Match report and photo courtesy of the

Ayres apparent in Maids romp

Scrum-half drives second half powerhouse performance

NOT for the first time, Maidenhead produced a powerful second half display to overwhelm competent opposition on Saturday. It was the second time Maids have beaten Penryn this season and the third consecutive game that the hosts have scored 42 points.

The momentum of the match saw Maids start solidly, wearing their opponents down. Pace and enterprise in the three-quarters then cut to ribbons a tiring Cornish side. Indeed, had Maids shown the excellent finishing and passing skills of the previous week at Spartans, their score would have been in the 60s. Once again, the catalyst for the second half performance was Ben Ayres moving from full-back to his more accustomed role at scrum-half. He drove Maids forward at every opportunity, endlessly sniping and harrying and even grabbed two tries himself. He ensured Maids finished the contest strongly, but the beginning was a more sober affair with a greasy ball producing handling errors on both sides.

In truth, until the last five minutes of the half, the match was as dull and dreary as the weather. The two teams traded penalties – Maids’ Mark Ruddick getting two from three, while Penryn’s Martin Strick did not miss with his two efforts – for the score to reach a lacklustre 6-6 with three minutes of normal time remaining. Then the contest lit up as Maids found their stride and confidence. After a period of pressure, a lineout was caught and driven by the mobile Alex Gallina, only for the excellent Ritchie Craig to be the one with the ball when the maul rolled over the line. The conversion was missed, but Maids were on their way, and could have added to the score in first half injury-time.

After the break, with Ayres at scrum-half, the hosts took the match to Penryn. The ball was moved wide, rather than run back into the pack, and everything was done at pace. Penryn could not cope. Maids doubled their try-count on 42 minutes when Ayres ran in from close range after a brilliant blindside break from Craig. Then three minutes later, after a series of phases, a long miss-pass found Stuart MacKay and he turned on the after-burners to leave three tacklers in this wake to score under the posts. On 60 minutes the result was assured when centre Johnny Hammond showed his elusive qualities to go over. Ruddick was successful with two of the three conversions, and Maids were home and dry at 30-6 with 20 minutes remaining. Penryn managed a rare attack and did touch down on 73 minutes through Justin Hocking from broken play, but it was merely a hiatus as Maids rounded-off the clash with two more tries. Simon Cripps strolled over unopposed after picking up a pass from Will Lowden, who had been brilliantly tackled metres from the line after a solo break.

Then, in injury-time, Ayres snatched his second try after Penryn made a comical effort of clearing their line, the scrum-half appling downward pressure with one hand on a loose ball behind the visitors’ try-line. It capped a fine team performance against an honest Cornish team. Maids were not at their best, but they did not have to be. Maidenhead: Ayres, MacKay, Hammond, Cripps, Nisbet, Ruddick, Edwards, Grove, Craig, Johnston, Gallina, Mueller, Vorster, Parkhouse, Morgan. Subs: Lowden (for Nisbet, 48), Windeyer (for Parkhouse, 77), Greene (Craig, 80). Penryn: Webb, Hocking, Vague, Slater, Pellow, Brown, Strick, Hale, Wells, Court, Giles, Hughes, Doney, Foster, Peseta. Subs: Kirk, Burns, Cole.

Players respond to challenges
Fitness and options are the twin pillars on which Maidenhead are building a head of steam in South West Division 1. And, according to coach Simon Edwards, some team soon is in for a hiding. He said: “We are fitter than we have been for long time. We finish well and you haven’t always been able to say that about us in the past. “We are a young side, but players are responding to the challenges and the responsibilities which having an injury-ravaged squad has produced.”

His team overwhelmed Penryn 42-11 on Saturday, turning the screws in the second half, in what was a pleasing display. Edwards said of his players: “Ben Ayres and Simon Edwards are working well switching between full-back and scrum-half. They are talented players. “I thought Stuart MacKay had his best match of the season on the wing and will get better. “Lock Alex Gallina had a super match, and the front row just gets better and better. “That front three (Tim Grove, Ritchie Craig and Dave Johnston) have had their doubters this season, including me to a degree, but they have proved everyone wrong. “Make no mistake, matches are still won and lost up front.”

On Saturday Maids travel to Oxford to play a struggling Harlequins team in what Edwards is calling a ‘classic banana skin’. He said: “This is Clevedon all over again. We are away to a team with little confidence, but if we are not focused and do not play our best game, it will be tough. “If we turn it on, as we can, we could win by a big score.” The Maids coach also confirmed the first of two Australian players, from Queensland, will be in the country in a week’s time. The second will follow shortly after, and both will add depth to the forwards as one is a prop and the other a No.6/lock.