Following the ‘cup half full’ appraisal of last week’s performance, dominance in the set piece, good discipline and an increased tempo, led to this emphatic win against a Dover side, who tested Maidstone on occasions.

Despite some remaining early season unavailability and two enforced changes, with Craig Webb rested and Jack O’Connell unavailable, Maidstone played with cohesion and purpose from the off. With a first league start for prop, Danny Baker, since his return to the Club showing that there is no substitute for experience, he cut a smart line from a Lucian Morosan feed to charge in from 10 m out with less than 3 minutes on the clock to go under the posts. The additional 2 points converted by Trudgen.

This set the tone of the game, in which all 8 tries came from the forwards, 6 of which were shared by the front row union and a hat-trick for man-of-the match Will Massey, whose set piece and loose play were outstanding all afternoon. He was ably supported by a dogged and dynamic second row, a front row that gave no quarter and a back-row that continually made in-roads. This in combination provided the base for the back-line to express themselves and play with width and pace.

The second try came on 10 minutes when a line-out catch and drive on the Dover 5m line was manoeuvred in-field for skipper Ben Williams to muscle over. Discipline was generally good by Maidstone throughout the game but an early infringement at the break-down allowed Dover to slot a penalty on the 20 minute mark and get their first points on the board. However, soon after an infringement by Dover for diving in on the ball allowed Trudgen to add 3 points to extend the score to 15-3.

From the re-start a break up the middle of the pitch by Maidstone was halted by Dover but led to a yellow card offence for Flanker, Crawford. This numerical advantage was soon exploited in the subsequent scrum, where a pick-up by Pankhurst and a subsequent feed to Will Massey, allowed him to dive over. The conversion went wide.

Despite the Maidstone pack bossing the game, Dover, refused to roll-over and some slick handling allowed them to go in under the posts and thwart an otherwise resolute Maidstone defence. Maidstone responded well and began to exert additional pressure through their back-line resulting in Alex Clarke being held up on the right hand touch line. With the half coming to a close, scrum-half Morosan was adjudged to have infringed at the break-down, receiving a yellow for his efforts. The first half finished at 20-10.

Maidstone started the second-half with increased vigour and the forwards making regular forays into the Dover 22. A stretched Dover defence brought about by quick ball at the base and good hands in the backs led to a try by hooker Massey, out-wide to provide the Bonus Point.

With intelligent rotation of the front-row and good use of the bench Maidstone we are able to sustain the intensity of their game. Baker and Fox inter-changed well and Tom Waring made his presence felt through some direct running and support play. Following his absence last week, crowd favourite, Ben Brill made an immediate impact resulting in a try wide-out following some powerful forward running and effective inter-linking play from the backs. With the conversion narrowly missed, this made the score 30-10 with 20 minutes left on the clock.

With Dover never giving up but visibly tiring, gaps were beginning to appear in their defence and with powerful and direct running from the forwards and the backs alike, another score came soon after, when Pankhurst surged through the defence at pace from inside the 22 to go uncontested under the posts. The try was duly converted and the score stretched to 37-10.

With sustained pressure and a Dover scrum that creaked all afternoon, a desperate attempt by the Dover 8 to recover the ball from the retreating second row, resulted in a penalty on the 10m line. A subsequent catch and drive from the line-out proved too powerful and organised for the Dover forwards to repel and Will Massey got the touch-down once again.

Maidstone finished strongly with penetrating runs from the backs increasing the pressure and territory. This led to a line-out on the Dover 10m line and a feed to Ben Williams, who ran in under the posts. With the conversion added the game ended 49-10.

Maidstone looked fit, pacey and powerful throughout this encounter. With greater challenges yet to come and a competitive and highly able squad to pick from them this should stand them in good stead as they continue to progress and develop under the new coaching group.

Team

Ben Williams; Will Massey; Danny Baker; Adam Knight, Ben Massey; Ben Knight, Jack Lamb, Josh Pankhurst; Lucian Morosan; Brendan Trudgen; Josh Smith; Rory Beech; Leon Olsson; Alex Clarke; Matt Moore.

Replacements: Will Fox; Ben Brill; Tom Waring (all used)

Report by Andy Golding.

Pictures supplied by Bob Hayton.