Another close well fought competitive game with Gravesend hanging on for the win

Another good game this week with Maidstone visiting Rectory field.

Both sides had several players missing and fielded their strongest teams available for the first half. Gravesend started brightly winning the bulk of possession but struggled to break down a resolute Maidstone defence. They were not helped by some poor decision making and lack of communication to each other around where the gaps and spaces were, along with some uncharacteristic handling errors.

Having said this the recycling of the ball was excellent and pressure in the Maidstone 22 following some strong runs led to some good hands from Forwards Henry Bowler and Finlay Pavey feeding Ben Hope to outflank the opposition and score in the corner.

A strong run from the restart from Rajan Poonian saw Gravesend back in the opposition 22 and from 4th phase play centre Harry Tasker saw the space and made the tryline.

Handling errors and a dropped ball over the tryline meant Gravesend could not add further to their scores until good work by the pack put Maidstone under pressure on their line. Owen Webster came off his wing and supported the player on the ground to ensure possession was kept and Scrum Half Ben Stellfox saw a gap on the blindside and went over for the score.

The 2nd half saw Gravesend's newer and developing players take the field and they performed admirably in the 2nd half with Ian Titmus and Dane Gillingham making good ball carrying runs, and Oliver Hutchinson playing only his 2nd game of rugby made a purposeful 10 metre gain. Brave tackling from Henry Martin continuing his good work from the first half stopped some powerful runs from the Maidstone players with Sam Hiskett also making some good tackles on the right flank. Several missed tackles allowed Maidstone to cross the line and smart work from the Maidstone scrum half from a 5 metre scrum bought Maidstone to within 5 points. However the save of the day was down to Toby Dennison who ran from his position of left wing all the way across the pitch to cut off what looked to be a certain Maidstone try. With Maidstone pressing in the closing moments Gravesend held firm to hold out for the win. This was the first time the development team had been out together and was an encouraging performance.

With the Kent cup to come over the next fortnight lets see if the boys can continue some good progress this year.