DESPITE defeat in their crucial clash with Oxford Harlequins on Saturday, Maidenhead RFC are still confident of securing a promotion play-off spot, with a little help from their friends.
With the Quins now guaranteed the title, only Swanage & Wareham can beat Maids to the second promotion berth, but must beat Abbey away from home in a week’s time to make sure.
Fortunately, for Maidenhead, the Reading-based side have proved extremely resilient on their own turf this year, where they have beaten both Oxford and Maids.
Last week, Swans manager Eric McConkey admitted going to Abbey and winning would be a tall order, however, it may be even harder than he expected, as Maids’ chief executive Simon Edwards explained.
He said: “My old mate Alan Kilford is the director of rugby down at Abbey and he’s promised to beat them for us.
“Obviously, I’ll be wishing them all the best. And then we’ll get the play-off spot.”
If Abbey do succeed, Maids still need to beat Grove in their last fixture of the season at Braywick in a week’s time to sneak into the play-offs, a task made easier by the Oxfordshire outfit’s position in the league.
Edwards added: “They’re already demoted, so they haven’t got a lot to play for.
“We’re not going to underestimate them, but if you needed to win at home on the last day of the season this would be the game you’d choose.”
Clearly, promotion is the club’s main objective for the season, but there is another chance for success, when Maids take on Newbury tomorrow (Saturday) in the Berkshire Cup final, kick-off 2.15pm at Braywick.
The rules of the competition mean Maidenhead can only field nine registered players, with each having played a maximum of 10 games in South West 2 East, while Newbury can field none of theirs.
Edwards said: “I think it’s fantastic for the second team players. This year they have really gelled and getting to the final is an example of that.
“To end the season with possible promotion and as possible Berks Cup winners is fantastic.
“Although we could end up with nothing.”
If they do, Maids can only blame themselves, as a win on Saturday at Harlequins would virtually have guaranteed them promotion.
Edwards said of Saturday’s defeat: “We were patching a side together going into the most important game of the season.
“We then played probably the best rugby of the year for the first 20 minutes to go 11-0 up. The old heads and power were a match for Oxford. but we couldn’t sustain it. After that, their youth fitness and desire came through.
“We didn’t get a sniff for the next 60 minutes. “We could have won this league, but they deserve it.”