Maidstone came out of this closely fought encounter just on the wrong side and suffered a 20-16 defeat.
But the outcome was in doubt until the forty minute mark in the second half. Three yellow cards in the second period undoubtedly had an impact, to only one for Gravesend, but three well taken tries by right wing, Okenia, set up the hosts in the first half, as Maidstone played catch-up for most of the game.
Once again, Maidstone’s pack was dominant in the scrum and disrupted the Gravesend eight at just about every put in. Unfortunately, the ability to propel the opposition backwards was not recognised favourably by the referee, resulting in little or no gain in the penalty stakes. But where opportunities did arise, Eaun Caborn’s trusty right boot delivered and kept Maidstone in the hunt, throughout.
Maidstone’s selection for this game, after the forward-heavy selection at Totton, returned to a more normal balance. Matt Iles reclaimed a spot in the second row, Ben Brill took up his normal No. 8 position and, in the absence of skipper, Ben Williams, recovering from a head knock, Danny Baker came into the front row. With Jason Smith available, after a long injury lay off, returning on the right wing, Rory Beech back at fly half, the back line had a more settled look and with Shaun Woolford, a backline recruit from Ashford, on the bench, prospects for a greater cutting edge, in attack, were raised.
Lucian Morosan, playing his 100th game for the first team, was given the honour of leading the Maidstone team on to the pitch. Once again, he didn’t disappoint, with an all-round display that confirmed his value to the team.
The match started with the wind at Gravesend’s back and they quickly took advantage. A dropped pass on the host’s 22 allowed fly half, Dorton, to put in a long kick downfield, and with Matt Moore tearing a hamstring in turning to chase the ball, Gravesend’s, Okenia, took advantage to win the ball and touch down in the corner.
Woolford was brought on to replace Moore, while Maidstone attempted to steady the ship. A missed penalty attempt by Dorton, after a spell of Gravesend pressure, was followed by a well taken Maidstone try. A break from midfield was taken up by Ross Cooke on the Gravesend 22 and he rounded the defence to score by the posts. A simple Caborn conversion gave the visitor’s the edge, 7-5.
Gravesend regained the lead just past the quarter. Again, Okenia was the scorer, but by losing the ball after securing it in a line out, Maidstone contributed to this score. A quick passing move to the right wing delivered the space for a touchdown in the corner and put Gravesend’s noses back in front.
From the restart, Maidstone were given a penalty and Caborn’s 40 metre effort sailed effortlessly through the uprights to draw the scores level.
But Okenia was not finished in try-scoring mode, and his burst into the line, to receive an inside pass, split the Maidstone defence. It looked as if he had been brought to the ground but he bounced back up to complete his drive to the line. The conversion was a formality and gave Gravesend a seven point margin, on the half hour.
Maidstone came back into the game from the restart and with Matt Iles held on the line, the resulting scrum looked to have yielded good rewards, as the hosts were pushed off the ball. But Maidstone incurred the penalty and Gravesend escaped, on this occasion.
Continuous pressure by the visitors eventually payed off, as another 40 metre penalty chance, this one on the left hand 15 metre line, was calmly converted by Caborn to narrow the deficit to three points on half time.
The start to the second half saw Ben Brill take the drop out and burst into the Gravesend back field. It took an illegal tackle to bring him down, resulting in a yellow card for centre, Barbour, and a straightforward chance for Caborn to slot the resulting penalty. And with only a one point margin separating the sides, the resulting half was on a knife edge throughout.
Maidstone continued to dominate in the scrum but Gravesend looked more potent outside. Good defence stymied the hosts and as the half progressed, they got more desperate and conceded handling errors. Likewise, Maidstone’s defence was continually stretched and two yellow cards impacted heavily, allowing Gravesend to play much of the half in Maidstone territory.
It was only on the forty minute mark, that Dorton could take advantage of a kickable penalty position to extend the hosts lead to 20-16 and give them some breathing space. Maidstone gave their all to set up a try scoring position but the last few minutes saw Gravesend camped on Maidstone’s line. With a doggedness that has been a fine feature of the Maidstone game, this season, a fourth, bonus point try was prevented. Instead, Maidstone came away with a bonus point of their own, for holding the deficit to less than seven points.
While there is still work to be done to improve Maidstone’s game outside the scrum, this was a far better performance than the last outing at Tottonians. Ross Cooke, back in the centre, received the man-of-the-match award for his well taken try and stalwart defence and recruit, Woolford, on one wing and Jason Smith on the other, showed sufficient hard running to give hope for the future as the ground improves underfoot.
Maidstone Danny Baker; Josh Pankhurst; Nathan Simpson: Matt Iles; Ben Massey: Ben Knight: Lewis Stimpson; Ben Brill: Lucian Morosan; Rory Beech: Matt Moore; Craig Webb; Ross Cooke; Jason Smith: Euan Caborn
Replacements: Will Fox; Charlie Williams; Shaun Woolford (All used).
Pictures supplied by Bob Hayton.