Rugby round-up: Maidenhead survive Worthing fightback to seal vital and thrilling home win

A strong first half showing helped Maidenhead to a crucial 41-38 win over Worthing in the Regional 1 South Central Division on Saturday.

Maids claimed their third league win of the season - all of them at home - as they managed to hold onto victory, despite a strong second half fightback from their visitors who managed to get to within three points before the final whistle was sounded.

That sound would have been music to the ears of head coach David Mobbs-Smith and his players after they very nearly threw away a 27-12 half-time lead at Braywick Park.

Still, it’s another five point victory for Maids and a result that lifts them above Camberley and up to ninth in the table.

Chris Gill, Greg Smith, Shawn Ingle all went over the tryline for Maidenhead in a game that lurched back into the balance after half-time. Worthing scored twice in quick succession to make it 27-24, and although Maidenhead were able to stretch their lead lead with tries on a couple more occasions they were pegged back to 41-38 by their visitors, who were pushing for a try to win the game at the end. 

Worthing opted against the chance to kick a penalty to level the game in the final minutes, trying instead to score another try to take the win but that  try never materialised and the hosts held on for a precious win. 

Below them sit two teams in Camberley and Wimbledon, who would have expected to be much higher in the standings when the campaign kicked off in early September.

Maids are keeping themselves afloat this season thanks largely to their strong home form. They were edged out in a tight match by Camberley at Braywick, but in their other home matches they’ve crushed second bottom Hammersmith & Fulham 47-15, controlled a high-scoring clash with bottom club Wimbledon 41-32 and now played out this thriller with mid-table Worthing.

Should they find a bit of form on the road - or at least find a way of collecting a few more away bonus points - they might be able to reel in some of the teams above them, starting with eighth placed Farnham who they play away from home in a couple of weeks’ time (November 22). Farnham currently have a six-point lead over Maids.

So far at least, Mobbs-Smith and the team haven’t been able to address their issues away from home. A tough opening day loss at CS Stags (67-0) was followed by a much narrower, and more competitive loss at Bracknell (26-14). The leaders Jersey unsurprisingly romped to a 60-12 win over Maids in mid-October, while they had another tough away day at London Scottish Lions in their last away outing, losing 50-7.

Maids, and all of the teams below them, will be desperate to find some form to finish the campaign outside of the bottom four. For the first time this season, the teams finishing in ninth and 10th will take part in a relegation play-off with the loser then taking on a team from the level above to see if they can retain their place in the division. The teams finishing in the bottom two places will be automatically relegated.

As things stand, Maidenhead would be set for a relegation play-off match with Camberley, but there is plenty of rugby still to be played between now and the end of the season in April.

A lot could still change between now and the festive break in fact, with Maidenhead set to visit Farnham on November 22, second placed Tunbridge Wells on November 29 and Hammersmith & Fulham on December 13. They’re next back at Braywick for the visit of Old Alleynians on December 6 and will break for Christmas and New Year with a home game against Derby rivals Bracknell on December 20. It’s a run of fixtures that could well determine how the rest of the season transpires.

Windsor and Marlow met each other for the first time this season on Saturday, with the visitors emerging victorious at Home Park after a 31-19 success.

Andy Symons’ team are trying to establish themselves as a competitive outfit in the Regional 2 Thames Division following their promotion last season as one of the best runners-up in the region.

They looked to be making some headway in that endeavour with a brilliant 26-17 win at London Irish Wild Geese on October 11, but since then they’ve been overpowered by two of the best sides in the division in Brunel University and Belsize Park before Saturday’s more competitive loss to Marlow at Home Park. The hosts matched their visitors for more than 60 minutes before falling away in the closing stages.

The defeat leaves Windsor in the bottom two, just above Oxford Harlequins 2nds who were promoted alongside them from their division as champions last season. Marlow rise to seventh off the back of their fourth win from eight matches this season.

They’re back in action at home to eighth placed Harpenden at Riverwoods on Saturday, November 22.

On the same day, Windsor face a crucial bottom of the table clash at Oxford Harlequins 2nds.