Tadley 0 v Maidenhead 3rds 17
Maidenhead third XV finished the season joint top of the Berks, Bucks and Oxon South 1 table after seeing off a determined Tadley side, 17-0, in a scrappy and sometimes frantic game on Saturday.
Despite dominating for long periods in the first half, Maidenhead only found themselves 7-0 up at the break after a strong run from Lester 'the Man' Martin...more

Maidenhead 3rds 28 v Berkshire Shire Hall 0
It was a good job that this wasn't a top of the table clash because the Maidenhead team didn't really turn up until half-time.
It wasn't as if the result didn't matter but the forwards didn't commit enough men to the break down, delivered little decent ball to the backs who were careless and a general air of lethargy seemed to infect the whole team...more

Maidenhead 3rds 14 v Wallingford 2nds 8
Everybody was hoping for a dry surface so that Maidenhead's backs could run the ball, but the weather was dreadful. A strong wind blowing diagonally across the pitch and driving rain for a large part of the match proved as much of a challenge to Maidenhead as did the opposition. Add to this the fact that the correct pitch had not been marked out, and it all added up to what could have been a very difficult afternoon. However...more

Maidenhead 12 Redingensians 15
Saturday's narrow three-point defeat to rivals Redingensians was a hammer blow to Maids' in their fight to avoid the drop. Yet, not for the first time in this frustrating campaign, Maids had the opportunity to take the points and build form and confidence.
At half-time, although five points down, Maids had the benefit of the considerable wind and will have been content with their position...more

Didcot 5 v Maidenhead 3rds 54
With almost the first move of the game Maidenhead set up a well controlled ruck, moved the ball along the back line and Chris 'Razza' Richardson cut back inside for a try under the posts. 7 - 0 to Maidenhead. Good start, but was it the shape of things to come? Could this be the team that lost to Didcot 9 - 5 at the end of last season? Well it was virtually the same team in terms of personnel but not in the way they played...more

Bracknell 64 Maidenhead 5
Maidenhead were not awful and Bracknell were not brilliant, but the difference between the teams was enough for the visitors to succumb to an embarrassing 59-point thrashing at Lily Hill Park on Saturday.
It was a clash which always threatened to be the one to put the Maids disappointing season into context, and so it proved...more

Maidenhead 3rds 43 v Grove 2nds 7
On a beautiful day for rugby Maidenhead turned in an excellent show of running rugby.
There wasn't much indication of what was to come when the Maidenhead pack were pushed back at a rate of knots at the first few set scrums. But once they secured some ball and moved it along the backs the scores started to come...more

Maidenhead 16 Cleve 17
LOGIC and the fortunes of Maidenhead Rugby Club this season, parted company many months ago. But the facts don't lie, Maids are in big trouble and edging closer to what would be a catastrophic relegation for the club.
A one-point defeat against one of the league's top three sides might, on the face of it, be encouraging...more

Harwell 48 v Maidenhead 3rds 6
On a bright and sunny afternoon Maidenhead's pack, weakened by withdrawals and injuries, had a torrid afternoon against a well drilled Harwell.
For the first 10 - 15 minutes or so the Maidenhead forwards were at least on a par with their opposite numbers and could have been 3 - 0 up if a penalty in front of the posts had been successful. However...more

Bournemouth 53 Maidenhead 5
LIFE after Simon Edwards is not going to be easy, well, at least not on the evidence of this performance. Maids, who had hoped to be moving clear of relegation, were dragged back into the mire thanks to a hiding at Bournemouth on Saturday.
Maids, who were for once able to select from almost a full-strength squad, were outgunned all over the field...more

Oxford Harlequins 27 Maidenhead 10
BRILLIANT one week, frustratingly inept the next. Maidenhead once again demonstrated why they have been a difficult team to watch this season as they produced an error-strewn performance in Oxford on Saturday.
Just one week ago almost the same team had belied atrocious conditions to produce a sparkling display of handling and beat an admittedly poor St Ives side by more than 70 points...more

