A close local derby

With the Annual Truss Mayoral lunch taking place together with the Second and third teams being at home also, it swelled the crowd to 350 for todays local derby against Maidstone RFC. The Worshipful Mayor, Greta Goatley and guests honoured the club with their presence for a hearty meal, speeches from the Club President, the Mayor and the guest speaker. Stuart Thresher. A Harlequin old boy from the era of no wages, the odd dirty trick, but plenty of laughs.

Oh yes, and then the game began. The team led by the ever present Tom Bird, got off to a quick start with the ball being passed swiftly by Brad Smith, Dave Dorton, Cameron Barbour, Tom Goss which allowed a try to be scored in the corner with only 2 minutes on the clock. By his own admission, Dave Dortons kicking boots were left at home today for the first 2 conversions and the 1 penalty kick attempted in the first half. Having been described by the Gosport & Farnham RFC press officer as the "Johnny Wilkinson of Kent" The supporters expectation is always high but we are grateful of all the points kicked !!

After some solid defending by both teams, Will Meddings had a try disallowed from a box kick by Brad Smith over the defence as the ref stated he did not have proper control of the downward pressure. Maidstone visited the Gees half shortly after and broke through and a try and Conversion rewarded their hard work. A first scrum was at 16 minutes of play allowed Cutting, Lewis ( late change for the injured Jon Luck) and Meyer to stamp their authority on a Maidstone pack. This combined with the arduous work of Marshall and Klus cutting down the stones forwards. loose play allowed for the Gees winger to collect ball and plant it down for a try in the corner 21 minutes into the game. No Conversion. With a solid defence the only offer of points to the Stones were 3 points for hands in the ruck. 10-10 after 24 minutes of play. Some good line out work with lots of gees ball by Joe Tomlin who is cementing himself as a first team regular and the dynamic Glen Rademan ensured the backs good ball. At 28 minutes the Gees number 14 cut back inside, dislodged 2 tacklers and crossed the line under the posts. Hurrah a conversion by Dorton. The solid work continued only allowing a Maidstone penalty kick at 39 minutes. Half time score 17-13.

The second half was only 4 minutes old when Barbour infringed with foul play which gave him a yellow card and Maidstone 3 points. Tactical replacements of Matt Skinner and Matt Hewitt allowed them to take their part in a tough and nervous second half. Rhys Betts kicked well all game for touch and was always in control as last line of defence. The rest of the half was played in bits with 2 yellow cards for Maidstone at separate times, but not rewarded with points by the Gees. A penalty on the 78th minute allowed for Dorton to succeed and push the score to 20-16. Play continued for a further 10 minutes before the whistle blew. In this time the Gees continued to push for a fourth try with Marshall just being held up at the line.

Head coach said after the game " Good structure and good attacks allowed for a good first half. The second was scrappy and we were nervous but resilient"

Assistant coach, Dan Buckland said " A great team performance with the hat trick for the winger who's name I can't remember!!!'

Next week is the rearranged fixture at Tunbridge Wells. 1400 hrs kick off. Lets hope for not too much rain this week.