Bromley RFC VS Maidstone RFC

BROMLEY SECURE HARD-FOUGHT WIN

Bromley entertained Maidstone at Barnet Wood Road for the first time in a number of years and if the home side thought they, on paper, were clear favourites they were in for a bit of a shock. In the very first minute the usually reliable Griffiths threw a wayward pass which was swooped on by the opposition and in a blink of an eye the try was scored and converted. Worse was to follow with cornerstone prop Smith limping off with a calf injury and the returning Monk coming on as a replacement. The front row had been rejigged for the game and now it had to be restructured again. However Monk made his presence felt by scoring within minutes of coming on and with the conversion it was 7-7 after about ten minutes. Shortly afterwards Bromley again made life difficult for themselves by giving away a kickable penalty which was unsurprisingly kicked.

Maidstone were a big and dogged team who were making life difficult but the home forwards showed plenty of fight and second row Pullen, again impressing, forced his way over for a score which Griffiths could not quite convert. Shortly afterwards and the busy Scott at number nine nipped in for another unconverted try. Time for Bromley to kick on. Sadly no. Approaching half time another try was conceded with the conversion missed. However the home side immediately returned to the attack and the dangerous Powell got his hands on the ball and was over for an unconverted try. Half time 22-15 to Bromley.

Early in the second half Maidstone initiated a slick backs move and scored an unconverted try. Only two points in it and all to play for. Bromley now, at last, got into their stride and Griffiths kicked a penalty to settle  the nerves of a large and vocal home support. However yet another setback hindered the cause with Laws deemed to have committed a high tackle – probably clumsy would be a more accurate description. Well whatever it was he had to make the walk of shame and do ten minutes penance. However the home side kept the pressure on and began to play at a much needed higher tempo with Scott at the forefront and two converted tries were delivered to settle the game and secure another bonus point victory. Final score was 39-20 to Bromley although it is officially recorded as 36-20 but no point quibbling about that.

Probably far from the heights that Bromley have reached in other games but they showed flashes of why they have been hard to beat this season so far. A lot of credit to Maidstone who made a real game of it and well and truly belied their position in the league and confirmed there are no easy fixtures in South East Three. Bromley again suffered from injuries and unavailabilities but the eighteen players representing the club gave their all and dug out the win. They will probably feel they missed out on, at least, a couple of scores when either the ball should have been passed to the overlapping player or by just moving the ball a little bit more quickly. They face a stern challenge next week when Vigo are the visitors and the selection of the team will be interesting.

The second team made the short trip across the road to play a friendly against old foes Park House. They received their usually complimentary welcome from the sidelines but showed real fight and grit to emerge deserved winners 26-17. Big shout out to veteran Dave Dawson who played the whole game. He expects to get out of bed on Wednesday. Next week there is a fully sold out club lunch and the seconds travel to Beckenham. Nice Xmas present if we could materialise a third team on the day.