MAIDENHEAD coach Simon Edwards was left with mixed feelings after his Maidenhead team lost 38-20 at Clifton on Saturday.
Although disappointed with the loss, the rugby boss was pleased his side showed improvement after being thrashed at home 39-0 by Clifton in their first game of the season.
He said: “I had hoped we could certainly make the score different to last time and we did.
“They scored one less point at home than before and we scored 20 more points than we did at home.”
However, Edwards was a little disappointed at how long it took his team to show they can play at the top level of the league.
He said: “I was disappointed by the first-half performance – I thought it was as if the players thought the game didn’t matter, and the effort I wanted was not there really.
“But we really gave them a fright for the first 25 minutes of the second half. It was one of those cases where we really needed to score to go on and get something, but we didn’t.
“Fair play to Clifton for defending so well though.”
The club chief added it was particularly frustrating that so many of Clifton’s points came from Maids errors, rather than unstoppable rugby.
He added: “You have to be honest though – Clifton were still playing for promotion to the nationals and what are we playing for? Pride. There is a big difference. Next season is another season though.”
Maidenhead now have a week off before training for the home game against Cinderford on March 12.