Match report courtesy of the

Saturday 16th February 2008

LOGIC and the fortunes of Maidenhead Rugby Club this season, parted company many months ago. But the facts don't lie, Maids are in big trouble and edging closer to what would be a catastrophic relegation for the club.

A one-point defeat against one of the league's top three sides might, on the face of it, be encouraging, indeed Maids could have won the game had Simon Swadling swept a last minute conversion between, and not six inches to the right of the posts. But history is written by winners and the truth is, the game was lost long before those dramatic final minutes.

Maids should have been out of sight by half-time, but their game lacked clarity and snap. In the second half the backs were almost anonymous as the pack got suckered into a brawl, allowing themselves to be slowed and controlled. As a result Maids lacked dynamism, as well as, crucially, field position.

They were forced to play the game at Cleve's tempo, and it didn't suit. At the breakdown bodies were flying, arms stretching, but there was a lack of quick ball. Clogged and fitful, the pile-ups dragged on and the game slipped away.

It hadn't started well for Maids, Mark Parkhouse, the usually reliable flanker, fumbled the kick-off and the ball spilled forward to Richie Craig who gathered it from an offside position. Steve Hunt, the Cleve No.8, stroked the resulting penalty between the posts and visitors were 3-0 ahead without actually touching the ball. However, Maids recovered from that early set back and began to find some sort of rhythm and for the remainder of the first half were camped deep in Cleve territory.

A combination of gutsy defence and poor execution saw Maids fail to turn their clear superiority into points. It took them 23 minutes to level the scores with a Swadling penalty. There were glimpses of Maids' attacking potential, especially in the backs, but too often the final pass failed to find its target. Maids did earn a penalty on the stroke of half-time but the ball skewed off Swadling's boot with the posts at his mercy.

Stern words at half-time appeared to have had the desired effect when Swadling put Maids 6-3 ahead within four minutes of the restart. Stuart Mackay was denied a certain try eight minutes later, when Shack Ajuwa's deliberate knock-on diverted Abrahams' pass. The Cleve winger could have been sin-binned, Maids punished him with points. Swadling prodded the ball into touch within the shadows of the posts, the line-out clicked perfectly and Richie Craig drove his pack on only to be held up inches short. Mark Mueller tried his luck from three yards, but was held up. However, with defenders sucked in, Maids, at last, went wide, and Abrahams released Cripps who dived over to give Maids an 11-3 lead.

Game over? No chance - it had just begun. For no apparent reason Maids switched off, kicks went straight out, passes were dropped and tackle after tackle was missed. Maids were fractured and stodgy, unable, and at times unwilling, to break free of the grapple fest that occurred around the breakdown. Cleve took full advantage. When the visitors scored a try of their own, a brilliant individual score by Joe Ajuwa after 65 minutes, it came as no surprise. Hunt added the conversion and from nowhere Cleve were within a point at 11-10.

They led six minutes later when a series of missed tackles allowed Cleve deep into Maids territory, when the ball went wide, Liam Smye, chipped beyond the onrushing defence and gathered for a terrific score that Hunt converted to give Cleve a 17-11 lead with six minutes remaining. Maids did pull a score back through Abrahams, who held off two defenders to go over some 15 metres to the right of the posts.

It gave Swadling the chance to win the game for Maids, one he couldn't take. But the truth was this game was lost long before Swadling missed a kick that might have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

It is clear that the confidence that coursed through the side last season has gone. When the pressure comes on, Maids are prone to forcing the issue in contact. If Maids can go back to basics they still have the talent to trouble the very best defences in the league.

Maidenhead:
Abrahams, Cripps (Arends 75), Hammond, Swadling, Mackay, Ruddick, Edwards, O¹Byrne (Blackwell 61), Craig, Hadfield, Mueller, Gallina, Morgan, Parkhouse (Knox, 58) Riley.