ONLY two games now separate Maidenhead RFC from automatic promotion and an emotional return to South West Division 1.
The first is tomorrow’s (Saturday’s) clash with Oakmeadians at Braywick, kick-off 3pm, and club coach Simon Edwards is urging the town to turn out and support their local side.
He said: “When we beat Swanage at home there's no question the crowd helped us win it. So I’m asking them to turn out and help us again. If you enjoy watching rugby on the television, it's even better live.
“We're playing the best rugby we've played in many years at the moment. And these games are the biggest games we’ve had for many years.”
Oakmeadians are currently fourth in the league, but are the only side, other than Maids, to have beaten second-placed Swanage & Wareham, so should provide stiff opposition.
Edwards agreed, saying: “Oakmeadians are a very tidy side. They gave us a good battle up front last time and we're expecting another one.
“We're not going to give them too much respect, but they are a very capable side and can beat anyone in this league on their day.
“We need to be at our best and I'm looking forward to a great game.”
The Bounremouth side’s scoring record does not compare too favourably with Maids’, having scored 65 tries to their hosts’ 103.
Their back-row does come close, with 19 tries to Maids’ 21, but Edwards believes his backs will be the deciding factor.
He said: “We have the best backs division in the league and that's becoming a telling factor.
“We no longer rely on the forwards to score and it's far harder to defend against a good set of backs.”
Maids complete their league fixtures in a fortnight's time with a trip to local rivals Marlow.
Meanwhile, title rivals Swanage & Wareham have the seemingly simple task of defeating league stragglers Frome.
The Swans complete their season in a fortnight’s time with a tough home clash against resilient Reading Abbey, who they only beat by a single point in the reverse fixture at Rosehill.
Abbey have sworn revenge for that defeat, a game they believe they should have won, but Edwards is not relying on results elsewhere going his way.
He added: “If I was Swanage I would be saying game on. I'd be playing for two wins and looking at us to slip up. So let's have no doubts, we have to win both our remaining games.”