A frightening proposition when in the right mood
When Maids are in the mood this season, they’re going to be a frightening proposition for most teams in the Regional 1 South Central Division.
London Welsh came into Saturday’s game as one of the fancied teams for promotion, something they’ve achieved in each of their last five seasons, but they were obliterated by the pace and power of Maidenhead’s running rugby, particularly so in the second half when the home side’s superior strength and fitness told big time.
Welsh were in this contest up until the early moments of the second half, however each time they landed a blow on Maids, the hosts smashed them right back, and then continued landing blows until the visitors were left longing for the final whistle.
That's perhaps a little unfair on Welsh’s character, given they fought until the end and scored the final try of the game – through Eddie Butler's son Jacob – but halfway through the second half this became a mismatch and that might simply come down to
Maids’ fitness.
Myke Parrott, the club’s director of rugby, brought the senior side back for pre-season training in June, before most other sides at this level, and they’ve been putting in the hard work week in and week out ever since to ensure they weren’t caught cold again like last season. Maids lost six of their opening seven matches after being drafted into the London & South East Premier Division and didn’t really get to grips with the division until after the Christmas break. However, they diligently worked to improve all their weaknesses and finished the season as one of the form sides, something I'm sure London Welsh can take some comfort from.
Over the summer they appear to have added several astute signings to their ranks, players like Alex Turton and Greg Smith, who, incredibly, kicked all his conversion attempts. It may be too early to judge such things on one performance, but Maids look like a side capable of challenging for promotion this season.
Reflecting afterwards, Parrott said: “We got caught cold last season, really before Christmas, and we couldn't keep up with the pace of the league. We worked hard to change that last season and after Christmas we started playing really well.
“We came back mid-June for pre-season, earlier than any other club I know about, and the boys have worked hard. We've got our ethos and game plan and that’s around us being super fit and moving the ball and running and running and running.
“We knew if we were in this at half-time, we were the fitter team and we felt confident we could close it out in the second half. We didn’t expect to score 56 points, but everyone can see, when we're in the mood like that we’ve got so much pace now, it’s frightening.
“The way we move the ball is exciting and the crowd loved it today. It's still a transitional period because look how young the side is. I'm really pleased and let’s hope we can back it up next week.
He added: “The message for both the first team and second team was about enjoyment and positivity. Mobbsy and I want the boys to chuck the ball around and we want to play a good brand. When we get it right, like we did today, it’s so good to watch and the boys loved it.
“We’re going to attract good players because we play with a good style. Quite easily the lads could have taken their foot off the gas late on, but they wanted more and more and more.
“We know Welsh are a good side, they’ll be very disappointed with today, but I'm sure they’ll beat a lot of sides this year. We got our game plan spot on though and they found it hard to live with our tempo, with such a big pack.”