Edwards reacts to Maidenhead relegation

Maidenhead Rugby coach, Simon Edwards has spoken of his disappointment and frustration after his side were relegated from the South West 1 League.

Edwards saw his side go down 20-15 against Coney Hill on the final day of the season and admitted that relegation was a massive blow for the club.

"I feel really sorry for the players who have worked and trained hard to avoid this," he said. "It doesn’t affect the club financially or anything like that, but it’s not something we wanted. We shouldn’t have gone down - we have lost three games by a point, one by three and this one by five.

"If we had been higher up and more confident we would probably have won these matches by these margins. But it’s such a fine line, especially in a league which was very even and almost everyone was capable of beating everyone else."

Edwards was also frustrated about how Saturday’s match turned out, saying: "I thought it was a good match played in really good spirit by both sides, and well refereed.

"Our problems stemmed from patience, and suffering turnovers six times when in their 22. You cannot do that when you get into the red zone.

"We also struggled in the lineout. We only had two jumpers to aim at. You can’t have that. That’s what makes this defeat so frustrating, it was so avoidable."

For a full match report and more on Maidenhead's relegation pick up today's Advertiser.