MAIDSTONE HOCKEY CLUB MATCH REPORTS
Saturday 5th October 2011
Ladies 1s
Home v St Albans
Score: 0 – 2
High Quality Hockey
After a break in the league programme last week, Maidstone entertained second place St Albans this weekend.
Maidstone put the visitors under pressure from the start and a fast-paced, open game ensued. The first half was an encouraging display from the home side, keeping St Albans at bay. The Maidstone defence held firm until the stroke of half time when a visiting striker smashed the ball into the roof of the net from close range, giving goalkeeper Jenny Vincent no chance.
Disappointed to concede after such a strong first half display, Maidstone started the second half with the same passion and pace as the first. Seven minutes in, however, St Albans created a chance from a long corner which they cleanly converted, taking the score to 2-0.
Maidstone continued to fight throughout the second half, with every player giving it their all. Chances were created at both ends with a high quality performance from both sides, with player of the match Vincent keeping Maidstone in it with some fine saves; neither side were able to convert and the final score remained 2-0.
Next weekend Maidstone host 9th place Horsham at 12:15pm.
Men’s 1s
Home v Woking
Score:  L  0-1
Maidstone rue missed chances as 3 more points slip by
Maidstone 1st XI paid for not taking their chances against Woking in their Southern Premier Division 2 match.
Maidstone got off to a slow start and Woking were soon on the attack down their right flank. However Maidstone managed this well, as they did for most of the half, and restricted Woking to firing in hopeful crosses from the flanks. Suddenly it was Maidstone who were in attack and a well worked D penetration led to what looked like a certain goal but a last ditch Woking stick just deflected Jonathan Cooper’s effort wide. The game continued to ebb and flow but Woking never really looked threatening and Maidstone looked impressive as they strung some good passages of play together. Against the run of play it was Woking who broke the deadlock when yet another attack down their right wing found its way scrappily into the D and was neatly dispatched. Maidstone continued to play their own game and build some good play, switching the angle of attack nicely and enabling several well placed balls in from Brenan Baker and Will Hutchins. Despite not being able to put a decisive touch on these Maidstone did generate decent chances from two short corners. The first found Chris Brinn in space who was unlucky not to score forcing a good save from the Woking keeper. The second just slipped past the far post and the Maidstone runners stick.
Maidstone maintained their intensity and work rate in the second half as they started to press forward in search of the goal that they deserved. Man of the match for the second week in a row Phil Morrison was again solid in defence as well as a threatening force pressing forward, playing through several Maidstone players with quick line balls and well placed aerials. Woking were restricted to desperate counter attacks which were easily dealt with by the Maidstone defensive line and keeper Darren Marchant who continued his impressive start to the season. Despite plenty of possession in the Woking defensive quarter again the best chances came from the three short corners Maidstone won. However these all came to nothing as a combination of good defence and some sloppy errors saw Maidstone’s chances slip away. The final whistle saw a relieved Woking wondering how they had taken all three points from the game.
Maidstone travel to Slough in their next league match on 12th November.
Ladies 2s
Home v Old Williamsonians
Score:  W  3-0  (Gemma Newman, Serena Manners, Lesley Price)
Clean Sheet
Frustrated after last week’s defeat, Maidstone trained hard mid-week and were out to impress Coach Christmas.  Maidstone had many chances and finally Gemma Newman converted before half time.
A Serena Manners strike added a second to the scoreline early in the second half.  Tidy defending from Man of the Match Maddy Jarvis and a deft save from GK Sam Lambert protected a clean sheet. The slick Maidstone passing attacking play continued and a late ball from Claire Daniels put Lesley Price through for a third.
Ladies 3s
Away v Sevenoaks
Score:  L 3-6  (Gemma Blacker, Kate Pomphrey, Georgia Woods)
Team Man of the Match
After a previously disappointing week, Maidstone Ladies 3s headed into their next game against Sevenoaks with not the highest of team spirit.
At the start of the game Maidstone felt as if Sevenoaks were controlling it, with their accurate passes and speed after they quickly struck up an upsetting lead of 3-0.  With a short corner favoured for Maidstone, Maidstone saw this as an opportunity to tighten the lead Sevenoaks had over them. After a deflection from the goal keeper the ball was out, however with quick legs Maidstone managed to chase the ball down and pressurised Sevenoaks, and with a quick sweep Gemma Blacker went on to get the first goal getting the score to 3-1.
The second goal was worked quickly from the Maidstone defence to the forwards where they got an attacking short corner, which was then scored by a deflection from Kate Pomphrey after a straight strike failed to achieve its purpose by Sarah Day, bringing the score now to 4-2.
The third and final goal came from quick and accurate passes from the defence to the forwards, which was passed back and forth between them and finally through the legs of a defender Giorgia Woods received the ball and hit it into the corner of the goal bringing the score to 4-3.
Even with excellent defensive work from Caroline Dobson, Sevenoaks managed to further their goal lead with the final score being 6-3.
After an excellent game as Maidstone and Sevenoaks said their “well done’s” and “thankyou’s” Sevenoaks suggested that the whole of the Maidstone team have a team man-of-the-match as they were so impressed with Maidstone’s team performance.
With this boost of confidence, Maidstone Ladies 3s will definitely not be heading into their next game with the same team spirit that they started with.
