Hertford’s gritty defence will be tough to break down
Maidenhead RFC return to Braywick Park on Saturday looking to register back-to-back league wins for the first time this season when they host Hertford.
After four straight defeats, Maids finally tasted victory in a determined, gritty, 16-10 victory over Tunbridge Wells in their last outing, and director of rugby Myke Parrott is expecting a similar test against eighth-placed Hertford this weekend.
Maids have had an extra week to get a few more players back off the treatment table, and Parrott expects a more experienced Maids side will take to the field on Saturday.
Hertford have slipped up in the last couple of weeks, losing to Tring at home and Dorking away, but they held title favourites Wimbledon to a 17-17 draw at home, and they’ll be backing themselves to grind out a third victory of the season.
“They’re a physical side, with a very good full-back who was their match winner in a very close game with North Walsham,” said Parrott. “They may well be like Tunbridge Wells. A gritty side who will have some good defenders. They held Wimbledon to a 17-17 draw at home, so we know they’ll be tough to break down. Who knows what’s going to happen, but we’re looking forward to it.
“Luckily we had a week off last week and have a bigger squad this week which eases the pressure a little bit.
“We will continue to learn and let’s see how some of these sides get on when the weather starts to turn bad because I think we’re one of the bigger sides in the division, in contrast to the South West league where we were one of the smaller sides. It’ll be very interesting.”