri Sofocleous peeling off the back of a lineout and offloading to Zak Knight who powered his way over the try line, 5-0 to the home side.
Not long after recieving kick off a quick dash down the wing from Teddy Summers, followed by a powerful run from Charlie Frost, set the platform for quick hands down the blindside and for Jack Judd to cross the try line, 10-0.
This momentum was followed by a brilliant, and exhausting defensive set from Maldon. Tom Britton was seemingly everywhere, putting in some huge hits. In this time George Perkins was givien a yellow card, the prop channelled his inner winger and leapt in the air to take a kick, but the much smaller Southend player was on the recieving end of a flying prop. Maldon did well not to concede in this period, they actually came off the better of the two sides, with Dan Allen slotting a penalty, 13-0.
This was the half-time score, but before the half-time whistle went players from both teams decided to have a group hug. Captains were told that such niceties have no place on the rugby pitch.
A minute into the second half saw a definite try of the season contender... Dan Farrup to Zak Knight, bursts through the soft tackling, offloading to Jack Evans who manages to free his hands as would be tacklers cling on to him, passing back to Knight who produces a speculative pass to Olly Anthony. O Anthony then lifts the ball in the air as he's getting tackled, an oncoming Dan Allen recieves the pass and steps inside multiple defenders before passing to Teddy Summers who dives over the try line. For a few precious moments Maldon RFC players had turned into Antoine Dupont, excellent viewing.
Captain Kieran Reeve made sure to passionately express his disgust at a late hit from the Southend fly half as Summers dived over the try line. Kieran Reeve's passion for playing the game fairly and adhering to his moral code of playing without undue aggression was so well respected by the ref, he felt the need to send the Southend fly half to the sin bin, allowing him to reflect on his actions.
D. Allen followed with the conversion, 20-0.
Soon after, scrum half Olly Anthony recieved the ball off the top of a line out, the Southend defence parted like the Red Sea and Anthony crossed for a great solo try, converted by Allen, 27-0.
Maldon's next points came from a scrum five metres out. Ben Harbutt showed great deception to give a well time inside ball to Sam Langston who showed good strength to finish. The less said about Zak Knight's conversion, the better, 32-0.
Unfortunately, despite their brilliant defensive efforts all game, with a few minutes to go, Maldon let Southend II cross for a score, 32-5.
However, Maldon would not let the game end this way. Dan Allen fielded a deep kick and passed to Zak Knight, looking to redeem his conversion attempt, who danced his Shakira-esque figure up half the pitch and dived over the try line for a brilliant score, converted by second row Charlie Frost. This meant the final score was 39-5 to Maldon (not 37-5 as reported earlier), a very dominant performance.
Fittingly, the last points of the game were scored by Knight and Frost, in what may be their last game for Maldon, before heading off to Australia!
No games next weekend, but the following weekend sees all three senior teams in action.
Man of the Match - Ben Harbutt and Tom Britton
