Maids contribute to own downfall (13.11.04)

MAIDS were out-fought, out-thought and out-played by a very useful Oxford Harlequins outfit at Braywick on Saturday afternoon, although the final scoreline really flattered the visitors.
Contributing factors to the defeat were some rather eccentric refereeing and a lack of discipline, much of which was directed at the eccentric refereeing.
However, although Maids may argue about the size of the defeat – and the quality of the officials in South West 1 – the defeat itself was largely self-inflicted.
The game began with a refereeing decision in Maids’ favour, when Jonny Hammond attempted to break the Oxford defence, only to take a heavy hit from the impressive No.12.
As the forwards piled in the referee lifted his whistle to his lips and awarded a penalty to Maids, which Danny Walton chipped through the posts for a 3-0 lead.
Oxford wasted a golden opportunity to take the lead on four minutes, but the Harlequins hooker dropped a short pass from the lightning-quick No.14 just two yards short of the try line.
But there was to be no such let-off two minutes later, when Stuart MacKay conceded a penalty for a body-check, which was taken quickly and run in by the inside centre.
Thankfully the Oxford fly-half had left his kicking boots at home and missed the first of many simple conversions.
With the referee now blowing for everything, real and imagined, it was only a matter of time before Maids earned their first yellow card.
And that time came on 20 minutes, when Cormac O’Byrne was dispatched to the sin bin for delaying an Oxford penalty.
Despite being reduced to 14 men, Maids lifted their game and promptly scored.
A deep penalty kick from Mark Ruddick set up a lineout just short of the Oxford line, resulting in a catch-and-drive try for young prop George Blackwell.
Walton slotted the difficult conversion and Maids were back in the driving seat.
Maids extended their lead when Walton converted another penalty from right in front of the posts to make it 13-5.
But back came Oxford to score a second try right from the restart, when a mistake by openside flanker Peter Windeyer gifted the visitors possession, setting up his opposite number for a score close to the posts.
Half-time proved a real turning point in this game, as within 12 minutes of the restart Oxford had established a controversial
14-point lead.
The mayhem began with a mystery penalty, which handed the Oxford scrum-half an unopposed score from five yards out. A simple chip over the top produced the next score, when Maidenhead fullback Danny Martin rejected two chances to collect the ball cleanly, allowing the Oxford centre to canter in from 25 yards.
But it was the third score of the half which really got Maids’ hackles up, when the referee gifted Oxford a penalty try for not retreating, having awarded the initial penalty for backchat.
To their great credit, Maids again raised their game and fought back to within seven points of their guests, when substitute Ben Ayres released Hammond to score under the posts. Walton again converted.
The optimist might have hoped Maids would go on to win, but any hope of a stirring revival were cut short on 67 minutes, when the referee awarded Oxford another mystery penalty, which ultimately resulted in another easy score on the wing for the No.14.
The opposite winger crashed over just minutes later, before two further tries added a slightly surreal quality to the final scoreline. The first of these was a second and bizarrely awarded penalty try, conceded when Martin and Walton pulled off a brilliant defensive move to deny the Oxford fullback a seemingly certain score.
Despite there being only four players at the breakdown, the man in black decided one of them was offside and awarded the try.
As the final whistle sounded, Maids were rightly aggrieved by the one-sided penalty count.
But it was their inability to secure clean possession from either the set pieces or the loose which ultimately cost them dear, as their talented backs were starved of the possession they so desperately craved.
It must also be said that the Harlequins were just too cute for their hosts, as they played the rules and the referee like a well-tuned fiddle.

BREAKAWAY: Maidenhead’s Piers Morgan evades his marker. Ref:87057/15

Maidenhead: Martin, Cripps, MacKay, Hammond, Walton, Ruddick, Edwards, Blackwell, Eddington, O’Byrne, Mueller, Booysen, Botha, Windeyer, Jones. Subs: Greene (for Blackwell), Ayres (for Edwards), Morgan (for Windeyer).