AFTER a week’s lay-off, Maidenhead return to league action at Braywick tomorrow (kick-off 2.30pm), when they take on one-time title hopefuls Chippenham.
The Wiltshire side’s form has been pretty mixed of late, so they are a bit of an unknown quantity.
Having been hammered 25-0 at Salisbury two weeks ago, the Chipps managed to limit South West 2 title-challengers Swanage & Wareham to a narrow 6-3 win after extra-time in the Dorset & Wilts County Cup on Saturday.
But which Chippenham side turns up for tomorrow’s clash is anyone’s guess, although Maids coach Simon Edwards is planning for the former, rather than the latter.
He said: “I’m hoping for the one that lost at Salisbury, but I watched Saturday’s game and was impressed by both sides.”
However, Edwards is still predicting a home win, while hoping for a handsome one.
He added: “We’ve trained very well and we’re treating every game like a cup final. We might have to battle hard, but as long as we play to our best we should be too good for them.
“Our aim is to beat them by as big a score as possible, which should make Swanage think.”
Maids certainly have the firepower to clock up a big score, as they can now boast five of the division’s top-10 try-scorers, comprising No.8 Piers Morgan (15), centres Stuart Mackay (10) and Jonny Hammond (7), and wingers Simon Cripps (8) and Alex Greer (10), who have racked up a phenomenal 50 tries between them.
Edwards commented: “It’s incredible isn’t it? I take massive pride in that.
“In the past we might have had two in the top-10 and they would both have been forwards.”
In the conversion kicking stakes, Maids also have a clear advantage, with full-back Rob Hawkins now 38 points clear of Swanage & Wareham’s Phil Graves, with an impressive 58 per cent strike rate.