Match report courtesy of the

Maidenhead had far too many gears for Reading Abbey at Braywick on Saturday, maintaining a clean sheet while piling on seven mouth-watering tries.

The visitors ­ who had conceded 90 points the previous week ­ showed plenty of fight and at no stage gave up, despite the pummelling they received. Indeed their pack more than matched the host's, but it was behind the scrum where the tremendous cavern in ability and threat was evident.

Maids have pace, flair and try-scorers aplenty in the backs, and at any stage, particularly from broken play, they appeared to be able to run the ball in at will. All the backs got in on the action, with Stuart Mackay and Max Willcocks brushing aside numerous tackles while fans' favourite Danny Walton bagged what surely will be Maids' solo try of the season.

Yet this demolition job started in fragmented fashion, with both teams struggling with their handling and unable to produce any effective phases. Abbey's tactic was to use the wind in the first half and kick to the corner, which was expertly done by stand-off Jim Dye.

However, this merely turned possession over to the hosts who kept things simple and cleared their lines, knowing their chance to dominate would come in the second half.

In fact, Maids only really crossed the halfway line three times in the first period and scored excellent tries on each occasion. The first came on 14 minutes when winger Mackay slipped various tackles in midfield to set up Mark Parkhouse metres from the line. Mackay was again the provider 16 minutes later, this time with Jonny Hammond being the beneficiary, following another slippery run which was originally instigated by Willcocks and Joe Plamus.

Finally, after a period of defending, the ball again went loose in broken play and Maids capitalised on the strengths of their backs, who were now hunting in packs. This time it was Willcocks who carved his way through before setting up winger Alex Cannon for a comfortable touchdown. Mark Ruddick scored all three conversions and with the visitors' confidence not being helped by Tom Waterhouse missing three very gettable penalties, Maids were 21-0 up at the break and with the wind in their favour to come.

The second half was one-way traffic as Maids dominated territorially and eventually snatched four more tries as Abbey were worn down. It took 11 minutes for Maids to get back on the scoresheet and they did this through Mackay after a Hammond break was unchecked. Then, on 63 minutes, substitute scrum-half Simon Carter, who replaced the limping Joe Plamus, snuck through a gap in the tiring defence to run in from 25 yards, and this was soon followed by a piece of individual brilliance from Walton.

The No.9, who was moved to full-back for the final 30 minutes, picked up a loose ball on the left flank well inside his own half. A burst of speed took him past the initial defenders, and then a chip-and-catch over the winger and then again over the fullback saw him complete a cheeky but memorable try. The rout was completed on 78 minutes when Cannon found space on the wing and touched down in the corner ­ the only try the hosts did not score under the posts.

Ruddick missed the conversion, but with six out of seven to his name, and with six different try-scorers getting in on the act, there were plenty of Maidenhead players satisfied with their day's work.

This was a satisfying and comfortable win for Maids, but their pack will surely be more rigorously tested and their backs subject to better tackling in the weeks ahead.

Maidenhead:
Plamus, Mackay, Hammond, Willcocks, Cannon, Ruddick, Walton, Grove, Craig, A Riley, Thomas, Mueller, Lynch, Parkhouse, G Riley. Subs: Carter (for Plamus, 44), Knox (for Walton, 78), Fennell (not used).

Reading Abbey:
Waterhouse, Rowley, Foster, Burch, Hamman, Dye, Caddick, Muggeridge, Mutepfa, Walsh, S Hallett, Finnie, Robinson, J Hallett, Willis. Subs: Simpson, Williams, Anfield.