Rugby round-up: Maidenhead's fears heightened by damaging 45-17 loss at Tunbridge Wells

Maidenhead’s Ethan Walters. Photo: Paul Morgan

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Maidenhead's fears of being dragged down into a relegation scrap in the Regional 1 South Central Division this season will have been heightened by Saturday's damaging 45-17 loss at the hands of Tunbridge Wells.

Maids appear to be comfortably above the bottom two in mid-table and went into this fixture in sixth place with a healthy amount of breathing space between themselves and the battle going on beneath them.

However, Tunbridge Wells are one of the sides that have been scrapping to finish outside of the bottom two, and this bonus point home victory for them moves them to within six points of Maids - who have dropped a place to seventh.

David Mobbs-Smith's side remain 11 points above second bottom Horsham with six matches to play, however, they still have to play many of the sides below them in the table - including Horsham - and cannot afford too many more afternoons like they had on Saturday.

The result was somewhat more emphatic and comfortable than the scoreline suggests. Tunbridge Wells raced into a 26-0 lead by half-time, to all but seal their five-point victory, and Maids only made a game of it when the hosts eased off in the second half.

Alex Purnell, Benjamin Whale, Jay Smith, Rory Goodger (two), Josh Curtis and Sam Crichton all went over for the home side with Gregory Thew slotting five conversions.

Maids managed three tries - one short of what would have been a useful bonus point - with Chris Gill, Ethan Walters and Max Thomas getting their scores with Walters slotting one of the conversions.

Maids should still fancy their chances of keeping their necks above water, with four of their remaining six matches to come at Braywick Park, traditionally a stronghold for them. However, the manner of this defeat - and the injuries they've sustained in recent weeks - do leave them looking more vulnerable.

Their next home game at home to Hammersmith & Fulham will be crucial in easing those fears. Win it and they should give themselves enough of a buffer going into their final five matches.

Windsor remain very much in the frame for promotion from the Counties 1 Tribute Southern North division - either as champions or as one of the region's best runners-up - after beating High Wycombe 18-30 away on Saturday.

Andy Symons' side were far from comfortable in this clash against hard-working hosts, but they got the job done and picked up a bonus point to boot to stay five points behind leaders Oxford Harlequins.

A penalty from Ben Grant-Adamson was backed up by tries from Luke Budd, Alex Good, Allen Crawshaw and Joseph Triegaardt as the visitors built a sizeable advantage before half-time. Wycombe fought back in the second half, but Windsor were able to keep them at arm's length for their 14th win from 16 matches this season.

The second placed side visit Buckingham this Saturday, the only side other than Oxford Harlequins 2nds to beat them this season. In a surprise early season loss, Windsor were beaten 26-33 by Buckingham at Home Park back in September and would surely love to avenge that in the return game this weekend.

Marlow suffered a narrow 10-12 home defeat to title chasers Belsize Park at Riverwoods on Saturday, in a contest that underlines just how competitive they’ve become this season.

Kev O'Byrne's side came into the clash off the back of victories away to Old Haberdashers and leaders London Scottish Lions, but their good recent form was ended as Belsize Park came from 7-5 down at half-time to edge this extremely tight clash.

The result leaves Marlow eighth in the Regional 2 Thames table ahead of Saturday's home game with ninth placed Teddington - the second of four straight home games at Riverwoods for Marlow.