Men’s 2s
Away v Cliftonville 1s
Score:  L  1-5  (Jeremy Swaffer)
Top of the Table Clash
Maidstone travelled to Cliftonville in this top of the table clash and the first half did not disappoint, open an fluent hockey led to chances at both ends but Maidstone fired themselves into the lead with a neat finish from Jeremy Swaffer, almost immediately Cliftonville pulled back with an immediate counter attack from the re-start, it was from that point that Cliftonville dominated and they took the lead shortly after which they carried into half time.
Maidstone totally collapsed in the second half they gave too much possession to Cliftonville as they were unable to clear their lines and they conceded three goals from three carbon copy short corners which put the game out of doubt for the home side. The last ten minutes were fairly frantic as Maidstone tried to get back into the game, some ill-discipline from Cliftonville saw two of their men sent off but Maidstone could not break through their resolute defence.

Men’s 4s
Away v Canterbury 5s
Score:  L  1-6 (Ian Lowe)
Started Light
On a wet pitch Maidstone started well enough with only ten players as two had not arrived.Unfortunately Canterbury soon scored two quick goals and despite the visitors fighting back hard two more before half time.Ian Lowe however did score one for the visitors to make the half time score 1-4.
Maidstone pressed better in the second half  with some good individual efforts but towards the end allowed Canterbury to put tw
o more away.Despite a brave performance Maidstone let in too many goals and also failed to score more than just the one, which we must improve on in the next game.

Men’s 5s
Home v Welcome
Score:  W  4-3 ( Tom Starling 2, Graham Clarkson, William Bourdillion)
Unbeaten Run
Maidstone’s unbeaten run is now up to 3 games, with this win against Wellcome. Maidstone’s youngsters took control of this game from the start, with some crisp passing and interplay, and what a difference in Luke Clarkson this week, always keen and available. Maidstone spent the majority of the first 15 mins in Wellcome’s half and the constant pressure was rewarded with a neat goal from Graham Clarkson. A rare breakaway saw a deflected slot beat Matt Emery and Wellcome took heart and started to create some chances of their own, however Tom Starling dribbled through a static Wellcome defence to score a great individual goal to restore Maidstone’s lead. Again Wellcome fought back and some slack defending allowed them to equalise with a soft goal. The second half again started with Maidstone on the attack and when Matt Evans shot was stopped on the line by a Wellcome foot, the resultant Penalty flick was converted by Tom Starling. William Bourdillion scored his first goal for the senior sides with a slotted shot from a narrow angle to give a 2 goal cushion, but a quick reply from Wellcome meant a tense final 5 minutes. Maidstone held on for their 3rd win of the season.
Sunday 6th November 2011 (Cup)
Men’s 1s – Kent Cup
Home v Sevenoaks
Score:  W  5-1 (Iain Brine, Tom Nissen, Phillip Morrison 2, Joe Martin)
Maidstone smash rivals to progress in Kent Cup
Maidstone 1st XI demolished higher league side Sevenoaks in the Kent Cup on Sunday 6th November.
Maidstone got off to a nervous start but gradually started to play themselves into the game as they realised that they were more than a match for Sevenoaks despite the away side playing in a higher division. With a big crowd watching Maidstone kept their patience well, playing the ball around the back comfortably and looking for the gaps to open up. These were exploited superbly by Phil Morrison who continued his impressive run of form and man of the match Iain Brine who played to the pace of forwards Joe Martin and Mark Rimmer. Maidstone manufactured several good attacks resulting in threatening D penetrations and were unlucky not to score when Martin drove along the Sevenoaks by line, beating two players and flicking the ball back nicely. Just as Jonathan Cooper was about to finish the move the whistle was blown for a short corner. However Maidstone were unable to convert as Brine’s well placed drag flick was smartly saved by the Sevenoaks keeper diving low to his right. Sevenoaks hardly threatened and apart from a good glove save from Maidstone keeper Darren Marchant they never really looked like scoring. Down the other end the Maidstone pressure told again and their second short corner, though slightly scrappier, resulted in a goal for Brine from close range. Maidstone went into the half time break 1-0 up and with the knowledge that they had the beating of their opponents.
Not wanting to disappoint the noisy partisan crowd Maidstone picked up exactly where they’d left off and were soon heaping the pressure onto the wretched Sevenoaks defence. It wasn’t long before Phil Morrison, now playing as a forward, was found unmarked in the D. Deft control and a one powerful hit later and Maidstone were two goals to the good. With their superior fitness evident Maidstone were able to stretch Sevenoaks even further but as their finishing temporarily deserted them Maidstone failed to cash in on the further chances they created. Try as they might Sevenoaks were still restricted to half opportunities and rarely threatened the Maidstone D, winning not a single short corner the whole match. Their only chance of the half came from a quick break down the Maidstone left and as the Sevenoaks player skipped past three from Maidstone and into the D a clumsy challenge gifted them a penalty flick. Duly dispatched this could have been the turning point that Sevenoaks were after. However it only served to strengthen the Maidstone resolve who suddenly rediscovered their pre-season counter attacking style to win another short corner. Once again the outcome was a scrappy but deserved goal from player-coach Tom Nissen. With their two goal cushion restored Maidstone opened up even further and this time a fast break down the right fed in Joe Martin who’s cross was skilfully netted by the outstanding Morrison. To cap off a fine performance Martin turned scorer as yet another Maidstone break found him in the D, finishing the move with a well placed strike.
Maidstone progress to February’s quarter-finals, fully deserving of their first competitive win of the season.