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Maids walk tall in Weston drama

Undefeated visitors given a run for their money by Maids

THE IRRESISTIBLE force met the immovable object at Braywick on Saturday, with the inevitable outcome. The irresistible force was resisted, and the immovable object was moved. With the hosts defending an unbeaten home record and the visitors looking to maintain their season-long winning streak, this match always promised to produce a tense encounter.

However, having thrashed Spartans 86-0 seven days earlier, Weston were the clear favourites, while Maidenhead were simply looking to regain pride following an upset at Oxford. In the end both achieved their goals, although the Somerset side were fortunate to escape with their record intact, after coming from behind to grab a late win. Indeed, any thoughts of a Weston walkover were dispelled in the opening minutes of play, as two evenly-matched sides went at it hammer and tongs. Maids were first on the scoresheet, with Mark Ruddick continuing his rich vein of kicking with a successful penalty. But within four minutes Weston replied in kind, flyhalf Jason Dick claiming three points after the Maids defence got on the wrong side of a ruck. The hosts then enjoyed a good spell of possession, with the forwards winning both scrum and lineout against the head to set up half chances for centre Simon Cripps and winger Stuart Mackay. From the latter’s 30-metre break, Maids won a penalty right in front of the posts, which Ruddick slotted between the uprights for a 6-3 lead. Maids continued to push the pace and should have extended their lead on 20 minutes, but Ruddick sliced a close-range penalty wide.

The incident did give Maids one advantage, however, as Weston lock Ashley Russell paid the price for putting his hands in the ruck with a 10-minute spell in the sin bin. With their pack reduced to seven men, Weston found their hosts too hot to handle, but bizarrely profited from this when the referee failed to reverse the put-in after Maids wheeled the visitors’ scrum. Instead, scrum half Tyson Meek snatched the ball off the back of his collapsing pack and chipped it over the Maids defence. Mackay did well to catch the kick and ran it back to the 22 metre line to set up a ruck, but Ruddick’s resulting clearance was run back by Madamombe, who dotted down beneath the posts. Dick converted and Weston held a slightly fortuitous 10-6 lead.

The response from Maids was immediate, as a long kick for touch followed by a catch-and-drive took play within yards of the Weston line, leaving scrum-half Ben Ayres to side-step the referee and duck through two tackles to score. Ruddick converted and Maids were back in control. Unfortunately, that control was then thrown away, quite literally, when Cripps chucked a wild pass at James Morris, allowing Alex Hughes to pounce on the loose ball and sprint in from 30 yards. Dick’s conversion made it 17-13 to the visitors. Apparently riled by conceding such a soft score, Maids raised their game and powered their way back into the lead. Ayres created the opening by keeping a touch-kick in play, allowing flanker Will Lowden to battle his way back into the Weston 22 with a powerful surge down the centre. Mark Mueller then drove the defence to within five yards of the try line, before the ball was fired wide to Mackay for a simple score. Ruddick missed the difficult conversion but Maids had a slender 18-17 lead going into the turn.

Having perhaps expected the game to be over by half-time, Weston found themselves bogged down in a war of attrition after the restart, with Maids looking good value for their lead – and ultimately the win. Indeed, only determined defence prevented further scores for Lowden and Cripps.Nonetheless, Weston still posed a threat on the counter, a fact which was underlined by fullback Goran Vucicevic, who made amends for spilling an up-and-under by reclaiming the ball and running it all the way back into Maids’ 22. The incident seemed to lift the visitors, who then enjoyed their best spell of the half, culminating in a successful penalty from right in front of the posts, after Paul Jones body-checked Vucicevic. With the scoreboard reading 20-18, and with time running out, Maids earned a lifeline when Weston were penalised for holding on in the tackle just inside their own half. But with the crowd anticipating a raking kick for touch, Ruddick elected to go for broke with a long-range attempt on goal, which fell five yards short of the mark. From the ensuing play, Weston again found touch in Maids’ half with a penalty kick, and their pack finished off the move by trundling over the line in the left-hand corner. Dick added the extras, and Maids’ fate was sealed.

Maidenhead: Edwards, Mackay, Hammond, Cripps, Morris, Ruddick, Ayres, Blackwell, Craig, Johnston, Gallina, Mueller, Vorster, Lowden, Morgan. Subs: Jones (for Morgan), Grove (for Blackwell), Jelski.
Weston-super-Mare: Vucicevic, Hughes, Madamombe, Lowis, Sprague, Dick, Meek, Chase, Burge, Milencovic, Richards, Russell, Hobbs, Denbee, Cook. Subs: Gallagher, Doughty, Hember. 

Coach proud of commitment
A PASSIONATE performance from Maidenhead failed to gain its just reward at home to Weston-super-Mare on Saturday, as the visitors sneaked a late win. However, despite his clear disappointment at the result, coach Simon Edwards was proud of his players and hoped he could use the game as a launch-pad for a successful run-in to Christmas. He said: "I was delighted with the commitment our players showed. Weston are the best side on their league on paper and had only conceded 49 points all season. To only concede 49 points in 10 games you have to have a defence. "But we put 18 past them in the first half. Whenever they scored we scored back. They were shell-shocked."

Unfortunately, some cute play from the Weston full-back gave the visitors a win at the death, after he chipped the ball through the Maids defence then ran straight into Paul Jones. The referee awarded a penalty, which Weston converted into a slim but decisive lead, while Jones departed to the sin-bin. Edwards was unequivocal in his interpretation of the incident, saying: "I’ve just about had it with poor refereeing decisions. Their guy should have got an Oscar. Jonesey just stood there and he ran into him. "To give a penalty was wrong, but to give a yellow card was ridiculous. It was a double blow. A penalty and a man off. It made a huge difference." Nonetheless, Edwards did concede that he and his players should shoulder some of the blame, as late substitutions and the odd careless pass also proved crucial. He said: "They got their points through our mistakes and we earned ours. "These are the games when you don’t get 20 chances. You get four or five and you have to take them. "We did that, but we also gave too many points away. "And no matter how well we played, we can’t be happy with that, because we lost. I’ll only be happy if we take this performance on to our next three games, against three of the top sides, and turn it into wins."

That ambition may have become more realistic following the arrival of Ashley Riley, a Queensland under 21 prop, who flew in early on Tuesday morning. Edwards said: "I had a three or four-man front row. The 2nds were having to play back row players at prop, which is ridiculous for a club in South West 1. "Now I have four props. It’s not about replacing people, it’s about building a squad."

Maids have no game this week, but rugby fans can watch England’s rugby academies take on Australia Schools at Braywick, kick-off 1pm.