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Photo credits: Izzi Cole

Well, the wait was finally over and after three rounds of YFFL action away from home, it was time to host our first ever BAFA Flag fixtures in Maidstone!

The schedule was set, and it was going to be a mix of rematches and new opponents for both squads. The sun was out, the pitches looked glorious and vendors were settled. 10am came around and boom, both our under 11 and under 14 teams kicked off the day. The u11s started against second in the league London Fruitbats (Black) squad while the u14s came up against London Fruitbats (Grey).

London Fruit Bats (Black) vs Kent Phoenix

Chasing that elusive first win, the u11s were ready. A full roster with all 13 players in attendance and the security of home turf boosted the young Phoenix team and they were the first to put scores on the board. Ever reliable Nikolas added two touchdowns and two lots of extra points to the Phoenix scoreboard, with quietly confident Isobel running a touchdown in from one end of the field to the other. Not one to miss his moment of magic, Alf grabbed an impressive pick six. With a two point safety an elated Fire & Flame closed the game with a 27-7 win!! I don’t think anyone could quite believe the final score against such a strong and competent team as the Fruit Bats (black).

Kent Phoenix Inferno vs London Fruit Bats (Grey)

Whilst the u11s were making waves, the u14s were in their second meeting of the season with London Fruit Bats (Grey). The first meet between these teams was way back in March at the first game day. That game went to the wire finishing in a 33-33 draw, so it was always likely to be tight this time around as well.

Spurred on by two wins last time out at the London Warriors, Inferno had self belief that this game was going to go in their favour. The Fruit Bats scored first, then again with an extra point. It didn’t matter. The u14s kept playing our game. It wasn’t even a case of if Harry would score, it was a case of when, and he smashed not one but two touchdowns past the Fruit Bats defense. Hot on his heels was the formidable speed of Callum, keen to get his name on the scoreboard. Safeties from Henry and Lekan secured a tight fought win for Inferno – 22 points to 19. With just three points in it, it was a fantastic watch for both sides.

Kent Phoenix Inferno vs London Fruit Bats (Black)

Next came some really tough battles. Fire & Flame had their first meeting against league front runners, the red squad of the London Fruit Bats whilst our u14 Inferno squad went straight from their game against the Fruit Bats’ grey squad into their game against second in the league, the Fruit Bats’ Black squad.

Inferno knew this was going to be a tough task. The first game between the two had ended 62-6 to the Fruit Bats. But that was way back in week one. The u14s have grown since then and we knew what to expect now and we knew what we could do. Fruit Bats hit straight away with a touchdown and extra point. They came at us again, again securing the extra point. We dug deep and then suddenly, yes, a touchdown from Callum with an extra point from Harry.

But the Blacks squad took that as a wake-up call and dominated the scoreboard climbing from 14-7 to a mighty 41-7. Inferno didn’t crack, they just kept working. Harry secured another valuable six points with Lekan grabbing another touchdown later on. The final score was big and lop–sided; a huge 61-19 win to Fruit Bats Black. Whilst we would have loved to have continued the winning streak, we walked away with a feeling of pride. At our first meet we scored six. This time we scored three times that. Whilst its a loss, its still progress against a well drilled, league leading team.

Kent Phoenix vs London Fruit Bats (Red)

For our 11 Fire & Flames squad’s second game, they faced the top of the league London Fruit Bats’ Red squad. We knew it would be tough but hey, we’d just beaten the Fruit Bat’s Black team and by some margin. Could we cause an upset again? Well, despite everyone’s best efforts the answer was no, we couldn’t. Every single player did what was asked of them and fought until the end but the Red squad are top of the league for a reason. The final score was a 65-0 loss against an undefeated opponent.

Kent Phoenix Inferno vs London Fruit Bats (Red)

Inferno’s last game of the day came against another league-leading team. Hot on the heels of their u11s squad bringing home the win, the u14s version of the Fruit Bats’ Red squad were ready to match their younger club mates and wow, did they?! Again, Inferno worked hard to contain the Reds and to put their own points on the board but this squad proved why they are top. We couldn’t get past their defense and we couldn’t hold their offense in check. A difficult 67-0 loss to end the day for our U14s.

Kent Phoenix vs Hertfordshire Cheetahs

So onto the last game of the day and a rematch between Phoenix u11s and the Hertfordshire Cheetahs. These two last met in week three at the London Warriors at the end of a long and hot day. The score at their first meeting showed off brilliance from the Phoenix defense but this time the offense were ready to join the party. We’re not sure what the Phoenix had for lunch – perhaps it was the yummy ice creams from our visiting dessert van – but they had clearly decided they were ending the day with a win!

Isobel bagged another two touchdowns during the game with Nikolas securing extra points to drive the scores up. Hard as they tried, Cheetahs just couldn’t match the Phoenix and Alf sealed the win with three huge touchdowns. It was a great game for Fire & Flame – a 32-0 win and their second victory of the day that shows real progress as they have grown through the season and offers real encouragement for the future. Wow, just wow!

We were delighted to host our first tournament, but we do want to say thank you to our many partners for all their help in hosting our home gameday.

• Teo’s Kitchen for the delicious burgers, hot dogs and loaded fries.
• Moo’s Gelato for the yummy and indulgent ice creams.
• Maidstone Borough Council for the beautifully marked pitches.

We also extend our thanks to our visiting clubs – the London Fruit Bats and their various squads, the Hertfordshire Cheetahs and the Kent Exiles – for everything you did to make the day run so smoothly.

Additional thanks go to those who supported where needed with officiating – Idris, Steph, Heather, Jim and Amy – along with representatives from the clubs above.

Kent Phoenix remains grateful to our coaches and volunteer staff for ensuring that events like these can happen at our home ground, and we thank our wider Phoenix community for your commitment to our club.

Fire & Flame and Inferno will next take to the field on Game Day Five at Hertfordshire Cheetahs on Saturday 13th June for our final games of 2026. We will be meeting the Fruit Bats, London Blitz and London XL Performance again. It would be nice to think both squads have another win or two in them to end the season.