Coach hopes Maids can go all the way
Maids through to cup semi-finals after win over Welsh
Head coach David Mobbs-Smith says Maidenhead RFC have the desire to go all the way in the Papa Johns Men’s Community Cup, a competition that many grassroots clubs decided to ‘turn their back on’ at the end of the league season.
Mobbs-Smith’s men have won both of their Regional 1 Plate Pool 4 matches, first beating Bedford Athletic 37-36 at the start of this month before overcoming league rivals London Welsh on Saturday with an impressive, 15-28 win.
Maids had been due to face Tunbridge Wells in their final pool match, however, Tunbridge have elected to withdraw from the competition, paving the way for Mobbs-Smith’s side to move through to the semi-finals.
They will find out who they are set to play on Monday after the final pool matches are completed this weekend.
“In rugby, you don’t get too many chances to win trophies. Only one team wins the league you are in, and normally there isn’t a cup competition for the first teams at our level. Whether or not we can win this competition is another story but it’s lovely to be in the mix,” Mobbs-Smith said this week.
“Some clubs have turned their back on it but that’s not been Maids’ way. We are going to try and win it. That’s our ambition. Some clubs didn’t enter it at all, some clubs have struggled to fulfil their fixtures, and sometimes it’s not the club’s fault, it could just be that the players are not available.
“We spent last Thursday preparing for the game against London Welsh. We had over 30 players in training, and we only needed 18 for the game – that shows you the enthusiasm within the club. Even the players who aren’t going to be playing are down at training, working with the side that is playing. It was very special to see that last week.
“Onto the game at London Welsh. Obviously, we played them at the start of the league season, and we beat them comfortably – we won 56-17. Then, the last game of the season, we had to go to their place, and we lost 20-10. It was an equally good game when we went to their place again at the weekend.
“They scored first but we scored twice shortly after to lead 5-14. They threw a good pass to make it 10-14 but then it was 10-21. It got to 15-21 before we got our fourth try to win 15-28. Scott Prince grabbed a hat-trick and Alex Turton got the other try. Both our wingers scored, so you can see the type of game we’re playing.”
Mobbs-Smith added: “Tunbridge Wells pulled out of the final group game this weekend because they can’t progress. They’ve also got a few injuries and things like that. Their withdrawal has put us through to the semi-final.
“We were favourites to go through anyway, we have won two of our three matches and we were going to plat them at home. Now, we will be playing a club from either the midlands or the southwest next I think. We will find that out on Monday.
“I think it will be a toss of a coin whoever has home advantage. It’s not going to be played at a neutral venue. The semi-final match will be played on April 29.”