Sat 12 Nov 2022
Maldon travelled to Billericay to face their old rivals. Last season Billericay had been serious challengers to Maldon’s winning campaign, but this year the results indicate that they are not the force they were. Billericay kicked off & Maldon enjoyed possession for the first exchanges. Billericay defended with some purpose, but Maldon got over the gain line & made territory with some good running from George Alden-Smith & Max Knight. Once again, the scrum was completely dominant, charging Billericay backwards at a rate of knots in every scrum. The backs enjoyed more possession than in recent games & handling was good. Then a 15 minute period in which Maldon couldn’t stop scoring. Dimitri Sofocles picked up the ball from the base of a ruck & powered over for the opening try, 0-5 to Maldon. Following quick phases Sam Langston finished off a move, under the posts, converted by Dan Allen, 0-12. Skipper Joshua Chadwick showed good footwork to score, 0-17. Finally, Zak Knight danced through some attempted tackles, again converted by Dan Allen, 0-24. Billericay were despondent & didn’t know what to do to stop the Maldon attackers scoring, but, they tried to show some pride up to half-time.
The second half wasn’t too far gone when the Billericay centre prevented a pass illegally & was in the sin-bin. Maldon capitalised on this & Ben Marshall reacted quickly at the back of a line-out & pounced on a loose ball to score, 0-29. At this point Maldon were completely in charge & Billericay looked shell-shocked. Sam Johnson finished off a long period of possession, 0-34. The final try for Maldon was the result of superb handling, support play & lines of running, with Zak Knight finishing off the move, converted by Dan Allen again, 0-41. Billericay then had their best period of the game & scored a try to make the final score 5-41.
This was possibly Maldon’s best performance of the season so far. But, despite this, Maldon will still look for areas to improve over the next couple of weeks.
With Bancroft withdrawing from the league Maldon have played a game less than Stanford-le-Hope, so are in 2nd place. Stanford-le-Hope are the next opponents, which will be another big game in a fortnight.
MAN OF THE MATCH
George Alden-Smith - Outstanding carrying, rucking and tackling for 80mins.
