Maidstone caught out in closing stages
00:00, 27 February 2009
A valiant effort by Maidstone in London 2 South on Saturday was not reflected in the final scoreline of 30-10 to high-flying Cobham.
With Mark Ryan (knee) ruled out for the season, Tom Searles came in at full-back and Craig Whitehead moved to scrum-half.
Cobham started brightly and their scrum-half Smedley set up wing Gregory to score with Green adding the conversion in the 10th minute.
Maidstone responded when a swift move down the left saw Gareth Hill held up in the corner but swift recycling allowed Tommy King to cross over. However, two penalties in quick succession saw Cobham lead 13-5 at half-time.
Stones had to reorganise in the second half after losing Neil Graves through injury, but despite hammering at the Cobham line the final pass went astray.
Cobham showed their class when a loose clearance from the Maidstone 22 was fielded by their full-back and moved wide for Green to score in the corner.
But Maidstone demonstrated their mental strength when King took a quick tap penalty and the ball was fed to the right wing where hooker Sam Rogers popped up to score.
Trailing 18-10 with 20 minutes left, Maidstone began to tire and Cobham scored under the posts before adding a second try from a blindside scrum move.
Latest news
Features
Most popular
- 1
The abandoned ‘ghost road’ that once took holidaymakers to the Kent coast
17 - 2
Motorway reopens after fuel spillage in collision
- 3
Dad who took cocaine on holiday still had drug in system when stopped by police
- 4
Rolexes and crypto: How dealer selling drugs from bedroom hid ‘massive profits’
18 - 5
Christmas events cancelled amid weather warning
2