MAIDENHEAD coach Simon Edwards was clearly moved by his team’s performance on Saturday.
He said: “That was gutsy. You build seasons on games like that.
“It was a cracking match to watch, and it's nice when a game plan works.
“When they scored early on they thought ‘Here we go, here's another 60 pointer’. But we set our stall out to stop that.
“I thought I’d spotted a weak link in their play when I watched them at Oxford Harlequins and that’s the area we targeted.
“For most of the game we stopped them from getting it wide, because it was slow ball and we up in their faces.
“At half-time they were shaken to their roots. It was a fantastic defensive display, and defences win games.
“The second half was ours. The kicking display from Rob Hawkins was fantastic, but it only happened because we in their faces and forcing them into mistakes.”
In the first half, Maidenhead’s out-of-hand kicking was all too often dropping straight into Bridgwater hands, but this too was part of the game plan, with Edwards instructing his players to keep the ball live and starve the visitors of lineout ball. “It was a day for tactics and a fantastic performance from the players. They produced exactly what I asked for.
“I said last week I wanted to nick a win against one of the top sides and now we’ve done it,” said Edwards.
The back row has given Edwards cause for concern this season, prompting him to bring Nick Kertesz back from university for Saturday’s game.
Still looking to strengthen the pack Edwards has now made another signing, in the rugged form of Will Lowden, a former Maidenhead Colt and subsequently a Scottish under 19 international, who will be on the bench for tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) trip to Chinnor.
Edwards said: “Simon Cripps is also back on Saturday, as are Jacques Botha and Danny Martin.
“We’re up to reasonable strength now but we mustn’t get carried away.
“It’s a massive game. It’s a good local derby and they’re always up for a good battle. So we mustn’t go down there thinking we’ve just beaten Bridgwater.
“We’ve got to take it one game at a time. But I do believe we can get four points before Christmas.
“If we can get two wins in the next two weeks we can go into the New Year against some of the lower teams with more confidence.”