Sat 31 Oct 2026
Maldon welcomed Stanford-le-Hope to Drapers on a VP’s day. A day on which the players always look forward to the advice given from the sideline from ex-players whose careers were outstanding when representing Maldon in the last century. Of course, the rowdy support was excellent as always though. The day was in complete contrast to last week’s monsoon, as the sun was shining & the temperature was balmy for the end of October.
Maldon started off very positively, Jim Roblin making some huge hits around the breakdown, and when in possession the team were moving the ball well & breaking tackles. Within a couple of minutes Maldon were close to the Stanford-le-Hope try line & flanker Demitri Sofoclous picked up from the back of a ruck & went through the defence to score the first try of the game, 5-0 to Maldon. The attacking intent continued, as, straight from the kick off, Maldon again moved the ball well, playing through phases, maintaining possession & securing an excellent attacking position near the try line. Louis Poynter picked out our very own Northern Steam Train, and centre Alex Humphrey, making his first start for the 1s, who showed immense power as he blasted through a number of Stanford-le-Hope defenders to score, converted by full back Dan Allen, 12-0.
Maldon were in no mood to slack, at this point. They continued with strong defence, resulting in turnovers & Stanford-le-Hope could not find a way through. With the scrum & line out working well once more, credit to Callum Melville once again putting in a strong shift in the front row, Maldon could attack from set pieces, which is a great advantage. A vert good break and strong carry from Brad White led to good field position. Further good play allowed Joshua Chadwick to run in Maldon’s 3rd try from short range, in the corner, 17-0. This was closely followed by some very intricate passing, started off by Sam Johnson on one wing which got Maldon through the Stanford-le-Hope tacklers & then on the opposite wing Dan Allen finished off the move 22-0, to claim the try bonus point.
The large crowd were enjoying the display of open running rugby & every single player contributed in attack, by supporting, keeping the ball alive or creating quick ruck ball to exploit the gaps in the opposition defence. No. 8 George Alden-Smith took the ball on the charge, leaving Stanford players in his wake. This set up a great position for Maldon. The ball goes out to fly half, Josh Simmons, who has been very influential since joining the club this season, who decided that rather than constantly putting palyers through gaps that he'd have a run himself. Great footowork from the fly half meant another converted Maldon try, 29-0.
Maldon were not finished, however. There was still time for another attack, more good support, more good handling & for Ben Marshall to score the final try of the half, 34-0.
The only downside of the half was a nasty head cut to winger Sam Johnson, but Chairman Dan Doherty applied some superglue to save Sam’s good looks, but not his hairline.
The half-time team talk was for more of the same & that’s what happened in the first few minutes. From a scrum the backs ran a move that saw winger Alfie Brown cut through a gap, then completely bamboozle Stanford-le-Hope by passing back inside to Alex Humphrey, to jog through the Red Sea, under the posts, converted by Dan Allen, 41-0. A brilliant piece of interplay from two new players to the club.
With 35 minutes to go & the score at 41-0 Maldon were looking forward to entertaining the VPs even more. However, this didn’t happen. Maldon went off the boil, they got on the wrong side of the referee for a number of penalties & tried to force the ball too often. All of these factors allowed Stanford-le-Hope back into the game & they scored 2 tries to reduce the score to 41-12. Stanford took some le-hope from this & did raise their game, maintaining possession far better than they had done in the first half by supporting ball carriers better and carrying stronger.
Maldon simply couldn’t do anything right for about 20 minutes & the game became a series of scrums & dropped balls (a prop’s fantasy, I know, but not much of a spectacle). In this period though, George Perkins and Jack Evans epitomised Maldon’s aggressive attitude, both notching up an impressive tackle count.
At last Maldon did string a few passes together, Mickey Curry got his hands on the ball more and as always carried strongly, and then winger Alfie Brown finished off a sweeping move under the posts. Dan Allen had made some friends in the Stanford-le-Hope team & they encouraged his conversion attempt, but then had the cheek to charge it down, 46-12.
Stanford-le-Hope were not finished though, and a strong line allowed them to score once more, 46-19.
Maldon had the last word, however, as coming off the bench we we had Ryan Martin and 1st Team debutant Frank O'Donoghue raise the tempo, leasing to Alfie Brown finishing off a fine performance with another try. Dan Allen converted this one, for a final score of 53-19.
This result leaves Maldon 4th in the table & the division looks like developing into two halves as predicted.
Man of the Match - Alfie Brown for 2 tries & brillaint interplay with the back line.
Next week for Maldon there is no league fixture, but Maldon are away to Southend on 14.11.26
