Match report courtesy of the

Saturday 6th January 2007

MAIDENHEAD were punished for not turning their dominance of possession and territory into points on Saturday, as they crashed to a 16-11 home defeat to Weston-super-Mare, a result that seems certain to have ended any hopes of reaching the play-offs.

It was a strange game in many ways, firstly because of the conditions, which were appalling especially in the first half. Secondly, because Maids dominated in every aspect of the game but still lost. And lastly, because the contest finished in near darkness after what appeared to be a sickening neck injury to Weston centre Joe Ewens, which delayed the game by 20 minutes while he received medical attention on the field. He was released from hospital on Saturday with nothing more serious than bruising to his neck.

From the outset, it had looked as if it might be a difficult day for Maids. They were without star centres Jonny Hammond and Max Willcocks and the conditions did not appear to favour the smaller Maids pack or the slick handling of their backs. However, Maids started with a hunger and drive that was too much for Weston and their ferocious tackling saw them pin the visitors in their own half time, forcing Weston to resort to kicking away possession to try and gain territory.

Allied to this commitment in defence was Maids customary incisiveness and cutting edge in the three-quarters as they produced lines of running that the immobile Weston backs could not read or contain. In the opening stages and, indeed, through much of the match, it was Simon Cripps who was the most effective Maids back. The centre carved out two chances for Maids in the first half, one from a clever break and another using his power. He looked decidedly accomplished and it was only the dropping of the final pass which denied Maids on each occasion.

The Maids pack were also magnificent, led superbly by lock Mark Mueller and No.8 Greg Riley, Maids contained and out-drove Weston from the outset. Mind you, their motivation was probably just to keep warm because the first half of this absorbing fixture was played in a monsoon. Maids defied Mother Nature by sticking to their stylish brand of attacking rugby despite the wet conditions, and Weston spent most of the first 20 minutes in their own 22.

Maids' domination was total but it was Weston who took the lead with their only attack of the first 30 minutes. Mark Armstrong slotting an easy penalty to give Weston a 3-0 lead they scarcely deserved. Dan Hawkins drew Maids level four minutes later. On 22 minutes, Maids got the try their early dominance deserved. Another fluffed clearance kick was fielded by the rock solid Hawkins, who gladly took the chance to run at Weston. Hawkins skipped past a tackler and found Stuart Mackay whose quick feet and power saw him evade two more Weston defenders, before he slipped the ball inside to Cripps, who offloaded to the tireless Mark Parkhouse to crash over the line for a brilliant opening score. Hawkins couldn't add the conversion and a Weston penalty made the score 8-6.

Maids should have extended their lead before the break. Mark Mueller was held up over the line after a rampaging run, and from the resulting five metre scrum Maids showed their dominance by pushing the Weston pack back over the line. However with the line at their mercy, the ball ran loose and the chance had gone.

The second half started well for Maids, a long range Hawkins penalty, put them 11-6 ahead with 20 minutes to go, but as the rain eased off so did Maids. The visitors got a break after an hour when a strange refereeing decision, gave Weston a good platform inside the Maids 22, and the resulting maul, allowed the Weston backs to burst into life.

Fly-half, Mark Armstrong's jinking run, took him past three Maids tacklers before he slipped the ball to TJ Madmombe who offloaded to Mike Denbee to crash over from three metres. Maids were shell shocked to be level. It was about to get worse. Two minutes later, an attacking line out allowed Weston to catch and drive the ball towards the line. For once the Maids pack couldn't halt the drive, and it was lock Ashely Russell who crashed over under a pile of bodies. Weston missed the conversion but they were ahead, 16-11.

The injury to Ewens came after 71 minutes and the medics were righly cautious about moving him and the game was stopped for 20 minutes, while an ambulance was called. Both teams were sent back to the dressing rooms and when they emerged 20 minutes later it was understandable that neither could regain the rhythm they needed to construct a meaningful attack.

Maidenhead: Hawkins, Martin, Mackay, Cripps, Cannon, Ruddick, Edwards, Johnston, Craig, A Riley (Grove, 60), Gallina, Mueller, Thomas (Jones, 60), Parkhouse, G Riley.

Weston: Vucicevic, Sprague (Hember, 54), Madamombe, Ewens (Chase, 71), Young, Armstrong, Reid, Williams (Smith, 64), Burge, Lavender, Richards, Russell, Cook, Denbee, Simpson.