MAIDENHEAD Rugby Club coach Simon Edwards lambasted his players this week, following their dismal showing and deserved 17-6 defeat against the previously winless Keynsham on Saturday.
The fiery Braywick supremo said: “We put in a very, very poor performance, and one I’m not prepared to accept!”
This message was clearly communicated to the players at Tuesday night’s training session, when Edwards gave them a thorough tongue-lashing.
He said: “It was probably heard in the centre of Maidenhead.
“That’s the first time in years I’ve done that. I just hope I have nipped it in the bud.”
Behind the anger is Edwards’ realisation that life in South West 1 is a season-long slog, and that a six-game winning run is not enough to avoid relegation.
He explained: “We can’t get complacent. We only have 16 points, and Oxford Harlequins got relegated on 18 points two season’s ago.
“I keep stressing this to the players. Until we get 20 points we’re not safe in this league.
“Now we have to get results in the next fortnight or we’re back in a battle for survival.”
Unfortunately, battling is a quality Maidenhead seem to have lacked in recent weeks, a fact which was underlined on Saturday.
Edwards said: “They (Keynsham) did to us what we did to Bridgwater and Oxford. We stopped them from playing, and Keynsham did that to us in the mud.
“They won the battle on the ground. We didn’t have anyone who wanted to dog it out on the deck.”
However, he also believed there was an element of luck to the West Country side’s win.
He continued: “If we had played until midnight we wouldn’t have won that game.
“We just weren’t getting the rub of the green.
“Every kick they had bounced the right way, and they didn’t drop a ball all afternoon. And in those conditions that’s just luck.
“But fair play to them, they got a result.”
Defeat to the bottom side is clearly a bitter pill to swallow, but Edwards was keen to put Saturday’s debacle behind him and focus on beating struggling Gloucester Old Boys at Braywick tomorrow (Saturday), kick-off 2.15pm.
He said: “It’s now a must-win game for us.
“But it’s make or break for them too, and they have just seen us lose to a side below them in the league, which isn’t good for us.”
However, Edwards still believes his side has the quality to prevail.
He said: “I know how I’m going to play the game and we’re going to win it.
“We won’t be underestimating them.
“We know what they’re capable of and they won’t go down without a fight.
“But it’s a game we’re very, very focused on, and if we play it right we’ll win it well.”