Maidenhead 72 St Ives 0
THIS 12-try rout of a hopeless St Ives team on Saturday should have restored some confidence to Maids' flagging season without quite giving them the strenuous workout in all departments they might really have needed.
Maids opened the scoring in the fourth minute and dominated throughout, playing almost a sevens style of game. So porous was the visitors' defence, every home player fancied his chances of scoring, and indeed had Maids possessed a little more ruthlessness, and not missed six conversions and a penalty, the scoreline would have topped 100...more

Oxford Harlequins 3rds 15 v Maidenhead 3rds 0
It looked like complacency was at the root of Maidenhead's demise. Oxford Harlequins bested Maidenhead in every aspect of the game and it was only in the last 10 minutes that Maidenhead looked like forcing a score, but by then it was too late...more

Weston-super-Mare 36 Maidenhead 8
IT WAS a far from happy new year for Maids who slipped to a 36-8 mauling at a wet and windy Weston-super-Mare on Saturday. A poor second-half display undermined any hopes Maids had of recording what would have been only the club's second victory at Weston's Recreation Ground.
A tight first half ended with the scores deadlocked at 8-8, but Maids conceded 28 second-half points and scored none in reply as Weston romped to what was eventually a very comfortable victory...more

Slough 2nds 3 v Maidenhead 3rds 62
The game started with a bitterly cold wind blowing from the East. Rugby is not easy in these conditions, or at least it shouldn't be. How come then Maidenhead ran out winners by 62 points to 3? The answer is that Slough didn't seem to want to tackle anybody moving at more than a brisk walking pace and eventually after 10 minutes it dawned on Maidenhead that simply passing the ball down the backline and running at the Slough backs was going to produce tries. Plus a couple of push-over tries from 5 metres at set scrums. If only every week it was this easy, but then Maidenhead are top of the league...more

Maidenhead 25 Chinnor 25
WARREN Abrahams scored all of Maids' 25 points as they held high-flying Chinnor to a pulsating draw at Braywick on Saturday.
On a bitterly cold December afternoon that demanded the presence of men and not boys, an injury-ravaged Maids took this challenge head on and emerged with huge credit. Chinnor who had beaten Maids by 50 points, just four weeks ago, found Maids a very different animal this time around...more

Old Patesians 12 Maidenhead 13
Maids have given themselves a mountain to climb this season. They showed they could well have the tools to scale it as they fought their way to a 13-12 victory at Old Patesians' Everest Road ground on Saturday. Nothing has come easy this season, the conditions were atrocious, but Maids stood tall in the biting wind and got down and dirty in mud and the blood to scavenge a famous win in Cheltenham...more

Maidenhead 23 Coney Hill 18
THIS was a case of 'job done' for Maidenhead on Saturday as the result in this must-win clash was far more important than the performance - which was just as well. Both teams - languishing in the bottom five of South West 1 - failed to find any rhythm, and only a collective lack of confidence ensured that, although the error-count was high, the actual score wasn't....more

Maidenhead 3rds 15 v Tadley 2nds 7
The black and claret machine continued its march towards world domination with another determined performance against a Tadley 2nds that belied its league position. How the Tadley pack managed to lose to Slough is a question for likes of Steve McLaren?
Maids, poised to take top spot, thought they were in for an easy ride but were much mistaken! ...more

Old Patesians 45 Maidenhead 27
Few gave Maids hope of coming away from Cheltenham with anything other than another heavy defeat on Saturday. Yes, Simon Edwards' side may have left the Cotswolds beaten, but they came home clutching something far more important than a cup win - their pride. Indeed without the late sin-binning of Mark Parkhouse while Maids held a slender lead they could have returned victorious....more

Chinnor 56 Maidenhead 6
This contest was as one-sided as the score suggests with a Maidenhead team, bereft of confidence, never being allowed to find any sort of rhythm or momentum. On the back of a demoralising defeat to Weston-super-Mare last week, Maids did not need a trip to unbeaten league leaders Chinnor. But this is what they faced, and the differences between the teams - mainly mental and technical - were there for all to see....more

Maidenhead 20 Weston-super-Mare 24
It had to be seen to be believed how Maidenhead managed to throw away this match, but they did, in 30 error-strewn minutes in the second half. Beforehand, this contest was expected to be close, but on the day it should not have been as Maids worked their way into a position from where they should not have lost, having stifled a Weston outfit which had put 55 points on Cleve the previous week....more

