U16s' win v Aldermaston makes it 3 in a row

Maidenhead U16s 36 v Aldermaston U16s 0
Sunday 12th December 2004

What a difference winning the world cup has made!

Grass roots rugby has benefited greatly from England’s success in last years World Cup. Both Maidenhead and Aldermaston’s under 16 teams struggled to have a full team before that famous triumph in Australia, but last Sunday (12/12/04) both teams fielded a full squad including reserves!

Aldermaston, on only their second match of the current season, gave a good account of themselves, which was not reflected in the final score.

Despite the freezing temperature the Maidenhead team quickly passed the ball wide to Chris Ellis who ran like the wind to score after just 6 minutes, which he also converted. He repeated this run after another 12 minutes, to raise a comment from one of the Aldermaston supporters that he would be equally at home at a dog race as "he’s as fast as most whippets!"

James Henley spotted a chink in the Aldermaston defence and chips a ball over the top, quickly following up to challenge Aldermaston’s backs. Joe Scrace and David Sewell combined well in the line outs to good effect.

Minutes later Corin Singh combines with Tom Bradbury on the right to increase Maids' lead to 18. Chris Ellis converts with the help of the inside of the uprights!

Half time gives both sides a welcome rest and a chance to discuss tactics. Maidenhead took the opportunity to bring off Brindsley Munn and Chris Ellis, and put on Liam Lynch and Peter Gull.

Aldermaston pushed hard and spent several minutes on Maids' 5-yard line, but were just unable to break Maids' tight defence. A long clearance gave Maidenhead a chance to re-group before another wave of attackers were quickly upon them. Mike Skelton and Tom Miller put in some solid tackles.

James Henley showed a clean set of heals as he powered across for yet more points. Dean Rogers converts.

Tom Bradbury continues the winning form with another try and Dean Rogers converts to bring the final score to an impressive 36 –0.

This means that Maids' under 16s have won their last three matches.

The New Year holds more in the way of challenges with their old rivals of Windsor, Reading and Newbury. GOOD LUCK MAIDENHEAD!