Maids fired up ahead of toughest test of season

For weeks now one fixture has been looming large on the horizon for Maidenhead – the small matter of Reading away.

Well, the wait is finally over for Ricky Khan and his young charges as they travel up the A4 on Saturday to take on the joint league leaders. Only one thing is assured, not an inch will be given or asked by either team.

And Khan knows that this will be the first real test of his tenure at Braywick, a game which will go a long way to deciding if unbeaten Maids bounce back to South West 1.

“It will definitely be our biggest game to date,” cautioned the Maids head coach. “It’s away from home and our away record is good this season, but we’re not going to approach the game any different to the others. We will be professional and play as best we can.

“It’s a derby game which adds something extra to it. This is our toughest test yet.”

Such is the magnitude of the fixture that the Maids camp is bursting with anticipation and Khan revealed that he will not need to fire up his players before kick-off because they already know what is at stake, the top spot.

“They’re already fired up for it,” he revealed. “As a club everyone knows how important this game is.

“The level of attention and level of training have been superb and we’ve got a nice rhythm going over the last couple of weeks. We’ll give it our best crack.”

Maids will be without influential flanker Ryan Long who has an England Select v London Academies match at Bisham Abbey on Friday. Will Page will wear the No.7 shirt in his absence.

Maids’ emphatic victory in the EDF Intermediate Cup at Cheltenham North on Saturday has set up a tie with Coney Hill, the team who sent them down last season.

“They sent us down and are now doing very well this year,” Khan commented. “Then again, we’re doing well also and it’s a good chance to measure ourselves against a SW1 team, and it’s also a chance for the guys to get their revenge.”

Khan remains firmly focused on the league campaign, but sees the cup as important to maintaining momentum in the second part of the season.

He said: “The priority is South West 2 East but we want a cup run because after Christmas if you’re still in the cup then you have less breaks, which is important to keep momentum.

“But I’m not concentrating on later on down the line. It’s all eyes on Reading now.”

On the Cheltenham victory, Khan added: “It’s great to win in the cup, but we were a bit disjointed and should have done better.”