Maidstone Men’s 1st XI started their 2017-18 Kent/Sussex Regional Division One league campaign with a trip to Holly Bush Lane to play Sevenoaks 2nd XI. Newly-appointed captain, Jimmy Christmas, led a strong team against a very youthful opposition.

The game followed a steady pattern of play: Sevenoaks would lose the ball as they tried to work it up to their forward line. Maidstone would then counter attack. On one such foray forward, the visitors won a penalty corner: the first shot was well-saved. The rebound fell to Man of the Match Steve Marks, who had two opportunities, before the keeper parried it back to Mike Smith at the top of the circle, who volleyed the ball into the top corner.

Soon after, Maidstone had two more counter attacks which led to goals. The first involved two passes before Joe Martin set Marks up to tap into an open net, and the second was a penalty corner which Player-Coach Richard Turner dispatched. This made the score 3-0 to the visitors at half-time.

Maidstone knew the home side would start the second half quickly and attempted to plan accordingly. However, Martin was dispossessed on the top of his own circle – expecting a whistle from the umpire – allowing two forwards to pass the ball past goalkeeper Darren Marchant. This, unsurprisingly, gave the home side a boost in momentum.

Andy Turner ensured the momentum swung back the other way. Some excellent work from Will Ostler on the left-hand side of the circle eliminated three Sevenoaks players before he offloaded to Richard Turner. R. Turner then squared the ball for A. Turner to score. Being the good sports they are, Maidstone decided to have two players sin-binned to allow Sevenoaks a way back. First, Martin went for playing the ball after the whistle had gone, then R. Turner joined him after an aggressive tackle. Maidstone had to soak up a lot of pressure to run the clock down, which they achieved with a sense of professionalism.

When back to full-strength, Joe Broadbent opened his account for the season in fortuitous circumstances. R. Turner knocked the ball past the goalkeeper, and Broadbent fired it on his reverse stick. Initially, the shot was going in; however, a defender mixed himself up and accidentally knocked the ball over the line.

Maidstone had several other chances and tested the Sevenoaks goalkeeper on numerous occasions, who – it has to be said – played very well. Special mentions should go to Chris Howson and Zach Quinn, neither of whom looked out of depth playing 1st XI hockey having earned their places over the course of pre-season.

After such a positive start, next weekend’s double header cannot come soon enough for Maidstone Men’s 1st XI. On Saturday, they will look to make it two wins in two games as they welcome Holcombe [2] 1a to Armstrong Road (1:45 p.m. start). Then, at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Marden Russets are the visitors for the First Round of the new England Hockey Championship Second Tier.

Man of the Match: Steve Marks

Team: Darren Marchant (GK), Mike Smith, Matt Emery, Jamie Graham, Phil Morrison, Jimmy Christmas (Capt.), Steve Marks, Joe Martin, Will Ostler, Chris Howson, Joe Broadbent, Andy Turner, Zach Quinn, Richard Turner (Player-Coach)