Maids remain in dire straits after defeat

Maidenhead men's 1sts remain bottom of the South Central Men's Premier Division 1 table and in danger of relegation despite an improved performance in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Reading 2nds.

Badly hindered by injuries and the loss of several key players over the course of a frustrating season, the hosts gave their all in their endeavour to pick up points but ultimately collapsed to a fourthstraight defeat.

The result leaves them rock bottom of the table on goal difference from Basingstoke, with third from bottom Slough just a point clear of both of them. Maids have just three matches left to try and hoist themselves out of the bottom two, starting with a toughlooking trip to in-form Marlow on Saturday.

Hopes for a victory won't be especially high, given their poor form and the humbling 8-2 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Reds earlier in the season. Fifth placed Oxford OBU - who defeated leaders Banbury on Saturday - are the visitors to Altwood School on Saturday, March 25 before Phil Cowell's side round off their season with a potentially pivotal trip to Basingstoke on Saturday, April 1.

Reflecting on their recent turmoil, Cowell said: “I think the bottom two go down, so it's going to be a battle.

“We've been quite unlucky. We lost Matt Heller, our main striker who scored a lot of our goals before Christmas.

“He went travelling at Christmas. Another lad Richard Mulvaney went travelling as well, and one of our more experienced forwards picked up a red card. He basically said 'that's not the rule' and the umpire was a bit funny on the day, but it means he's had a 20 day ban and has missed 3-4 games. Dave Harding, who is also a goal threat and one of our more experienced players, tore ligaments in his ankle. So, we've been taking 12-13 players, with a lot of youngsters coming through, which is good for their experience. But losing those key players has hurt us.

“We've been in the games, but lapses in concentration have seen them go away from us. We've been finding it tough to create chances, so it's been tough, but we need to try and turn this rot around. A couple of wins could keep us up.”