Maidenhead U 14s Show Great Strength in Depth

Playing with the slight slope in their favour, the B's were quickly on the scoreboard with Jacob Sanders picking up from the base of the scrum, going down the blindside and feeding scrum-half Steve Carn to cross in the corner.

The B's continued to pressurise the Beaconsfield line and after several mauls, Jason Bates broke free down the blindside and his timely pass allowed Niall Collins a free run tocross the line.

Niall Collins was soon to score again after some good work by the forwards gave the backs quality possession and Sam McCarthy committed the opposition to his run and offloaded his pass nicely to allow Niall another simple score.

Last try of the half went to Shiv Khindria who from fly half position elected to side step inside several defenders to score under the posts,

The start of the second half saw some sustained pressure from Beaconsfield who camped on the B's 5 metre line trying to break through however some good defence from the forwards and subsequent line-out steals from Tim Cronbach andJames Deeley allowed a gradual advancement upfield where after some good individual breaks from the base of rucks, Iain Whiteford broke through several tackles to score by the posts.

Shortly afterwards, Niall Collins completed his hatrick after George Thomas broke into the backline from fullback to give the overlap and final pass to Niall.

A rampaging run from Tyler Bello nearly allowed Piers Baron to score in the corner however he was bundled into touch just short of the line. The forwards won the lineout and Tyler Bello crashed over for another try.

The final try of the morning was scored by Daniel Shipton on his debut after some strong running through midfield which was converted to bring up the half century.

Iain Whiteford succeeded with 5 conversions. Finall score : Beaconsfield: 0 – 50: Maidenhead B's

Man of the Match : Niall Collins

Lack of hard graft sees Maidenhead suffer second defeat
Oxford Harlequins 3rds 15pts vs Maidenhead 3rds 0pts

It looked like complacency was at the root of Maidenheads demise.       
Oxford Harlequins bested Maidenhead in every aspect of the game and it was only in the last 10 minutes that Maidenhead looked like forcing a score, but by then it was too late

The line-out didn't work at all well, a number of set scrums were lost against the head purely as a result of being pushed off the ball, the breakdowns weren't contested as they should have been, and the backs were poor

The midfield defence missed too many tackles and except for one excellent move towards the end of the game they kicked away what ball they had, and did it badly so never threatened. Consequently most of the first half was spent in and around the  Maidenhead 22 metre line (Blimey, good thing Dave was not reporting on the 1sts - The Ed)

After about 15 minutes a mix up in the Maidenhead mid field defence saw Oxford score under the posts and with an easy conversion they led 7 – 0. Then about 10 minutes later a very loose pass to an opponent led to another try to make it 12 – 0 to Oxford at half time

Maidenhead needed to score quickly in the second half to get back into the game but everything was being done too hastily and the set scrums were turning into a disaster area for Maidenhead. Then finally after a long period of scrappy play Maidenhead put together their only three-quarters move of any consequence when outside centre Ed Poulding cut back and broke through the opposition defence and passed on to Chris Richardson who very nearly got over in the corner. This seemed to wake Maidenhead up, but a long period of  pressure deep in the Oxford 22 metres area didn't yield a much needed score

The final score was 15 – 0 to Oxford, and Maidenhead are going to need to be a lot more bloody minded and a lot more committed when they entertain Aldermarston in two weeks time.

Written By David "the pencil" Anthony

Croatia Tourists Listen Up

We leave for Croatia on 23rd May (Friday) and return on Monday 26th May (well most of them anyway - The Ed)

We play Zagreb on Saturday and Rijeka on Sunday.

Now thing is this: Flight payments are due on Monday or the flights are going to jump up in price. I have lots of interest from all our sides but not much money: although suprise suprise Prinnie is fully paid up

Deposits are needed this weekend

Please pay John Evans if you are in the 2nds (make sure you get a receipt)
Please pay Alex Gallina if you are in the 1sts
Please pay Steve Bourne if you are in the 3rds or Vets

Steve Bourne

Last Weekend's Results

1st XV  - Oxford Harlequins 27 vs Maidenhead 10 
2nd XV - Maidenhead II 78 vs Buckingham II 0 
3rd XV - Oxford Harlequins III 15 vs Maidenhead III 0 
Colts - Drifters Colts 12 vs Maidenhead Colts 24

Colts in Clincher This Weekend

Maidenhead Colts have a final league game on Sunday which if they win, yet again sees them enter the National Cup competition

The Colts have a great record at this level and so all the support possible would be appreciated to cheer them on on Sunday - 2.00pm kick off at Braywick

Six Nations at The Club

All games shown live on the big screen and in the main bar

Be there this weekend to see the start of
England's Grand Slam victory

RFU GRAND PRIZE DRAW – raising vital money for the Club

Since last year, amongst other things, we have replaced the bar top and frontage, replaced bar furniture, and put in new ladies' toilets. We had to spend money to enable two of the pitches to recover from last season's weather damage, and we have a long list of jobs to do around the clubhouse to improve things further, once funds are available

Plans currently on the list include replacing a couple of ancient fridges and freezers in the kitchen, modernising our till system and setting up new software that will enable us to serve the membership better. We are also considering some structural changes which might improve spectating facilities. When it comes to making improvements, rather than simply maintaining things as they are, we need to generate additional funds.

One major initiative towards raising the funds we need for this work is to participate in the RFU Grand Draw. The way this works is that all prizes are supplied by the RFU (list in right hand column), and everything else is too – tickets, posters etc. All we need to do is sell the tickets, and we as a Club keep 90% of what is raised as a tax free donation. Last year's Grand Draw raised c. £1,800 for the Club..but the most successful club raised £7,550! With the numbers we have in the whole Club, we should be able to at least match that amount.

All we are asking is that each member / family sells a minimum of 3 books of tickets. We've set this target deliberately low so as not to put people off. There is no limit to the number of tickets we can have to sell, so if an individual asks for more, that's fine.

Gareth Andrews-Jones
Commercial Manager MRUFC / Head Coach U14s

Club Ties
There are new club ties available at the club shop and at Hawkins Sport

Vets Outing This Saturday

The Vets are playing home this Saturday, so if you do not want to watch England beating Wales why not enjoy some live rugby at the club instead

And Finally

Good luck to James Haskell who will be flying the Maidenhead flag for England against Wales on Saturday