Sat 17 Sep 2022
Maldon made a start to the new league season (in Counties 2 Essex division) against old rivals, although much changed, Canvey, on a bright & breezy day at Drapers farm. The delayed start to the season due to the hard ground brought the best out in the older sections of the crowd:
“What a bunch of softies”, “in my day we played on ground much harder than this” & “we wouldn’t have even thought about not playing on concrete.”
Maldon started well, running hard & breaking tackles to gain territory. With this pressure, scrum-half Zak Knight danced his way through some attempted tackles to score after 7 minutes, converted by Dan Allen, 7-0. A more than promising start for the home team.
Charlie ‘Dolph’ Frost lasted longer than his last 1st team appearance and carried well when on, but, sadly, left the field with a shoulder injury that could be a worry for at least the short term. Joe Pocock came on to replace him & the pack was rearranged.
Maldon had started really well, but then decided to let Canvey back into the game by dropping the ball, passing inaccurately, losing the ball in contact & making poor decisions. To be fair, Canvey defended well & Maldon found it hard to gain territory, but, generally, Maldon were responsible for their own mistakes. After a few lineout difficulties Maldon opted for scrums at most penalties, much like last season this held firm. The backs never got enough ball to pass the ball down the line. But, there was much individual skill on display, and when the backs did get good ball to spread wide, a handling error prevented some good play. The forwards ran hard & straight, everyone tackled well, there were some good counter rucks & there was a number of turnovers from forwards and backs alike. Zak Knight came close again, beating a few defenders, some more than once, but the referee judged that the ball wasn’t grounded despite the looks on the faces of the Canvey players.
Both teams missed kickable penalties & the score remained 7-0 at half-time.
The 2nd half was more of the same, but Canvey were tiring & Maldon managed to string together some phases of play, which looked promising. The result was that Maldon scored 2 unconverted tries, through Andy Weller running a good support line & Brendan Bignall crashing through the Canvey defence for a 17-0 lead, which was a fair reflection on the game as Maldon were now starting to show dominance in most areas. Canvey never looked like scoring until a loose kick gave their winger some space & he finished well in the corner, 17-5.
That was the final score & Maldon can look forward to the season with confidence, as Canvey played in the league above them last season. Other results indicate that Kings Cross Steelers will be a tough challenge for Maldon who travel to them next week, all the way away, in London.
