Maidenhead mauled as CS Stags stampede to the summit

Photo credit: David Chaytor/CS Stags

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CS Stags 67. Maidenhead 0

Maidenhead’s 67-0 opening day defeat at CS Stags will have raised a few eyebrows around the league as David Mobbs-Smith’s side collapsed to sobering and one-sided defeat at Kings House School Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon.

Maids were expecting a tough start to the season ever since the fixtures were released a couple of months ago, with the Stags having finished third last season and the closest to runaway champions London Welsh and runners up Jersey RFC.

Maids are set to face most of last season’s top six finishers, baring Welsh in the opening weeks of the season and this was a concerning start to their Regional 1 South Central Division campaign.

Against a ruthlessly efficient Stags outfit Maids failed to impose themselves in either half with the home side running in 11 tries across the course of the match.

Unable to match their strong running and handling, CS Stags were 12 points up inside the first 12 minutes thanks to tries from Ted Wainwtight and Thomas Walton, one of them converted by David Wilkinson.

A couple of wayward lineouts from Maids presented the home side with further chances to extend their lead and these were taken with George Butler and Emmet McDonnell adding two more scores before the interval in the 30th and 37th minutes. David Wilkinson swept over both conversions to make it 27-0 at the interval.

The Stags already had their four try bonus point wrapped up by half-time, but they didn’t take their foot off the gas.

More excellent running and passing moves from the home side, allied to some clever back up support, saw more gaps appear in the Maidenhead back line and seven further tries were run in from various areas of the field.

This defeat will give Mobbs-Smith and the coaching team plenty of food for thought as they go into what’s already looking like a crucial home game against Hammersmith & Fulham at Braywick Park.

The coach has promised Maids will continue to play with the freedom that has come to characterise their play in recent seasons; however, this was a sobering afternoon. Second best across the field they failed to challenge Stags at the set piece and hurt badly by their powerful ball carriers. They also failed to lay much of a glove on CS Stags from an offensive point of few, failing to score a single point - a rarity last season if indeed it happened at all.

Unsurprisingly the result leaves Maids bottom of the table with no points to their name after one match, with CS Stags taking top spot from Jersey who were also convincing 60-5 winners at Wimbledon - the only other result in the league to rival the Maids scoreline for shock value and severity.

Saturday’s opponents at Braywick Park, Hammersmith were also beaten in their opening game, going down 24-29 in a much closer encounter at home to Farnham.

Tries: 55 points (x11) Ted Wainwright x2, Thomas Walton x2, Tom Eyston x2, George Butler, Emmet McDonnell, Kain Rix, John Hargreaves, Mitch Stringer

Conversions: 12 points (x6) – David Wilkinson