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Never in Doubt
Old Pats 12pts vs
Maids 13pts
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It was very wet, very windy, very steep
and very muddy, but it was still a
beautiful day, well for the travelling Maids'
fans anyway
With only a 7-13 point lead at half time
and the following 40 minutes to be spent
into the wind and up the slope this
lead was never going to be enough, or so
we all thought
Maids decided otherwise and fought like
never before to keep out Old Pats and take
2 crucial points
With Simon Carter marshalling the forwards
excellently at scrum half, great lineout
and scrum domination from the forwards and
with big hits in the centre, particularly
from Mr Swaddling, attack after attack was
soaked up and repelled
Old Pats reduced the defecit
to 1 point with 5 minutes to go only for
Maids to finish the last period in the Old
Pats' half to get their just reward
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P |
Pts |
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Bracknell
Chinnor
Weston-Super-Mare
Cleve
Old Patesians
Oxford Harlequins
Coney Hill
Maidenhead
Redingensians
Bournemouth
Reading
St Ives (SW)
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11
10
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
10 |
20
18
15
14
11
11
10
10
8
6
4
3 |
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A Very Good Day
Out
In last week's newsletter I mentioned
the infamous Wilkie Train Tours, supporting the 1sts
and reaching parts of the country other tours never
reach
Well last Saturday was as good
as ever, with the added benefit of a trip home with
a big W under our belts
The scale of planning that goes into these trips is
legendary (see adjacent column for details) with each
travelling member getting a personalised agenda
Of course, there is an important need for sustenance
which as you can see is a relatively dominant part of
the day. As well as enjoying fine ales, we enjoyed
great banter with the locals whether they were in pub,
on train, on platform or on bus
One of the overriding
realisations is what a great game we support - how locals
welcomed us and wished us well - even if we were considered
foreign in these distant shores
 An especially big thank you to the
landlord of The Bath Tavern
Having arrived an hour before opening time (blame The
Good Pub Guide) he duly opened the front door, locked
it behind us and pulled the pints - outstanding
Wilkie, one last thing.
Can you tell me what time I got home? (thanks - the
ed)
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Under 17s reclaim
top spot
Maids U17 26pts vs Oxford
U17s 3pts
In very difficult conditions and
against a much bigger pack, Maids U17s did enough to
get a bonus point and go back top of their table
This was always going to be a tough
game in the conditions and with last minute injuries
cutting the squad to 15 fit players, Maids were going
to have to battle this one out
Ideally Maids wanted to go wide
and use their superior backs to keep away from the big
Oxford pack, but the wind reduced the opportunity to
go wide quickly and only strong defence from the Oxford
midfield and a few handling errors from Maids kept the
scoring down
Maids dominated all areas of the
game but just could not cut out the errors, both of
their own making and from the conditions, to take full
advantage and post a more realistic score
With their final game against Redingensians
next weekend, it looks like the title could be decided
on points difference with a new look Aylesbury coming
up fast from behind also in a strong position
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Under 14s open with
win over reigning champions
Maidenhead U14s 15pts vs Newbury
U14s 5pts
Maids lost the equivalent fixture
in the League last season after failing to adapt to
the conditions – their only defeat in the League. The
squad was determined that this would not happen again
and the determination paid off, with a structured game
plan and resolute defence getting this season's League
campaign off to the best possible start.
Maids played with the advantage
of the wind in the first half – though in truth it was
blowing more or less straight across the pitch by this
stage. Captain Alex Avery at Number 8 and Fly half Duncan
Jones ran the show, with the forwards displaying great
commitment against a bigger pack, and the No. 10 kicking
astutely to keep Newbury on the back foot.
Despite having all the wind-assisted
territory, 5-0 was the half-time score, and Newbury
sensed that they could use the conditions to their advantage
Sure enough, a series of forward
drives saw them crash through the defence to level the
scores and tension levels climbed amongst both sets
of supporters. Maids defence regrouped, however, and
the forwards gradually moved into Newbury territory
and closer to their line. Pressure paid off as from
one breakdown under the Newbury posts Alex Avery took
a short pop pass to score on the left to re-establish
a lead, and Maids sealed the win through once again
applying relentless pressure
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Tough introduction to the league for U13s
Newbury U13 27pts vs Maidenhead
U13s 7 pts
 Maids U13 had a lesson in playing
in Berkshire league rugby from Newbury in their first
league encounter. In atrocious wind and rain Maids
lost out 27-7 to a strong and large Newbury pack who
starved them of possession and scrummaged and rucked
very effectively
Despite an early converted
try from top-scorer Colin Kerrins for Maids in the first
minute of the game, Newbury used their size to keep
the ball away from Maids backs and away from try-scoring
opportunities. Maids held Newbury in the second
half to only one try but failed to score in return.
Paul Dutton (Head Coach Maids) said "it was a shocking
day weather wise - we played well but need to get more
aggression into our contact areas - we lost to a good
team today."
