BANCROFT 10 MALDON 5 Maldon travelled away to Bancroft knowing that a win was necessary to keep any hopes of league success alive, but aware that the awful conditions would play a part in the game.

Maldon had the majority of possession for the first 20 minutes, but were unable to convert pressure into points. Bancroft defended very strongly, and did not allow Maldon to recycle the ball quickly enough to play to their game plan. Bancroft soaked up plenty of pressure and managed to clear their lines every time Maldon were close to scoring. The wet and windy conditions did prove difficult for both teams as there were errors galore, but no lack of effort.

Against the run of play, Bancroft managed to get into the Maldon 22, and were able to link together well, but Maldon displayed defence equal to that of Bancroft and were able to see the first-half out at 0-0.

The second-half saw Bancroft begin to dominate, and this eventually resulted in a drop-goal to open the scoring 3-0 to Bancroft. This gave much confidence to Bancroft, who then mounted a furious assault on the Maldon try-line. This produced a superb defensive effort by Maldon in which they denied Bancroft the try they were seeking.

Maldon then began to creep back into the game and gained territory. However, the referee missed a knock-on by Bancroft, who used this advantage to score a converted try, 10-0.

Maldon then knew they had to score quickly if they wished to have any chance of victory, and by keeping the ball alive they created a number of opportunities, which saw Crispin Binder squeeze over the line, 10-5.

The last ten minutes saw Maldon give their all, but the Bancroft defence held firm to deny Maldon.

Although beaten this was by no means a poor performance by Maldon, who must take this attitude forward to the next league game.

WESTCLIFF U11s 0 MALDON U11s 35 Maldon U11s had their first away fixture of the season in a three way fixture at Westcliff, with Thames participating too.

Against Westcliff, Maldon produced their finest 15 minutes of rugby ever. They were simply unstoppable as they played flawless rugby, demonstrating skills far superior to their opponents, who are a decent team and were defending well, but simply could not compete with Maldon.

The result of the pressure and possession was a scrum five metres out, which saw scrum-half Josh Chadwick score by running to the blind-side, 0-5.

From the kick-off Maldon produced brilliant movement which saw forwards and backs combining to put Charlie Gibson over for a try, 0-10.

Another scrum saw a planned scissors move by the half-backs and fly-half Freddie Evans run straight through the defence, 0-15.

Following more good work the ball was moved wide to winger Tom Pohl, who changed the angle of attack superbly to score, 0-20 at half-time.

Maldon made some changes at half-time, but this did not diminish their superiority. They were awarded a penalty and Josh Chadwick took it quickly and outpaced the defence for another try, 0-25.

Soon after, second row Matt Watson used pace and power to score following good work by many team-mates, 0-30.

The match was finished off by Freddie Evans, who had been outstanding in every aspect of the game, to make the final score 0-35.

THAMES U11s 0 MALDON U11s 30 Against Thames, Maldon were simply too strong. Due to the discrepancy in ability, despite Thames having three over-aged players, it was agreed Maldon would not be allowed to run away with the games, and the referee would try to give Thames an advantage when possible.

The first half saw tries from Stefan Warner from a quick penalty, and Jack Austin, who ran very powerfully, with the help of his pack driving him over the line.

The second half allowed Maldon more chances to run with the ball, and tries from Charlie Gibson (2), George Sacre and Myles Brewer, another quick penalty, saw Maldon winners by 30-0.