Maidenhead claim 'telling win' to put pressure back on relegation rivals

Maidenhead managed to overcome their semi-regular early wobble and strike back with a vengeance for a 26-24 victory over Farnham on Saturday that could yet salvage their season.

Heading into the game off the back of six  straight defeats, morale might have remained  high in the camp, but confidence was running low in the stands. Sitting below  Camberley and just  above bottom club Hammersmith & Fulham, they desperately needed a victory and managed to deliver it, Max Thomas checking back to dive over the line  and seal it with virtually the last play of the game.

In doing so he not only secured a 26-24 victory, but  five monumental bonus points that lift Maids out of the automatic relegation places, now two points above Camberley with only three matches to play.

“It’s been one of our problems all season it’s stopping people scoring early on,” said head coach David Mobbs-Smith. “They were 7-0 up after barely five minutes and by the half-hour they were 12-0 up. But we were always in the game. It’s just we’re doing the same things we’ve been doing all season. We’ll be attacking, we make a mistake, they go downfield and they score.

“We managed to score twice in the last 10 minutes of the first half and that put us in the lead going into the changing room.   

“It was 14-12 and that changed the whole belief and demeanour of the team. It’s where we were with London Scottish. We’d been here before with that game and it was about trying to make sure, we don’t end up in the same sort of mess.

“We scored before half-time and we also scored after half-time. This time, they did hunt us down, just like London Scottish did, but on this occasion, we were able to retort and that was the difference.

“The final say was ours and we managed to score with what was effectively the last play of the game. They were able to restart the game, but we didn’t make a mistake to give them a chance, we took that opportunity away from them. For once, some things went our way, and we sneaked a very telling win for us.”

Maids will likely need to scrounge a few more points from somewhere, but Camberley and Hammersmith - like Maidenhead - have found points hard to come by this season so this win might yet prove enough.

Should they finish 10th, they might yet be relegated, but they’ll head into a play-off against Wimbledon or possibly Worthing away from home. Should they lose that they’ll have yet another chance to save themselves in a match against a promotion hopeful from the level below. It may yet prove a stay of execution, but head coach David Mobbs-Smith and his players will be desperate for that extra time, and those extra matches should it come to that.

They get to rest this weekend, before welcoming promotion play-off hopefuls Tunbridge Wells to Braywick Park on Saturday, March 21.

On the same day Camberley travel to newly crowned champions Jersey who may not have the same hunger and desire to defend their unbeaten record now they have lifted the trophy and claimed promotion.

Hammersmith - now five points back from Maids and in need of more than a bonus point win to overhaul them - go to second placed London Scottish Lions. So tough games all round for the teams hoping to keep their noses out of trouble.

“This win has put us in a position now where we need to still try to do something and hope the teams below us do nothing,” added Mobbs-Smith.

“When the try was scored it was immense.

“The lads had put in so much effort to try and win the game. By doing that, of course, we gave ourselves the full bonus points as well. We couldn’t have done any better.

“There were lessons learned from our failure to get a couple of bonus points at their place. The decision making and the calmness that was required under pressure was excellent to get that late try.

“We did what we needed to do, and we have no control over what the two sides below us will do because we’ve now played them. It’s not in our hands what they do, but what we do is in our hands.”

With promotion ambitions of their own, Tunbridge Wells aren’t about to lie down and let Maids dictate play in a couple of weeks’ time. They could yet finish above London Scottish Lions and take home advantage into a promotion play-off match. They also controlled their last meeting with Maids, a commanding 47-14 win back in November.

But this is Maids’ fortress and they’ll protect it by playing the only way they know how. By going on the front foot and looking to score tries. One point might be useful, two would be very handy, and four or five would surely knock back Camberley and Hammersmith’s hopes of finishing above them.

He added: “It’s quite simple really. If they (Camberley and Hammersmith) don’t pick up the points they need, we’ll be in the play-offs. That pressure is on them.

“In the case of Hammersmith & Fulham they now need more than one win because we’ve got more wins than them. That will be their battle to try and get to us.

“Camberley is different. One win would put them above us again and two bonus points would put them level with us. We certainly must try and scramble something from our remaining three games, but naturally, another win would put immense pressure on both.

“Any bonus point we get now makes their job tougher, and it gives us a chance to getting ourselves out of this predicament we find ourselves in.

“Wimbledon are safe. Their question is are they catching Worthing or is one of us going to play them. That’s the equation and the bookies would say Wimbledon will be hosting one of us three.

“But you never know at the end of the season when one team wants it more than the other team. And we all have real reason to want it more.

“On Saturday week, we’re at home to Tunbridge Wells.

“They’re flying high, they’re very ambitious and it’s a very tough game for us. On the same weekend, Hammersmith are away at London Scottish and Camberley are away at Jersey. Anything we can get out of our game would likely be huge.”