Battling effort in vain as title-chasers capitalise on late penalty

CS RUGBY MAIDSTONE

Maidstone fell narrowly short against London 1 South titlechasers CS Rugby in Chiswick last Saturday.

With Adam Knight unavailable, Charlie Williams came into the second row while skipper Ben Williams was restored to the starting line-up with Danny Baker returning to the bench.

Lucian Morosan made an early break that should have resulted in a try but minutes later Matt Iles broke off the back of a scrum to feed the ball wide, allowing Matt Moore to score in the corner.

The conversion drifted wide but Euan Caborn made amends on the quarter-hour with a penalty.

CS Rugby woke up and began to show slick handling. Centre Direen touched down in the corner and just before the half hour, the hosts took a 12-8 lead when a catch-and-drive led to Humphreys crossing with Hodgson adding the extras.

Maidstone were next on the scoreboard with a classic Ben Brill run from halfway following a scrum and, with Caborn adding the con- version, Maidstone regained the lead.

A penalty before the break gave the hosts the opportunity to set up another catch-and-drive from which Banda scored in the corner and Hodgson’s boot made it 19-15.

CS Rugby extended the lead only three minutes into the second half as a superb cut-out pass gave fullback Houston a clear run to the line and the conversion made it 26-15.

Some slackness entered the hosts’ game and an interception by Sam Pearson, on his own 22, saw him outpace the defence to score, bringing the deficit down to four points, with Caborn’s conversion.

Twice Maidstone elected for attacking scrums on the CS Rugby line, following penalties, rather than a kick at goal, and twice their efforts were thwarted.

Their intent looked to be rewarded with five minutes left when Josh Pankhurst scored with Caborn’s conversion giving Maidstone a three-point cushion. With Rugby’s second row in the bin after pulling down a maul, the prospect of a win grew. But the hosts had other ideas and won a penalty in front of the posts, taking a quick tap and outwitting Maidstone’s defence with Hodgson touching down and adding the extras to claim victory. B’heath Hth... 17 12 3 2 45 23 39 W’sonians 3 .. 16 11 1 4 46 31 34 Cobdown ...... 16 9 5 2 50 31 32 T Wells Vets .. 14 8 1 5 48 35 25 Maidstone 3.. 14 7 1 6 50 36 22 Holcmbe 4A .. 14 5 6 3 34 32 21 O Brdnian 4 .. 15 6 1 8 36 42 19 C’bury Grffin . 15 5 2 8 43 39 17 T Wells 4 M .. 15 5 1 9 37 50 16 S’oaks Acrn .. 16 4 3 9 29 39 15 Cliftonville 2 .. 16 4 2 10 34 39 14 Brom/Bck 6 .. 16 3 0 13 22 77 9 Results: Cobdown 3 Old Bordenian 2, Holcome 4A 0 Blackheath and OE Heathens 3, Canterbury Griffins 4 Tunbridge Wells Vets 0, Tunbridge Wells 4ths Monarchs 2 Bromley and Beckenham 6ths 1, Old Williamsonians 3rds 3 Cliftonville 2nds 2, Sevenoaks Acorns 2 Maidstone 3rds 1. Fixtures: Cliftonville 2nds v Tunbridge Wells 4ths Monarchs, Sevenoaks Acorns v Holcome 4A, Maidstone 3rds v Old Williamsonians 3rds, Bromley and Beckenham 6ths v Canterbury Griffins, Old Bordenian 4ths v Blackheath and OE Heathens, Tunbridge Wells Vets v Cobdown.

East League Premier Division Fixtures: Wapping v Norwich City, St Albans 2nds v Wisbech Town, Norwich Dragons v Ipswich, Bedford v Cambridge Uni, Old Loughts v Holcombe 1A, Maidstone v Brom & Becks. Sevenoaks 3 . 16 15 0 1 71 12 45 Marden R ...... 16 10 1 5 42 35 31 Folkestone 2 . 17 9 3 5 40 29 30 Kings Alleyn .. 16 9 2 5 50 32 29 BBHC ............ 16 8 2 6 34 42 26 Cliftonville ..... 17 8 0 9 31 33 24 The 2020 Open will be at Royal St George’s. The 149th Open will be played in July 2020, in a return to Sandwich for the first time since 2011 when Darren Clarke won. Some of golf’s greats