St Ives 5 Maidenhead 6
MAIDENHEAD rolled up their sleeves and produced an attritional display of rugby to snatch a nailbiting 6-5 victory at St Ives on Saturday. According to coach Simon Edwards conditions couldn't have been worse, especially against a very large home pack. He said: "We got to the ground and a gale was coming straight off the sea, straight down the pitch. You couldn't kick the ball forward, it just kept coming back. We had the wind behind us at the break and were only 3-0 up, and to be honest I didn't think it was enough."...more

Maidenhead 31 Oxford Harlequins 35
Maidenhead gave themselves a 20-point mountain to climb in the second half against Oxford Harlequins at Braywick on Saturday, and despite a remarkable comeback they fell just short. Maids won the second half 26-10, but it was sloppy play in the backs leading to soft tries in the first half which ultimately determined the result of this match - Maids' fourth defeat of the season....more

Marlow 5 Maidenhead 43
THE RESULT may never have been in doubt, but Maidenhead made hard work of brushing a gutsy Marlow aside to progress to the round 2 of the EDF Energy Trophy on Saturday.
A 43-5 victory might suggest a comfortable flowing victory for Maids. It was anything but...more

Maidenhead Colts 36 Amersham & Chiltern Colts 0
Last Sunday saw the Maidenhead Colts take on the Colts from Amersham & Chilton. This is always a keenly contested game at Colts level and our boys were looking to avenge a narrow defeat from last year.
The A & C team had arrived early and spent 2 hours warming up before the game, whilst the Maidenhead team were not quite so keen to shake off the excesses of celebrating an England win from the day before (or certainly the coaches needed a kick start !!)...more

Maidenhead 32 Bournemouth 20
Full-back Warren Abraham capped an eye-catching debut with two excellent tries as Maidenhead made hard work of polishing off Bournemouth on Saturday. The South African from Johannesburg took just three minutes to get on the scoresheet, and was at the heart of all the incisive moves Maids' backs made thanks to his searing pace and strength in the tackle. With his low centre of gravity, intelligent positioning and Jason Robinson-like attributes, Abraham added the much-needed polish and energy to a Maids effort which reversed three straight defeats but ultimately flattered to deceive...more

Cleve 23 Maidenhead 13
Maidenhead will look back on this clash on Saturday as one they could have won, but that is little consolation for a team which has now lost three consecutive league games - the club's worst run for three years.
Missing influential players like Max Willcocks, Ashley Riley and Alex Gallina, the visitors always seemed underdogs, and when they went 5-0 down in as many minutes thanks to a Cleve catch and drive finished off by Steve Hunt, the travelling faithful might have feared the worst...more

Maidenhead 28 Bracknell 29
MAIDS' nightmare start to the season continued on Saturday as they crashed to a heartbreaking one-point defeat at the hands of Berkshire rivals Bracknell.
The 28-29 defeat was Maids' second consecutive loss and a season that was meant to give coach Simon Edwards a dream send-off is fast becoming a nightmare...more

Redingensians 38 Maidenhead 5
MAIDENHEAD Rugby Club's promotion dreams are in tatters following an embarrassing 38-5 thrashing at newly-promoted Redingensians on Saturday.
This was the most one-sided of local derbys there was only one team in it from the start and it wasn't Maidenhead. It was a special day for the South West 1 newboys who broke a losing run over Maidenhead that stretched back to 1983. But in truth Simon Edwards' side got exactly what they deserved - nothing...more

Maidenhead 40 Reading 18
MAIDENHEAD got their league season off to the perfect start with a 40-18 victory over Reading on Saturday, and in doing so showed they have learned crucial lessons from last season.
Simon Edwards admitted after the game that last year's squad might have lost Saturday's derby clash, indeed for long periods of the game it looked as though this year's squad might struggle. But the important thing was they found a way to win, and win ugly...more

James Haskell gets a 2nd cap against France
Ex-Maidenhead RFC Youth player and Wasps' flanker James Haskell gor his second full cap against France in the World Cup warm up game. Despite a great perfomrance James just missed out on a spot in the final 30 man squad but we are sure there will be plenty of opportunities in the future...more

Last season's stories