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U17s win OBB playoff against Milton Keynes Maidenhead U17s 46 v Milton Keynes U17s 3 |
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It was Maids’ first match since the group stages. This playoff match was a life or death situation. Lose and you’re out of the Champion’s League. Luckily the right Maids turned up, and the crowd were in for a try fest. Unfortunately for the lads it was delayed by 15 minutes due to a mix up - could this have been a key psychological blow for the team? Maids kicked off with in-form Dayne Ferrar, and a scrum was awarded immediately after. The affects of the delay were possibly still to be shaken off when a pass from Styles to Hogey was dropped but Maids retained possession. Two more dropped passes however, and a few were wondering if the right Maids had turned up. A penalty taken quickly by Styles eventually got Maids going after a beasting run from Plumer. Styles shipped to Hogan, to Hodgson, to Ferrar on his shoulder who offloaded to Els who couldn’t get the pass away to Stefan. The ball fell once more to the omnipotent Plume under the sticks. Clean ruck ball allowed Hogey to give to Andy Mitchell who scored, but not without doing the hard work first. From 20m out he cruised over the line and Maids were 7 – 0 up. |
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From the KO it seemed Keynes were not going to learn the easy way – keep the ball away from Plume!! It eventually took four men to haul him down, at which point Olly gave to Dayno who grubbered up the middle. 6 minutes 48 into the first half and local legend Duncan Jones arrived: "How are you Dunc?" "I’m fine thanks." Scintillating. Some Wimbledon-esque kicking took place, until a beautifully floated pass from Styles to Hodgson allowed for a 45m line break and then an offload that strategically hit to defensive heads then landed in Dayno’s hands. From a 5m scrum, Alexander misplaced a sitter, and then from a defensive scrum the ball was charged down – courtesy of Olly’s well rounded buttocks. Maids came away from the situation with a try for Tim Johnson and converted in the form of Dave Hodgson. 14 – 0. |
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Third time lucky for Keynes, the KO landed away from Plume. Unfortunately for them though, it only got as far as Jacko. Clean ruck ball was not, however, good enough for the Maids’ backs it seems. A dropped ball eventually led to an infringement and from under the sticks Keynes kicked 3 points. 14 – 3. With their heads screwed back on, Maids refined their attack. Immense pressure in the back line led to Keyne’s losing more and more ground with every pass. We lost our own lineout ball however and they cleared to the half way line. A hungry Goat however took the lineout quickly and ran back into the mêlée. The ref awarded a Maids penalty and it was immediately snaffled up by Styles. Quick ball was given to Hogey, then Hodge, Dayno, Sam, then Els who sadly couldn’t capitalise in the corner. 15 minutes 40 and Paz was back to his salmon-like antics in the lineout. I would compliment Paz more had he not scored a last minute try against BGS to knock us out of the Daily Mail Vase just hours before finalising this report. Not pleased Paz. |
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Adam Dauncey made good ground from the lineout and we had a scrum. A number 8 pick up gave us clean ball which was to be a black ball. Spread out to the wing it was left to speed demon Robinson to score…Wait a minute! Jack? On the wing? T.B.C… Con unsuccessful, 19 – 3, 17 minutes gone. On the half way line and an "interesting" kick from Hogan but Keyne number 14 under pressure. A penalty was the result, taken quickly again by terrier like Styles the ball was spread to Alex. From the ruck Paz, *ahem*, went blind, gave to an in-support-Hodgson who broke one tackle, offloaded to Tim (get well soon butt) who gave to Olly. Penalty for offside. Black ball was given to Dayno, then Cannon, then…hang on?? Another front row on the wing? Tom Morgan crashed over the line to make it 24 – 3. |
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More T-R-Y attempts then followed. Tim was held up, Dauncey was shunted into touch from a penalty and then Keyne were on the offensive again. Not for long though, the ball was stolen, hacked up field and Ryan ran in a try which Dave converted. Shortly afterwards Keyne’s number 1 was sin binned for some in-ruck shenanigans. Keyne’s prop was closely followed by Hodgson, not for misdemeanours though, "Macca ran into me…Tiger sorted me out with a medium to long icepack." Half time 31-3. |
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6 minutes into the 2nd half and we were running out of skippers. Plume came off for a "Sore nose" and the captaincy was handed on once more. Whoever said vs. vs. Captain was a stupid role?? The second half proved to be less eventful than the first, I caught up with Sammy Stef: "Its boring…Watch this Tom, they’re gonna boot it over here and I’m gonna score the first try of the half." Subs began to role soon after. I spoke to Ben Tucker: "Yeh tired, but it was fun. Made a nice little run there, got a bit eager cos I saw the white line. But…" Wise wise words. Dayno put one up mid flow, no-one caught it and the goat was gifted with a chance to shine. Stepping 1, 2, he offloaded to Dauncey who was pushed into touch. Minutes later however, Dauncey cruised over in the loose play. 36 – 3. |
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At this point Styles and Stefan left the field. How are you guys? "We’re good, it was a good game. Not so good for the backs, but I mean, forwards are doing well. All the newbeys are doing well. Duncan is the best water boy ever." Cadz was now on at scrummy, and provided amusement at the breakdown by falling on his touché after Ryan screamed for the ball to go right. Down in the Keyne’ 22 another T-R-Y opportunity unfurled but – "Taxi for Razza" – Chris Richardson couldn’t hold on. Penalty for something at the scrum – Cadz, to the backs; Dayno, to Ryan, to Razza, then Els who managed to ground in the corner. The score was now 41 – 3, unsuccessful conversion. |
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On the offensive again, we had loose ball in the Keyne 22. Cadz gave to Dayno who whipped to Chaytes, then Macca, the Ryan. The ball was grounded eventually, but the backs made hard work of a try that could have come far more easily from straight lines. The final score: 46 – 3. Agonisingly short of a half century, Dayno could find only the metal work for the last conversion. As the player sauntered off the pitch it seemed like yet another sub-par match up for a Maids team yet to hit full potential. With harder fixtures filling spaces in the weeks to come, it seems improvement is necessary. |
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POST MATCH THOUGHTS: "Today’s game was not about tries, it was about performance. If tries came with the performance it was a bonus. I think on the whole our performance and our tries were top notch." Much to my dismay, I included another Chris Parrot summary. "Urm, I though my try was the best of the match, and I got mud in my eye." What were you doing on the wing Jack? "I saw it coming so I fort I’d pop up there." – Jack Robinson. Hodgson was also critical. "We will have to improve to progress to higher levels." |
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Maidenhead's squad
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