Cowell says 'good character' saved Maidenhead

Maidenhead showed good character to save themselves from the jaws of defeat at Banbury on Tuesday, according to captain Phil Cowell.

Maids were 2-0 down at half-time against the Oxfordshire side but managed to claw themselves back to 2-2 in the second half.

A goal on the break for Banbury looked to have secured the points but a late effort saw Maidenhead grab a share of the spoils on a day where they could have easily come away with nothing.

Cowell said the team changed tactics at halftime when things weren’t going Maids’ way and in the second half they nullified the Banbury threat, aside from the home side’s third goal on the counter.

He added that previous games this season have seen heads drop once Maidenhead have gone behind but a fully fit squad and the return of coach Rohit Kapoor to the side lines ensured Cowell’s men roared back into the contest through two goals from Alex Land and one from Dave Harding.

“It was a good point in the end,” Cowell said. “They [Banbury] came out quite strong at us in the first half. We went 2-0 down early and were hanging on, really.

“We changed tactics at half time and brought it back to 2-2 looking like the stronger team. We let a goal in on the break but managed to get the equaliser again with a few minutes to go.

“In these sort of games [before] we have gone 2-0 down and it has just escalated. “We battled really well. I do not think there are going to be many teams who will pick up a point at Banbury.”

He added: “Having Rohit (Kapoor) there was definitely a big thing, and just having our full squad available really. We took quite a strong team over [on Tuesday].”

Maids move on to a local derby with Henley at Altwood School on Saturday (11:30am ko), who sit two places and two points above them in the South Central Men’s Premier Division 1.