Sat 24 Sep 2022
Maldon made the long journey to Kings Cross Steelers to play against, for the second time in 2 weeks, a team who had been in a league above last season. With a strong breeze blowing across the pitch & plenty of sunshine the game started well for Maldon. When in possession Maldon made ground & when in defence Maldon tackled well. But, slowly, errors crept in. Much like last week Maldon dropped the ball, tried for one pass too many, chose the wrong option or forced the ball when just keeping the ball was the best idea. This was the story of the whole half really. The scrum was pretty even in the first half, again a strength of the Maldon pack who are still securing clean lineout ball. Against the run of play, Kings Cross Steelers gained some ground & then the ball got to their speedy winger who showed a clean pair of heels to the whole of Maldon & scored an individual try for a 5-0 lead. Maldon reacted well & worked their way down the pitch, for Ben Marshall to crash over from short range, converted by Dan Allen, 5-7. A couple of silly penalties later & Kings Cross Steelers kicked a penalty, 8-7.
At half -time Maldon realised that they were beating themselves & that they had nothing to fear from Kings Cross Steelers.
For about 20 minutes the game continued in the same pattern. Then the Maldon scrum started to dominate & Kings Cross Steelers started to tire. Max Knight, who made a strong impact off the bench drove over from the back of a ruck, 8-12. Maldon then played a running game & were on top in every facet of the game. Good linking play between forwards & backs saw territorial gains &, with the defenders missing, captain Joshua Chadwick crossed the line twice in close succession, both converted by Dan Allen, 8-26.
Kings Cross Steelers’ heads went down & Maldon proved ruthless in the last few minutes. Sub Alex Davies made a great first impression, crossing the line with a run in which he beat a number of defenders for pace with his first touch, this try came from great attacking intent by Jack Sylvester & Brendan Bignell. This was soon followed at the whistle by Brendan Bignell, playing for 80 minutes for the second time in 2 weeks (or is it in his whole career?) scoring under the posts. Again, both tries were converted by Dan Allen, for a 10 point haul.
This ended up an emphatic victory for Maldon, but they only really played at their best for 20 minutes. Imagine what they could do if they played at this level for a full 80 minutes!!
Next week sees Bancroft visit Drapers Farm for another league game.
MAN OF THE MATCH
CHRIS HADFIELD
Another aggressive and impressive performance, leading from the front.
