MRFC U16's v Newbury 16/1/00

Maidenhead Under 16's entertained their old rivals Newbury at Braywick in a fixture, which in the past has always been closely fought. They put in a storming performance and showed that they currently have the upper hand in squad playing strength.
They began strongly with a powerful performance by the pack, who rucked and mauled very effectively. Early pressure from Maids paid off when Nils Mordt slipped a tackle and darted forward to release Simon Ward for a score under the posts. They soon increased their lead when Tom Wilding and Chris Young set up good ball for the backs and Matt Ansell raced over in the corner. Tom Guest at flanker had a storming game and was always forcing Newbury onto the backfoot. He made a 30 yard run and found Christian Pedersen in support who took the ball on before slipping it to
Terry Rainer. who was forced into touch. Guest had a great steal in the line out and the ball was fed down the line to let Ansell in for an easy score.
Shortly after the re-start hooker Simon Ball had struck against the head and the early ball allowed scrum half Gareth Edwards to elude his marker and he made a great 50 meter run before being stopped 10 meters from the goal line, by the covering full.The combination of strong forward domination and searing pace in the 3/4's really made the difference for Maids and Ward made a great break down the right hand touch line with winger Damian Bell in support. Having broke through 2 tackles Ward drew the full back and slipped it to Bell who sprinted in under the posts to give Maids a 24-0 lead at the break.

They increased their lead Matt Neil showed quick thinking by taking a tap penalty to realise flanker Lee Page for the touch down. Some sloppy defence and a 10 meter addition to a penalty allowed the visitors in for their only score of the day before Maids went back to business. Chris Cracknell Adam O'Reilly and Jay Bowden combined well to set up a forward platform that allowed provided excellent ball for Dan Martin to dart through the Newbury line before going to ground. Quick second phase got
the ball into the backs and good passing allowed Ansell to run over for his third try.
Maids cruised in the last 20 minutes and added their seventh try of the day when Ward ran over after another good forward drive setting up great ball for the backs.
Coach Simon Edwards was very pleased with the result and even more pleased with the team performance, especially considering the long lay-off that the squad had experienced due to the combination of South West of England Divisional trials and the Christmas break.