Match report and picture courtesy of the

Cleve'd asunder

A fit, fast and effective Cleve outfit were left battered and bewildered at Braywick on Saturday, as a depleted Maidenhead side showed them the meaning of fighting spirit.

Having romped to a 30-point win at Basingstoke the previous week, the Bristol side oozed confidence in the opening exchanges and looked set to claim another valuable scalp, as good handling, indifferent tackling from Maids and some questionable refereeing gifted them a 10-0 lead with just 13 minutes played.

However, Cleve's discipline then let them down, when the tight-head prop smashed into Gareth Edwards as he jumped to collect an up-and-under. The referee belatedly awarded a penalty, which Rob Hawkins swept between the posts to put Maidenhead on the scoreboard.

Cleve were unimpressed and extended their lead to 12 points from the restart, Maids first surrendering possession and then succumbing to a lightning counter-attack.

Luke Cozens missed the conversion but his side had a healthy 15-3 advantage, while Maids seemed to be in disarray.

Indeed, Cozens was the architect of Maids' misery, with his quick wit and accurate boot giving the visitors the edge. Then, out of the blue, Maids centre Max Willcocks scored, charging down fullback Tom Hurley's attempted clearance and collecting the loose ball to dot down behind the posts. Hawkins lapped up the extras and Cleve were kicking themselves. Maids then rubbed salt into the wounds, scoring twice more before the break. The first came from a simple break by Willcocks, who came inside his man, drew the winger then passed outside to the unmarked Danny Walton. He streaked along the touchline to pull the fullback out of position before passing back inside to Willcocks for the simplest of tries beneath the posts.

Hawkins' kick made it 17-15 to the hosts, while his long-range last-minute penalty sent Maids into the break with a five-point advantage. Cleve were down but not out and roared back to life from the restart, when recently released Bristol centre Jon Pritchard intercepted a wayward pass and ran in to score on the left. Cozens converted to give his side a slender two-point lead.

Maids lost their way temporarily and repeatedly gave away possession with some rather reckless kicking. The visitors took full advantage, with Cozens converting a penalty and then a drop goal to stretch out an eight-point lead at 28-20. Cleve looked like running away with it at this stage, but Maids dug deep, found another gear and blew their guests away with a barrage of scores. Directly from the restart, Willcocks was held up metres short of the line but won a penalty which Hawkins dispatched with aplomb. A spurious refereeing decision then gifted Cleve a lineout inside Maids 22, from which the hosts launched a free-flowing counter-attack, which ended with Willcocks being tackled five metres short of the line.

However, the support arrived at speed, allowing Maids to retain possession and spin it wide to the hard-working Mark Mueller, who carried three tacklers to the line for a superb try, converted by Hawkins for a 30-28 lead.

Five minutes later, Maidenhead's revival was complete, when Jonny Hammond intercepted the ball in midfield and scorched away, only to be tackled 10 metres shy of the line. Once again, Maids retained possession and quick ball down the line put Greg Riley over in the corner, before another sublime kick handed the hosts a nine-point cushion. The referee intervened to reduce the deficit, when a ridiculous offside decision gifted Cleve a lineout five metres out. Maids did well to turn over possession, but a poaching Cleve forward knocked the ball out of fly-half Mark Ruddick's grasp from an offside position, and the loose head prop dived on the ball to score a bizarre and undeserved try. The incident might have rattled some teams, but Maids seemed set on revenge and ended the contest in added time, when a miscued clearance was fielded on the touchline by Walton, who passed inside to Willcocks. Ignoring the rest of this team, the talented centre stuck his head down and bulldozed his way through three tackles to score in the corner.

Hawkins was off-target with the kick from the touchline, but it mattered not, as the final whistle sent the sizeable home crowd into raptures. Cleve looked shattered, as their skilful, intelligent play had failed to deliver the desired result, leaving Maids to revel in their ability to score from almost anywhere on the pitch.

Maidenhead RFC: R Hawkins, A Cannon, J Hammond, M Wilcocks, D Walton, M Ruddick, G Edwards, A Riley, R Craig, T Grove, J Thomas, M Mueller, M Parkhouse, G Riley, P Windeyer. Subs: G Blackwell, J Knox.
Cleve RFC: Hurley, Gapper, Setherton, Pritchard, Ajuwa, Cozens, Smyth, Sanders, Down, O'Donnell, Hunt, Gaston, Yates, Hill, Roach.

True Maidenhead grit
A stirring win over a very decent Cleve side propelled Maidenhead up to third place in the league this week, rekindling hopes of a promotion push. The victory was based on hard work, passion and resilience, and also a little nous.

Coach Simon Edwards explained: "Cleve are a good side. They're an up-and-coming team and they've invested heavily in players and their ground. "We went into that game without either of our lineout jumpers. The ref was dreadful for us and afterwards he admitted it. Every knock-on we did he gave, and every one they did, he didn't. "But I did a lot of homework on this team. We knew their strengths and our plan worked.

"You didn't see their No.8, and I know all about their young No.10. I know what his head does. We knew if we got into him he'd be forced to play a game he didn't want to." Edwards also expounded on the value of recruiting locally, and what that does for team spirit. He said: "We won it with a very good performance from what was effectively not our first choice team. "It's games like that that show you why you need local players. "That's true Maidenhead grit. They learned a lot against St Ives, when they backed off. But they proved this week it's an 80-minute game and the fitness came through., "It was a thoroughly good 15-man performance. And bought players won't dig deep for you like that. "Edwards has made a high-profile signing this week, with young centre Stuart Mackay rejoining the club after just four weeks at Bracknell. He said: "Stuart is more than happy to be back at Maidenhead, and he's delighted to put on whatever shirt he's given. "And I'm pleased he's back too."

Maids travel to Basingstoke on Saturday, who have made an indifferent start to the season. But Edwards is taking nothing for granted. He said: "They're always a hard side to beat at home. "We're expecting a monster, but we want to win. "We want to stay in the top three, so we just have to keep plugging away."