MAIDENHEAD filled Saturday’s blank fixture with a 42-17 win over Newbury 2nds, in a confidence boosting friendly at Braywick.
The result was particularly significant in that Maids were 7-0 down almost from the off, but then out scored their illustrious visitors by 42 points to 10 in the remaining 79 minutes of play.
The game also provided an ideal opportunity to blood new players, and produced some very encouraging performances from some of last year’s highly successful Colts.
Manager for the month Andy Barron said: “Newbury started on the front foot, scoring seven points before we’d touched the ball.
“But then we put on 20 unanswered points and went on from there. They were never in it after that.
“It was a good allround team performance. Everyone did their bit and we competed for everything. And for the first time this season we kept the ball alive. It was probably the best performance we have put in this season.
“It’s a shame it was a friendly, but the competition was as good as anything in our league and it shows we’re starting to get better.”
He was also full of praise for the new boys, adding: “Terry Rainer, from Simon’s (Edwards) Colts side, was in the front row and he did very well.
“We also played Dan Martin at No.10. He’s another one from the Colts, and he did very well also.
“It was a good blooding match for them and they both did pretty well.”
Tomorrow (Saturday), Maids travel to Salisbury for a match which should be two points in the bag, as the Wiltshire side have suffered four defeats in their opening five league games, with their single win being a 14-3 victory over pointless Amersham & Chiltern.
They are also haemorrhaging points at a rate of 25 per game, while scoring an average of just 12.
Barron said: “I know Chippenham put 40 points on them last week, but apart from that I don’t know much about them.
“We’ll be looking to build on last weekend’s performance , so we’ll be fielding a pretty strong side.
“Rene and Jody (Dance) will be back in the front row. Paul Rogers is back in the side, and Piers and Patricio are back from suspension.
“Every match in this league is interesting, but if we play like we did on Saturday and stay committed to winning we can do the job.”
The one notable absence from the side will be Barron himself, who has taken over the coaching role from Tony Brooks for the whole of October.
Barron added: “Most of my efforts are going towards coaching at the moment.
“I played at the weekend at No.6 because everyone else was injured or suspended, but I’ll be back on the bench on Saturday.
“My job is to make sure we win our next two league matches, then I’ll get back on the park and play.”