Match report courtesy of the

Maids hit top gear to thump Reading

Saturday 17th March 2007

ISN'T it nice when everything just works. On Saturday it did, and Maids ensured that Reading were no more competitive than a sheep in an abattoir by producing a devastating eight-try display to destroy their in-form Berkshire rivals 52-13.

The sun may have shone brightly at Braywick but it was the 15 Maids who really dazzled, with a clinical, committed team display that proved too much for Reading. The visitors had arrived at Braywick on the back of five successive wins - they left with their tails firmly between their legs. Reading were, with only a few moments of relief, played off the park in every department.

This was not simply a fluid performance from the backs, or a grinding workman-like display from the pack - this was the day it all came together. While Reading seemed happy to play an old-fashioned, stick it up your jumper eight-man game on the few occasions they did get hold of the ball, Maids combined backs and forwards to play as fluid 15-man game as you could wish to see for a hugely impressive win, whatever the poverty of rugby coming the other way.

The first five minutes showed no signs of what was to come, as both sides struggled with swirling wind. But Maids settled first and their early dominance was rewarded when the unflappable Mark Ruddick¹s piercing miss-pass put Joe Plamus in space and he was through the defence and under the posts in a flash.

Driven on by the boot of James Cathcart, Reading hit back with a try of their own through Duncan Hollison as their forwards began to look as though they could prove to be a handful. A Cathcart penalty two minutes later actually put the visitors 8-7 ahead, but then Maids grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and killed it stone dead with some vintage rugby.

Jonny Hammond shrugged off three tacklers to crash over after 36 minutes. Buoyed by the score, Maids moved into top gear and suddenly the drip of Maids domination turned into a downpour. Max Willcocks spun out of one tackle after another and put Ruddick in the clear and he offloaded to the tireless Mark Parkhouse who finished a move that would not have looked out of place at Twickenham. Stuart Mackay added the third quick-fire try a minute later, dancing round his defender with feet as quick as pick-pockets hands to make it 28-8 at half-time.

Maids started the second half like a whirlwind, Simon Cripps once again trampled his tackler to score within a minute of the restart to make it 33-8. Maids¹ next score was one the pack will cherish as they gave the Reading forwards a taste of their own medicine with a classic rolling maul that Richie Craig finished-off with a beaming smile on his face. Max Willcocks added the final try, from a move started with substitute Dan Martin who burst into space and picked the perfect pass to put Willcocks clear. Reading scored a late consolation but that was all it was. Everywhere you looked, Maids impressed. Alex Gallina was again magnificent in the line-out, Paul Jones was unstoppable around the fringes and Plamus tormented Reading with his verve from broken play.

Everything worked on Saturday because Maids were committed and clinical all over the pitch. It was the day when Maids delivered on the immense potential they have shown this season. If this team can stay together and remember how it feels to play like they did on Saturday then there is no telling what they can achieve next season.

Maids:
Blackwell, Craig, Johnston, Jones, Mueller, Gallina, Parkhouse, Riley, Edwards, Ruddick, Mackay, Willcocks, Hammond, Cripps, Plamus.