Sat 24 Oct 2026
The long hot summer was definitely over, when Maldon visited Billericay, as the cold, rainy & windy weather prompted the large group of travelling supporters to dig out their hats & gloves to keep as warm & dry as possible.
Maldon opted to play up the slope in the first half, so the second half would allow them to have the advantage later in the game.
Billericay kicked the kick-off straight out, so Maldon took the scrum at half way. Ryan Martin, in his first start for the 1st XV this season did well with his work in the scrum. The ball was moved through hands quickly & efficiently, giving winger Ben Harbutt the chance to take on the final two Billericay defenders. Demonstrating his growing confidence & determination, Ben ran through the attempted tackles to open the scoring, after 2 minutes. Dan Allen converted, in blustery conditions, 0-7.
Maldon showed great skill given the conditions & were moving the ball well, with good passing between forwards & backs who were linking together. Another display of good handling by Maldon resulted in a line-out 5m from the Billericay try line. This turned into a 5m scrum, from which No.8 George Alden-Smith showed skill and brute strength to drive over the line, again converted by Dan Allen, 0-14.
Billericay then started to enjoy some possession, but Maldon’s defence proved to be very strong. Callum Melville, on returning to the 1st XV, impressed with his tackle rate around the breakdown. Billericay could not get over the gain line, due to some powerful hits, which rocked Billericay back. Maldon counter attacked but did not manage to maintain possession as they tried to force the play too frequently in this period. Also, Maldon squandered good field position too many times by giving away penalties, despite the referee advising them. This allowed Billericay to have their best period in the game.
Maldon, however, used their forwards well, getting through some tackles & moving the ball to space when appropriate. Centre Brad White showed his skills by running through the tiring Billericay defence to score under the posts, converted by Dan Allen, 0-21. A great attacking position for Maldon saw Sam Johnson making yards on the wing, this was stopped by means of a high tackle & Billericay received a yellow card.
A feature of this game was the improved control at scrums, a continuation of previous games. The line-out is improving leaps and bounds with Jack Evans found his man consistently, as Maldon won their own ball virtually every time.
From a scrum, Brad White ran a great line off of Louis Poynter, who timed his pass well, allowing Brad to get over for his second try of the day. The score, again converted by Dan Allen.
HT 0-28
The second half started with Maldon playing down the hill, looking to continue their domination. However, 2nd row Jim Roblin made the error of tacking too high and was given a yellow card. This disrupted Maldon’s attack & Billericay kept possession for a series of phases, allowing Maldon to defend strongly again. There was simply no way through for Billericay, as Maldon were aggressive in their tackling, George Perkins leading the pack as always with his tackle rate.
Billericay were tiring & had lost 3 players to injury. Maldon took advantage of this & good handling, stemming from Josh Simmons controlling the play, put Ben Harbutt in for his second try, 0-33.
Maldon were now completely in control. Billericay lost another player to a yellow card following another high tackle, giving more opportunity to Maldon. They hammered at the Billericay line for a few minutes, after which, from a scrum, the backs moved the ball to Micky Curry who ran from just outside the 22 to score, 0-38.
Maldon then equalled the yellow card as Demitri Sofoclous was deemed to have committed a high tackle, leaving Maldon with 14 men again. However, this did not stop their attacking intent. The addition of fresh legs in the form of Tom Britton and Andy Weller only added to Maldon’s intensity. A line break from Josh Chadwick saw Maldon get to within 5m of the Billericay line, quick ball to Jim Roblin saw him power over, with Dan Allen kicking his 5th conversion of the day, for a final score of 0-45.
Maldon can be very pleased with this performance, preventing Billericay from scoring a point, at home, with some outstanding defence & running in 7 tries. Maldon’s defensive efforts were epitomised by Ben Marshall stopping the Billericay player who decided it was an episode of 'Run it Straight', Ben emphatically showed him that this wasn't the best idea.
Man of the Match - Jim Roblin, immense tackling in defence and aggressive running in attack.
Next week Maldon welcome Stanford-Le-Hope to Drapers Farm in front of the VPs!
