MAIDENHEAD RFC’s 32-15 defeat to Stroud on Saturday may have sent shock waves through the rest of the league, but coach Simon Edwards is still looking on the bright side of life at Braywick.
Four weeks ago, Maidenhead were on the back of three straight defeats and Edwards was considering his future at the club.
Back then he claimed he would be happy with two wins out of the next four matches and, despite this latest upset, Maidenhead are now mid-table with three wins out of four.
Edwards said: “We got caught out, that’s all.
“Stroud had lost their last five games, four to sides we also lost to, so they knew they had to up their game.
“But the one that was really poor for them was last week against Dorchester.
“I’m certain they had the riot act read to them after that and they saw this as a make or break match for their whole season. We simply didn’t respond to that.”
From the sidelines it looked as though Maids’ forwards and backs were incapable of holding on to the ball, but Edwards’ harshest words were reserved for his pack.
He said: “We needed to attack space not the man all the time.
“We should have played it wide instead of making endless attempts to push them over their own line. We were very one dimensional.
“The manager can scream his head off from the touchline but on the pitch you need the experienced players to react to what’s going on.
“They didn’t do that and that was disappointing. It was very frustrating to watch.”
One consistent complaint Edwards has made this season has been the erratic quality of the referees, and Saturday’s was no exception.
He said: “I have the match on video and there were four occasions we were called offside, all of them were marginal.
“The Stroud No.7 spent most of the match offside. He was virtually playing alongside Andy Barron, and he got away with it.”
But apart from a mild rebuke for his pack and disillusionment with the standard of refereeing, Edwards remained philosophical in defeat.
He said:”I don’t think it’s a case of blaming anyone.
“We haven’t become a bad side overnight. We have scored more than 140 points in the last four weeks and beaten the league leaders along the way.
“We have to think positively and that’s what I will be telling the players. It was a disappointing result but it’s not the end of our season.”
He also pointed out that Maidenhead had played an extra game this month, the rescheduled match against Keynsham.
He said: “It was the end of a very long month for us. I had six players who were completely shot. Keynsham was an extra game and we really didn’t need it.
There is no fixture this week, giving Maids time to rest and recuperate.
Next up are league leaders Weston-Super-Mare, away from home on December 1. The Somerset side have only lost one game so far, but Edwards is hoping for an upset.
He added: “You are going to see something completely different against Weston."