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Next Coaches Education
Evening
Presenter:
Dave Larham (him of the Wasps)
Leadership In Coaching
Venue: Slough RFC
Date: Wednesday 5th December 07
Start time: 7.30pm
Cost: Free of charge
Please note that the
session will be an interactive indoor theory session
For further information please contact - Tim Holmes
– RFU, Rugby Development Officer on 07764 960408 or
timholmes@rfu.com
To maintain the success
of our junior section, encourage as many of your age
group coaches to attend these sessions as possible.
Alternatively make sure at least one coach attends and
takes notes - The ed
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Easy way to raise funds
Buy your Chrissie presents on line and
raise funds for the club at the same time
Retailers include HMV, Mothercare, John Lewis, Amazon,
Tesco, Game to name a few
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Forthcoming events
Ann
Summers Party
This Thursday (29th) in the Bonberry Bar
£5 Entrance (Includes a glass of wine and a raffle ticket)
Family Quiz Night
Saturday 1st December
in the clubhouse
7.45 Kick Off
Cash prizes - £5 Adult, £3 Child.
New Years Eve
Tickets NOW on sale - open to all the family
friends and neighbours.
Lots of fun, music, food and drinks. Only £25
per family (2 adults 3 kids)
£12.50 per adult
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Forthcoming fixtures
Sunday 9th Dec
Colts vs Newbury (H) BBO
U17s vs Redingensians (H) BBO
U16s vs Staines (H)
U15s - Training
U14s -Training
U13s - Training
Minis - Training
Saturday 15th Dec
1st XV vs Chinnor (H) BBO SW1
2nd XV vs Henley Wanderers (A) BBO
3rd XV vs Thatcham (H) BBO
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Wilkie's Tours
Tour Itinerary 1 Dec 07
vs Old Pats Won 12-13
Main Party
M Gale
(Slough) (Neath)
Slough d 08.47 GW
Twyford d 09.06
Reading a 9.13
Reading d 09.26 GW
Swindon a 10.00
Swindon d 10.11 GW
Neath d 08.18
GW
Bristol
PW a 9.30
Bristol
PW d 9.55 GW
Gloucester
a 10.32
Gloucester d 11.08
Cheltenham Spa a 11.18
Cheltenham Spa d (Bus) 11.30
Clarence Street a 11.40
R and R Period
Stroll to Bath
Tavern - 100 years in the same family
(Sharps and Guests Ales). Move onto The
Swan - local CAMRA Pub of the
Year for past 3 years (variety of ales).
Cheltenham Motor Club - former
Crown Inn, South West Club of The Year (various
ales)
London Road d (Bus)
13.40
Sandy Lane a 13.51
Stroll to the ground
Watch the Game
London Road d (Bus) 16.51
Pittville Street a 17.23
Pittville Street d 17.30
Cheltenham Spa Station a 17.40
Cheltenham Spa Station d 17.46
Gloucester a 17.56
R and R Period
Pig Inn the
City - Black Country hosts (Ma Pardoe's
Ales). Next The Fountain Inn
and Dick Whittington's (All GBG
2008)
Gloucester d 19.02 GW
Gloucester
d 19.36
Bristol
PW a 19.52
Bristol PW d 20.08 GW
Reading a 20.23
Reading d 20.34
Twtford a 20.40
Slough a 20.00
Neath a 21.28
Itinerary adjustment as the 19.02
Great Western from Gloucester is cancelled.
Outcome - hour delay spent in the Pig in The City
Poster from the Cheltenham Motor
Club
Caption reads - (brace yourself Blodwen, here
comes another speed hump)
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A look at the history of rugby
union (contd)
In 1878 at Cardiff, in Wales, they developed
a short pass to one of the half backs who would
then go charging ahead with the ball. He became
known as the flying half back which in time was
shortened to the fly half
In the 1880's the game had spread
to the Universities, particularly Cambridge and
Oxford, whose input lead to far more thought being
put into the game and the style of play that was
developed
They were instrumental in the development
of the games tactics, the introduction of need
to practice and the coaching of the players. In
addition they reorganised the scrum, developed
short passes amongst the forwards and long passes
amongst the backs
This lead to the need for more players
to be placed in the back line between the halves
and the full back so they were called quarters
and the fact that three of them were put in this
position led to them being known as three-quarters
The middle player being called the
centre with the two on his outside called wings.
The introduction of a fourth player into the three-quarters
was to a large extent, accidental, with Wales
again being allowed to take the honour. Cardiff
were due to play a tough match away from home
and their first choice centre was not available
so they promoted one Frank Hancock from the second
side in his place
Hancock was a great success scoring
two vital tries. When the Cardiff selectors sat
down to pick their team for the next match they
were keen to revert to their original team, but
they were most reluctant to drop Hancock, so they
compromised by introducing a fourth three-quarter.
Within two years Wales had introduced it at international
level
To be continued....
Buy on line and raise funds for the
club
Click here for details
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