AN UNCONVINCING victory over Amersham & Chiltern gave Maidenhead Rugby Club their first points of the season on Saturday.
But the result was a much narrower winning margin than anyone would have expected.
Coach Tony Brooks concurred, although he was delighted his side had managed to record a victory, no matter how slim.
He said: “We’re not functioning anywhere near our ability yet.
“It wasn’t a particularly good game to watch.
“Our lineout was awful. We were missing targets and not lifting. It was very untidy.
“It’s baffling really, so it’s back to the drawing board and we’ll start again.”
Having fallen behind in the first half, Maidenhead’s experienced pack finally got the upper-hand after the break.
However, it took them until the dying minutes to open up a respectable gap, even though their opponents are currently propping up the league table.
Set pieces were the main source of Maids’ problems, but this was compounded by an apparent lack of imagination.
Put simply, when Plan A failed to produce the goods, the forwards seemed incapable of swapping to Plan B, forcing their classy backs to watch on in growing frustration.
“The boys can play a hell of a lot better than they currently are. I think it’s a matter of confidence and belief,” said Brooks.
“But at the end of the day it was a league win, which is very important to us.
“It was paramount that we came away with a victory and we achieved that.
“Our other objective was to come away with a clean sheet – in terms of tries – and we did that too.”
And, in fairness, Maids did defend well, with some memorable tackles from No.8 Robin Bryant and winger Simon Cripps adding some much needed spice to an otherwise dull affair.
Brooks also commented on the referee’s contribution to Maids’ lacklustre performance, adding: “There were quite a few interesting decisions.”