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Dagenham RUFC Sponsored By Johnson Stevens Agencies Ltd
Dagenham RUFC 16 -
7 Maldon RFC -Essex Presidents Shield Final
Dagenham's memorable season continued on Sunday, as they lifted the Presidents Shield for the 3rd time in 5 seasons.
The top two teams in Essex One should be applauded for their efforts to entertain a large crowd in what were atrocious conditions, the rain and gusting wind making handling very difficult. Fortunately the playing surface held up very well.
Maldon started the brightest as they took the game to Dagenham, forcing a number of penalties, and eventually this pressure told, when the Maldon outside centre cut a nice line off his fly half and darted home under the posts. The conversion was added for a seven point lead. Dagenham knew they had to play the weather better, and keep the game much shorter. They got back into the contest using their forwards to good effect, a number of close drives giving them good field position, and when Maldon infringed at a ruck, West Calverley stepped up to confidently slot the penalty home to get the D's on the board. From the restart Dagenham continued to push hard, the forwards were setting a decent platform, completely dominating the scrum, and after working their way towards the line, fullback Dexter Devlin showed good strength to grab the D's first try and give them a slender lead. The Central Park side were looking to build on this before the break, and they did manage to find another try. Again, it came via the forwards, as a number of pick and drives got them close, before man of the match Jordan Wigham finished powerfully in the corner. The half time score of 13-7 was a fair reflection, but had the D's made enough of the elements?
The second period began well for the D's. dogged defence from the backs and continued persistence from the pack kept Maldon pretty much in their own half. The game ebbed and flowed for twenty minutes, with neither of the two well matched sides able to find a breakthrough. Maldon then found another gear, and had their most threatening period since the start. They made a number of dangerous surges towards the D's line, with the Central Park men saved on three occasions by outstanding tackles from Louis Stevens, West Calverley and Neil Davis, the latter producing a bone jarring hit on his opposite man that visibly lifted the whole team. Having weathered this storm, the D's worked their way downfield and again used a close driving game to superb effect and worked towards the Maldon line. The crucial moment came when Maldon infringed allowing Calverley to slot home the penalty to give Dagenham a 9 point cushion. With only minutes on the clock, Maldon would have to find two scores and Dagenham were in no way prepared to let the game slip. they ran the clock down to claim a superb victory.
This was another tremendous showing from Dagenham. They have worked so hard to get to this level, and remain unbeaten in 2008. They must keep this effort and intensity going in their remaining two league games to keep on track for promotion. Credit must be given to Maldon who played a full part in a great Final.
MARK RANDALL
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