Match report courtesy of the

Maidenhead overcame a tricky hurdle by soundly beating hosts Oxford Harlequins on Saturday thanks to a decent comeback against a side who had some good early season results behind them.

Maids made a very slow start and conceded two early penalties by home full-back Davies, followed by a try from a lineout to be an ominous 11-0 in arrears.

However, a good try by Jonny Hammond sparked the visitors back into life and went some way to settling the nerves. Quins extended their lead to 16-5 with a straightforward try by winger Noyce, but Maids were beginning to get into the game and soon reduced the deficit with a controlled forward unconverted try to keep their free-running hosts in sight.

After half an hour, Maids began to flex their firepower behind the scrum and good handling from a quick penalty put Stuart Mackay, coming into the line between Hammond and Max Willcocks, over for an excellent try, converted by Mark Ruddick.

The Oxford players have always been noted for their willingness to throw the ball about and they kept trying to move the ball quickly. However, Maids showed them how to do it when a superb handling movement was started by the back row and continued through at least 10 pairs of hands before Willcocks touched down under the posts for Ruddick to convert for a slightly unexpected half-time lead of 24-16.

Maids continued their excellent attacking running in the second half. Quick ball presented from the lineout by Greg Riley and Brendan Lynch, helped by pinpoint throwing by Richie Craig, was giving their powerful backs plenty of chances.

Good though they were in attack, the bad defensive alignment of Ruddick, Hammond and Willcocks with dog-leg marking gave the home side long sorties into the Maids half, but Quins were unable to finish them off. Ashley Riley and Craig enjoyed running with the ball in the loose and always made good ground, but the complete domination of Lynch, Greg Riley and young colt Joe Thomas in the lineout gave the visitors a continuous supply of first-phase ball.

Always winning their own ball, the Maids' jumpers made life hard for Quins by nicking a number of their throws.

However, Quins reduced the deficit to 24-21 with a try from a rolling maul after a dubious penalty decision put them on the Maids' line. Ruddick replied with a straightforward penalty to give Maids a six-point cushion, and the security for Maids to go through their whole repertoire, gaining much ground with rolling mauls and then releasing the powerful backs.

While Maids were constructing flowing moves often going through up to 12 pairs of hands, Hammond broke the pattern with a characteristic half break and, with a superb offload, put Willcocks in for his second try, converted by Ruddick for a 34-21 lead.

For the rest of the match, Maids continued to play total rugby with excellent handling by the whole team.

A last try to add a much deserved gloss to the scoreline was denied the visitors by a poor refereeing decision that the final pass went forward, while another glorious opportunity was squandered when what should have been the final ball was thrown at Danny Walton's feet.

Nevertheless, it was a very good victory by Maids in which the forwards created good quick ball in the loose and dominated the lineout, in which Greg Riley was outstanding, playing his best game for the club and fully deserving of the man of the match award.