1sts battle out an important win
Maidenhead 23pts vs Coney Hill 18pts

This was definitely not pretty rugby or rugby of a very good standard.  But that can easily happen when the result is so important to both teams, each fighting to move away from the relegation area

Although Maids went behind, in the end, they kept battling and it was always going to be the team that lasted the longest that was going to come through victorious

Some glorious cameos were also played by two of yesterday's heroes - the Dutch Cap Morgan (I will tell the story one day) and of course Mr Jones

Winning breeds success and so lets hope that we can sort out Old Pats on the return leg this weekend down in the West Country 

Maidenhead 3rds 15pts vs Tadley 7pts

The black and claret machine continued its march towards world domination with another determined performance against a Tadley 2nds that belied its league position. How the Tadley pack managed to lose to Slough is a question for likes of Steve McLaren? Maids, poised to take top spot, thought they were in for an easy ride but were much mistaken!

Maids started ominously with sustained pressure deep in Tadley's 22. Early clean lineout by John Wanklyn saw the pack recycle possession, the backs ship it through the hands for Lester Martin to score a typical try in the corner – you can't teach that as Prinny would say

Prinny himself topped last season's record by crying off whilst applying his favourite Vaseline product before kickoff!

Early promise swung in Tadley's favour when sustained pressure, brought on primarily from their pack, meant Maids was camped in their own 22 for long periods. The pressure culminated in Steve Bourne being sin binned on 22 minutes. On returning to the touchline Bourney insisted someone had swiped his Zimmer frame and that he had simply fallen onto the ruck – first time in an illustrious career! With depleted numbers Tadley immediately scored a try with conversion to take the score to 7-7.

Play resumed with Maids moving onto the front foot with Charlie Jarnet making some good line breaks and David Goodman pinning Tadley back with kicks into the corners. A niggly game saw the Tadley scrum half binned for punching on 32 minutes. 6 minutes later the Maids produced almost a mirror image of their first try with the back line shipping it wide to John Sudbury who had a one-on-one to score in the corner. Late pressure from Tadley saw Wilkins clear the lines with the first period finishing 12-7.

The 2nd period saw Maids extend their lead to 15-7 with a penalty from Rob Wilkins after 3 minutes. Some poor handling from the Tadley backs saw the equilibrium maintained albeit against the run of play. Continual Tadley pressure saw Maidenhead relieve their lines with some raking kicks out of defence. There was no let up for the Maids with some last ditch tackles from Charlie Jarnet, Rob Wilkins and Mark Bates to keep Tadley out – sterling stuff from a team who have showed an added dimension this season. Inconsistent reffing saw John Wanklyn binned which made for a tense last 10 minutes. A rampaging, read it 'rampaging', break from the artist known as Scud saw welcome relief for Maids. The finale of the half culminated in a last ditch penalty miss by Wilkins to see the newly crowned league leaders home.

All in all a surprising game that saw maids tested to the full against inconsistent opposition. Roll on Shire Hall, then the pre Xmas crunch game against Thatcham.

A special mention to the White Horse and Penn Motor Company Man of the Match Mark Bates – another gritty performance that embodies Maids new found resilience this season.

Written by Mike 'Junior Scoop' Anthony (beautiful - the ed)

U17s back on winning ways at Chinnor
Maidenhead U17s 17pts vs Chinnor U17s 5pts

This was a tremendous performance by the U17s in difficult conditions that only Chinnor can produce.  With a wicked wind running down the pitch the game was always going to be played in one corner and it would be the team who handled that the best that would come out winners

Playing with the wind in the first half, Maids dominated territory and possession to control most of the half.  Matt Poole, as well as running a great defence, opened the scoring with a jinxing run under the posts for Billy Evans to convert.  With James Henderson taking the score to 12 - 0 with a storming run from full back, Maids were looking good to build a comfortable score before turning against the wind

However, this was a big strong Chinnor side that did not lie down.  Desperate defence kept Maids from scoring more and eventually a 5 metre penalty gave them a crash ball try to bring the score to 5-12 at half time

At any level, never mind U17, it is very difficult to stay focused and disciplined facing a wicked wind for a full half,  but that is just what the boys did.  The forwards were tremendous at the set pieces, kept the ball rolling close to the windward touch line and although constantly being kicked back into the corner, their lineout held strong and they strangled Chinnor of any good attacking ball.  What ball Chinnor did get was aggressively defended in mid field by the backs

Maid's one foray into the Chinnor 22 saw the backs make good territory for the forwards to win the second phase and prop Ben Willets drew his man and popped a perfect pass for James Henderson to split the defence and put the game safe

Currently second in the league, the title looks like it could be decided when the current leaders Redingensians visit Braywick in 2 weeks time

U15s join the Chinnor party
Maidenhead U15 17pts vs Chinnor U15s 0pts

A superb team effort that combined steely determination with intelligent, flowing rugby saw Maids defeat Chinnor 17.0. With the score at 3.0 for most of the match, the result could have gone either way. Both teams gave it everything but two excellent tries ensured a thoroughly deserved win.

Slick passing by Maids to link Forward and Backs, good decision-making and some outstanding individual efforts sealed another memorable win. Michael James and Alex Jones were assured in the line-outs. Paul Sweeney and Josh Turvey on Hooker duty helped Maids win scrums against the head. Flankers Rory Creffied and James Parrot linked excellently with the Backs and ripped possession in the mauls. Matt Bill, Paul Sayers and James Brooks passed like clockwork. David Walker and TJ Hudson weighed in tackling larger players.

James Brooks calmed the nerves with a well-struck penalty early on. Chinnor were a strong and well-organised side but couldn't find a gameplan to crack the home side. Maids counter-attacked aggressively at every opportunity to deny them time on the ball and force errors

Maids forged ahead at a pivotal point in the second half with an outstanding try. Rory Creffield took the ball into contact on the left about 10 metres out with the Forwards right behind in support to drive over. Quick hands from Forwards to Backs saw almost the entire team combine magnificently as play switched at pace wide to the right where James Parrot and Elliott Reid created the overlap for Elliot to score. From a challenging angle, James Brooks added the conversion to make it 10.0.

Minutes later, Thomas Simpson sped on to an excellent upfield punt by James Brooks to score under the posts, with Brooks again converting. The team did everything right today in all departments. The boys showed what a team can achieve when everyone works tirelessly for each other and commits themselves 100% to the cause.

Welcome to a new sponsor

We are delighted to announce that we can welcome a new sponsor to Maidenhead RFC

Being sportsmen, we are all aware of the significant benefits that regular exercise brings to our overall health and wellbeing.  However, regular exercise does bring with it an increased risk of injury (a good example would be the vaseline-itus suffered by Prinnie only this last weekend - the ed).

Sportsfeet UK is here to help keep you injury free whilst enjoying regular activity as part of your lifestyle. For full information on their services please visit their web site at www.sportsfeetuk.co.uk

Forthcoming events

Ann Summers Party
This Thursday (29th) in the Bonberry Bar
£5 Entrance (Includes a glass of wine and a raffle ticket)
(All the family not welcome.  Martine please make sure Prinnie is under adult supervision - the ed)

Family Quiz Night
Saturday 1st December in the clubhouse
7.45 Kick Off
Cash prizes - £5 Adult, £3 Child.

New Years Eve
Tickets on sale this weekend - 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

Sportsmans Dinner

7th December
Speakers Mervyn Davies
Wales and British Lions - (he was 'quite' good)

John Martin Comedian (apparently he is quite good too)

 12.30 start time till when ever

Please book through Mr Perry or Peter Graham