MAIDENHEAD RFC face their toughest test of the season tomorrow (Saturday), when they take on rampant Reading Abbey at Braywick, kick-off 3pm.
The visitors have played four, won four, while scoring 129 points and conceding just five.
Following last week’s shock sacking of 1st team coach Brenton Fielke, club chief executive Simon Edwards has now stepped into the hot seat.
But even he admitted tomorrow’s clash might be a bridge too far for a team under construction.
He said: “It’s probably a game too soon for me, having only come back on board 10 days ago.
“Abbey have a new coach and a few new players and they are playing fantastic rugby.
“We’re major underdogs this week. To say that going into a game against Abbey is quite a surprise.
“It’s the first time in a long time that we’ve come up against them as underdogs. Perhaps the first time ever.
“All credit to them, they have started very strongly.
A team that’s only conceded five points in four games is clearly doing something right.”
However, never one to concede defeat, he added: “Someone is going to have to sort them out and it might as well be us.”
With strike runner Simon Cripps fit again and former England under 18 skipper Jonny Hammond making his senior club debut on the wing, a fast-flowing game of running rugby could be on the cards.
However, with Maidenhead’s pack now firing on all cylinders, Edwards’ options are fairly open, making this a tough match to predict.
Edwards’ first week in charge saw Maids storm to victory in Chippenham on Saturday, a fixture which has proved a bit of a banana skin in the past.
However, the combative coach still saw plenty of scope for improvement, saying: “In the first half we played to the conditions, kept the ball in hand and sent our forwards into their lightweight backs. They (Chippenham) didn’t get a sniff.
“But we didn’t play the right game in the second half.
“We tried to play the same game and ran out of steam, when it just wanted wellying into the corner.”