Match report courtesy of the

Saturday 13th October 2007

THE RESULT may never have been in doubt, but Maidenhead made hard work of brushing a gutsy Marlow aside to progress to the round 2 of the EDF Energy Trophy on Saturday.

A 43-5 victory might suggest a comfortable flowing victory for Maids. It was anything but. We have been accustomed to seeing Maids win with a swagger. That swagger has gone for now, and without the likes of Jonny Hammond, Max Willcocks, Joe Plamus and captain Mark Ruddick they are, rather like another well-known rugby side at the moment, having to scrap for every single point.

On Saturday Maids played within their limits and won the old fashioned way - by getting down on their hands and knees and fighting for every point in the blood and the mud at Marlow. In many ways it was a frustrating game to watch, with forward power and ferocious tackling negating any creativity in the backs. Seven tries to one hardly tells the full story of the game, nor of the ferocity of the battle.

An experienced Marlow pack signalled their intentions from the off as they emerged a hungry, aggressive unit, determined not to be brushed aside. Maids took time to settle, to be fair Marlow didn't allow them to find their comfort zone. The visitors went ahead in the 12th minute, the newly formed centre partnership of Simon Cripps and Stuart Mackay functioning nicely, Cripps bursting through the line and offloading to the rampaging Mark Mueller, the ball found its way to Simon Swadling who cantered across the line. Swadling couldn't add the conversion. But Maids were 5-0 ahead.

Buoyed by the score Maids stepped up a gear and suddenly a drip of Maids domination turned into a downpour, James McDonald's neat break made space in midfield and a bruising Cripps' run ended with him crashing over in the corner, a score that put Maids 10 points clear. Maids then shook the hosts to their bootlaces with a third try within five minutes. Cripps offloading to Mackay in midfield who produced a clinical finish to score under the posts. Swadling added the conversion to make it 17-0.

It got worse for Marlow as they saw any hopes they had drifting away on the breeze, Mackay grabbed his second try three minutes later collecting Gareth Edwards' perfect pass to cut the Marlow defence to ribbons. At 22-0 Marlow maintained their belief. They rattled Maids up front with their physicality and deserved their try when it came after 35 minutes. It was the veteran Paul Sharp who emerged from under a pile of bodies after a typically brutal catch and drive saw Marlow crash over from close-range. Maids cancelled that score out before half-time, Mackay turning on the after burners to finish a fine individual score. Swadling kicked the conversion to make it 29-5 at half-time.

Any hopes Marlow might have had of staging a second half revival were dashed after 53 minutes, when Ewan Jones was sin-binned for appearing to throw a punch at Greg Riley. Marlow's lack of discipline was punished, the elusive running of Warren finishing off another well-taken try, following a half-break by Gallina and a well-angled run by Mark Parkhouse which gave Abrahams a sight of the line, it was all he needed and Maids were 36-5 ahead. Roko Babich touched down in the dying minutes to give a gloss to the 43-5 final score, Swadling added the extras.

Marlow deserve credit for limiting Maids. Maids were well below full strength in the backs, and Marlow never looked to have the class to trouble Maids out wide. But they did frustrate Maids and they should be given credit for that at least. For Maids it was never going to be easy. They will undoubtedly have to become more clinical if they are to extend their run in this season's competition beyond the second round.

Maidenhead: Abrahams, Carter, Cripps, Mackay, Swadling, McDonald, Edwards, Gallina, Kertesz, G Riley, Mueller, Babich, Blackwell, Craig, O¹Byrne. Subs used: Andrew, Barber, Parkhouse, A Riley, Greene.
Marlow: Hunter, Golding, Pincott, Lewis, Ellis, Swadling, Avery, Jones, Rodger, Parkhouse, Martin, Robinson, Luke, Holling, Sharp. Subs used: Rees, Townsend, Lamden, Bishop, Smyth.