WITH nine 1st team players injured and his side yet to hit their straps, Maidenhead RFC coach Simon Edwards has warned against panicking, but admits there are problems.
After their 23-3 drubbing at leaders Bridgwater and Albion on Saturday, Maids were left in the unusual position of being second from bottom of South West Division 1 and with just one narrow, and very fortunate, win to their name.
However, as Edwards explained, there are various reasons for this sluggish start to the season.
He said: “I’m not making excuses, but the injury situation is at a crisis. I’ve never known it this bad. I am of course looking at all avenues to fill the void, but it’s a challenging situation to say the least”
“It’s a challenge to the squad and to the club, and one we just have to get through. Now is the time to pull together and not look for scapegoats,” he added.
Currently Allan Greene, Peter Nisbet, and Andy Baron are ruled out with long term injuries, Rene Dance has flu, Richard Miller has ruptured his back, Robin Bryant has broken ribs and Paul Rogers and Paul Jones are carrying minor injuries.
Unfortunately this nightmare scenario has come as the side are still looking to find their form in a season which beforehand, as as so often, promised much.
Edwards was quite forthright about the deficiences in his side: “While our first phase ball is good, our ball retention is poor. In midfield we are knocking the ball on too much. We are not playing well but there are 19 games to go, let’s be realistic.”
Edwards also points to the strength of the opposition the side has had to face.
“So far we have played Bridgwater and Reading away in the league, and Barnstaple in the cup. These are the three top sides in the division at the moment, so it could not have fallen worse for us.”
Also in response to Maids’ poor showing against Swanage, which they won at the death by three points, Edwards pointed out that Maids did exactly the same to Swanage last season, lost six or seven games in the campaign, and still finished third.
Although the Maids coach is not panicking yet, he has given his side a definite target, to try and increase their tempo and desire.
He said: “We have the next two games as must-wins. First we play Chinnor at home, and then travel to Dorchester. We are focussed on these games.’
Pointedly he added: “However if we do not win these then we have got problems.”
Although these are two of the weaker teams in the table, neither will be pushovers, especially with the injury crisis, and Maids have not won at Dorchester in the last two seasons – and they are currently bottom of the table.
Maids’ season seems to have come off the rails when they were playing well at Keynsham, but the game was abandoned because of a nasty injury to one of the Bristol side’s players.
This momentum was lost, and the game will now not be replayed until December 29.
However before that, Maids, with a gap in their league programme, will play away at Havant tomorrow (Saturday) in a friendly, kick-off 3pm.
Maids will send as strong a team as possible in the circumstances and hope to find some form ahead of the Chinnor game the following Saturday.
On Sunday Maidenhead Rugby Club are holding its annual junior tounament starting at 10.00am and finishing at approximately 4.30pm.
Beacuse of the relaying of several playing services at Braywick, the competition will be for players from under eight through to under 14.