Maids are given a harsh lesson

MAIDENHEAD were given a harsh lesson in the realities of life in South West Division 1 with a stuffing at home to promotion-hopefuls Clifton on Saturday.
In the whole 80 minutes Maids created just three half-chances to score, and spent most of the match – especially the second half – trapped inside their own half.
It was their heaviest league defeat since April 2002 when they lost 53-12 to Cheltenham, and their first shutout in many years.
Maids seemed lacklustre and slow in comparison to their guests, although to be fair one team is geared up for National Division 3, while one is fighting to stay in South West 1.
In slippery conditions, the turnover count was high against the hosts and they were not allowed to string any phases together.
Maids looked clueless at times. Their decision-making was poor or laboured, and they lacked invention and perhaps fitness.
New boy De Wet Booysen, coming in at second row, turned in a decent display, while Sean Swartz was committed throughout.
Scrum-half Ben Ayres also caught the eye with his sniping runs, but his loss to a gashed hand on the half hour signalled the end of Maids’ attacking intents.
However, as early as the 10th minute they might have had a score, following a trademark break from Mark Mueller, which ended in the hosts losing the ball on the line.
By this stage Clifton were 3-0 to the good through the boot of John Barnes and then, on 17 minutes, Barnaby Kent made the most of turnover ball in midfield to score in the corner.
Ironically this heralded Maids’ most encouraging session of play. Winger Dave Knight broke through and was stopped 10 metres short of the line, but a subsequent forward pass interrupted the momentum.
Against the passage of play Clifton took the score to 15-0, when scrum-half Dan Frost broke a series of half-hearted tackles and dashed half the length of the pitch to score. Barnes converted. This coincided with the loss of Ayres, and Maids were never in the match after this.
A total of 24 points were conceded after the break, including two tries in the final 10 minutes, as Maids were worn down by a team which turned them with some tactical kicking and slowly turned the pressure screw.
The hosts nearly bagged a consolation score at the death, but it would not really have been deserved.

Maidenhead: Hawkins, Knight, Nisbet, Walton, Fourie, Martin, Ayres, Greene, Swartz, Johnson, Mueller, Booyse, Botha, Kertesz, Bryant. Subs: Mackay (for Ayres, 31), O’Byrne (for Johnson, 54), Windeyer (for Booysen, 54).

Clifton: Viol, S Kent, Broaders, B Kent, Lloyd, Barnes, Frost, Shortman, Morgan, White, Meredith, Butcher, Smith, Steetskamp, Lewis. Subs: Lambert, Cox, James.