Match report courtesy of the

Maidenhead will be kicking themselves for losing a game which they had the armoury to win but failed to take many scoring opportunities, allowing a lively Chippenham team to earn an eventually deserved win.

With their talent behind the scrum, Maids should have been able to wrap this game up and had enough ball to have done so, but a combination of poor passing and wrong choices kept Chippenham in the game. The visitors' forwards gradually asserted their superior weight over a home pack who, for once this season, came second.

However, it was Maids who scored first when Rob Hawkins kicked an early penalty, while Max Willcocks and Simon Cripps had promising early runs. The lead did not last as Chippenham were awarded a penalty under the home posts, which they deigned not to kick, and from the quick penalty Maids forwards were unable to prevent prop Duggard from burrowing over for a try converted by Twyning.

Immediately, Maids' three-quarters ran the ball along the line to give Cripps a long run on the wing, only for him to be bundled into touch in the corner. An even better opportunity came when Cripps again made another strong run, and, with only one last defender to beat and a certain seven points in the bag, was forced to put a foot into touch.

Although the pack was winning their fair share of ball, the backs were making too many handling mistakes from straightforward moves and Stuart Mackay, fielding attacking kicks ahead by Chippenham fly-half Crockett, was caught each time he tried to run the ball out of trouble. Maids recovered though and Hawkins kicked an easy penalty, and the hosts soon took the lead when, from a quick penalty by Mark Ruddick, prop Ashley Riley gave Mackay the chance to stretch his legs for an unconverted try in the corner. Individually, the powerful Maids back line looked very dangerous but poor passing and solo efforts by Jonny Hammond and Willcocks foundered with the last pass. The backs were standing too far away from each other and the number of times the ball was dropped in good attacking positions encouraged individual efforts, which were contained by good Chippenham defence.

The Maids defence close to the scrum was not as sound as usual and a long break by Brant in the centre, who nearly scored under the posts, exposed some fragile tackling. The large Chippenham forwards were imposing their weight in loose mauls and, from a rolling maul in the home 22, the referee awarded a penalty try for pulling the maul down to give the visitors a 14-11 half-time lead.

Alex Cannon came on for the injured Cripps, and Alex Gallina replaced Joe Thomas who had a sound game particularly in the loose. Despite this, Maids found it increasingly difficult to get out of their own half and, from a loose scrum near the home line, No.8 Gaiger burrowed over to increase the visitors¹ lead to 19-11. Maids' woes increased when, from an attacking lineout in their 22, Brant made a half-break and slipped a beautifully timed inside pass to fly-half Crockett, who took it at speed to score an opportunist try under the posts for 26-11.

The visitors were becoming more confident and only a desperate last-ditch tackle prevented scrum-half Trewartha from scoring after a long break through the middle. Almost dead and buried, eventually a long break by Hammond gave Mackay, who had spent the previous 10 minutes off the field with a yellow card, an easy try converted by Hawkins. But immediately afterwards, weak tackling allowed full-back Twyning to force a penalty under the posts, which was converted.

A last-minute break by Willcocks showed what should have been with Cannon taking a scoring pass for a try in the corner. Hawkins¹s kick hit the post to sum up the day for Maids and their supporters.