Sat 3 Oct 2026
With it still being strange playing rugby at the beginning of October in 20°, the team were pleasantly surprised to find a well watered pitch over at Romford & GP. After a strong performance last week, Maldon were feeling good, but they knew a tough challenge lay ahead against a Romford side who have finished near the top of the table in the last couple of seasons.
Debutant fly half, Warren Lowe kicked off perfectly to Romford, where a strong chase forced an error from the home side, scrum down to Maldon.
The opening 15 or so minutes were quite a cagey affair, both sides defended well and attackers were not getting through. Unfortunately in the time Maldon lost Chris Mooney to a broken collar bone, but the Rain Man made good time at Broomfield Hospital and managed to join the team for a drink later on in evening. Wishing Mooney a speedy recovery!
Despite both teams carrying well and attacking in spells but not really going anywhere, there were some positive pieces of individual play; a Josh Chadwick turnover, a Lewis Nichols big carry and bump, and some good movement of the ball by players to get Mickey Curry's hands on the ball and stretch the Romford defence which held strong. Scrum half, Louis Poynter was finding runners well, but they were simply met by a strong defensive line. Romford then became more creative, some clever kicks in behind put pressure on Maldon and then a penalty result in a kick at the posts, 3-0 to the home side.
Maldon then slipped up defensively for the first time in the game, multiple missed tackles allowed the elusive Romford winger to cross the try-line, 10-0. Pleasingly ball was retained from kick off, quick hands from the Farmers union, Entwistle to Bunting, gained us good yards. A knock on led to Romford scrum, they cleared their lines, only to find full back, Dan Allen, whose quick feet left defenders grasping at air, before his pass to Demetri Sofocleous who cross the line for Maldon’s first score. This was converted by Allen, 10-7.
Ben Marshall's impressive tackle count continued to grow in the upcoming minutes, shutting down Romford at source. Some slick handling involving Brad White in midfield almost led to a try out wide, but the opportunity was missed. However, with advantage being played Maldon came back and Allen kicked the points, 10-10.
Romford responded quickly with a well worked try from a lineout, 17-10. Prior to half time Maldon finally played through some phases with great intent. Strong carries got us over the gainline and good hands down the line allowed Mickey Curry to cross the tryline.
HT 17-17
The opening minutes of the second half started much like the first, both teams attacking but not being able to get through. This was until Maldon didn’t learn their lesson from the earlier on and let the same Romford winger / centre run past them before offloading to a team mate for a converted try, 24-17.
Good defensive pressure from George Alden-Smith led to Romford kicking the ball out on the full, and set up a good attacking platform, but not keeping the ball in hand gifted Romford the ball back.
Then came an awful lot of scrums with both sides making handling errors. Andy Weller and Rob Grainger both put in a great shift in the scrum, against a Romford pack who were much heavier in the front row. Despite going back in the scrum, both props got stuck in.
1st Team debutant Sean Carroll came on, getting stuck in straight away, not phased by who was in front of him and showing great work rate around the park. In a similar fashion, George Perkins continually showed at this point how his fitness training pays off, putting in tackle after tackle late into the second half.
A charged down kick was brilliantly kept in field by winger, Sam Johnson. Maldon had an attacking opportunity on the Romford 22m line, and they were going through the phases well. But, what was judged to be crossing by two Maldon players stopped momentum and Romford could clear their lines.
With only one score in the game and Maldon looking to attack, one offload too many was given and this was picked by the Romford inside centre who ran in under the posts, 31-17. A steep hill to climb for Maldon now, with not long to go.
Shortly after this Maldon were trying to apply as much pressure as they could in defence in order to find an opportunity to get the ball back. This enthusiasm proved costly though when running up too quickly and leaving a gap around the breakdown for the Romford scrum half to exploit and score under the posts, 38-17.
Maldon had an opportunity to score in the dying minutes, but the ball didn't go to hand and another opportunity slipped away. Some good intensity from Maldon saw a tap penalty five metres out stopped by an offside Romford player who was given a yellow card. But, no penalty try was given and in the phases following the resulting penalty the ball was lost again. Romford cleared their lines and played down the clock before kicking it off to end the game with a victory, FT 38-17
A loss for Maldon against a more clinical side on the day. Up until the intercept try the team were in the game, but unfortunately Romford scoring again at that crucial moment took the game away from us.
MOTM - Dan Allen; great work on the counter attack all game.
Next week Maldon host Eton Manor 2s in Round 3 at home.
