U14s end of season game v Warlingham

Maidenhead U14s 5 v Warlingham U14s 24
24th April 2005

A fond farewell to the 2004/5 season.

Maids’ final fixture as U 14s was very much an end of season affair. With something of an unfamiliar line-up, with back rower Ed Clark playing in the centre in the absence of the injured James Henderson, Maids had to face a large and powerful Warlingham team. The final score was less a reflection of the real difference between the sides than an indication of Maidenhead’s inability to maintain their concentration over the full 60 minutes of a match. Some good positive performances were wasted by defensive lapses which let Warlingham to run in 4 tries to Maidenhead’s one.

After a solid start conceded a try within 5 minutes, as the strong Warlingham threequarters forced over on the left wing. An excellent conversion made the score 0 – 7. Five minutes later, Warlingham ran in a second try under the posts, when they broke up a Maids attack inside their own "22" and powered the length of the pitch. A much easier conversion made it 0 – 14.

Maids showed the match was still within their grasp when Aaron Lambert seized on a dropped pass in the Warlingham threes and after a long sprint just beat the defensive cover in a race to the line.

However minutes later the Warlingham outside centre squeezed over in the corner to make the score 5 – 19 at half-time.

The second half was a scrappy affair, with neither side able to dominate. Maids’ prop Matt Powell made some powerful runs and Lambert, Clark and Bart looked as if they might break the opposition defence, but it was Warlingham who sent their winger in at the corner for a late try, which sealed a deserved win for them.

A stalwart of the Maids’ squad over the past 3 years has been Shota Asano. He has never given less than 100% and has been a highly effective flanker, quiet, reliable, a deadly tackler and a great support player. His father, Yasunori, whilst also having an older son playing as a prop in the U 16’s, has been seemingly omnipresent on the touch line and a much appreciated tourist to both Brean Sands and Cork. It was in Cork that he demonstrated his formidable skills as a linguist, switching effortlessly from Japanese to the local Munster dialect and back, without a break in the conversation. His ability to fall asleep anywhere and at any time has earned him undying respect.

The Asano family return home to Japan in July. They will be sadly missed and after Sunday’s match the U 14’s presented them with 2 gifts to remind them of their time at MRFC, marking the respect in which the family are held by all their many friends at the club.