Maids play scintillating rugby but can’t complete comeback
Hosts battle back from 22-6 down to lead 26-22 before Havant kick them into touch
For the second week running, Maidenhead played some scintillating running rugby in Saturday's 34-29 defeat to Havant - but just as they did at Brighton the previous week - they came away with little to show for their efforts in terms of points.
Head coach David Mobbs-Smith was more than satisfied with the performance of his side, particularly the way they galvanised themselves after the break to fight back from 22-6 down to be leading 26-22. However, they weren't quite able to sustain that momentum through to the finish and Havant swept over four penalty kicks late on to maintain their excellent run of form.
For Maids, that’s now five league defeats on the spin - more than they’ve won this season - but, while there is obvious disappointment to have not claimed a victory from such a positive performance, there’s an underlying sense that the team is playing better and turning the corner.
They next travel to eighth placed Bournemouth on Saturday, another team who’ve had mixed results this season, but they edged out Brighton 1716 at the weekend and Mobbs-Smith is anticipating another very close game.
One thing is for sure though, they’ll have to get off to a much better start than they have done in the past two weeks where opponents have been gifted a handsome lead, forcing Maids to play ‘catch up rugby’.
“It was 22-6 at half-time and midway through the second half we were leading 26-22,” said Mobbs-Smith.
“So, it was a great comeback. We did something similar the previous week at Brighton, but also lost.
“That’s back-to-back games that have gone the same way, but we've played well in both. It’s just, for whatever reason - either good play from our opponents - or a little error by us, and we’re playing catch up.
“We did well in the catch-up game. I think it’s a mixture of both. We’re
struggling to put in a full 80-minute performance, and I suppose our opponents from the last couple of weeks would say the same. A lot of the teams in this league are quite equal, quite similar, and you see different results depending on which sides have lost a few key players to injury. Getting the same team out every week is not easy, for anybody.
“Part of it is also where their strengths lie and where our strengths lie. We’re a highly mobile, athletic fit team. We go much longer in the game, and we have a bigger say in the match.”
Maids played some breath-taking, brilliant rugby to drag themselves
back into the game in the second half taking a narrow 26-22 lead at one stage - however, Havant’s penalty taker held his nerve to swing over four faultless kicks to just tip the balance back in the visitors’ favour. It was enough to lift them third in the table, just four points behind leaders Wimbledon.
“They had four penalties which they converted from that moment on,” added Mobbs-Smith.
“That’s good kicking, he managed to get them all and he managed to get them the victory. He played a big part in the game. On another day he might have missed those kicks and it’s a different game.
“We’ve probably got a very similar game at Bournemouth this weekend. I expect it will be very tight and it may come down to a few penalties. That’s just where we are now. We’re still positive, the boys are disappointed to lose again but in terms of performance I’m very happy with what we’re doing.
“To come back in the second half like that against a side that a week ago tied with the team that is top of the table. To come back against a team of that calibre, the players will know that they're as good as anyone in the league, they’ve just got to find a way of competing for the full match, as opposed to fits and starts. We are still one of the top scoring teams in the league. We're either the third or fourth top scoring team in the league, yet we’ve lost more games than we’ve won.”
Maids have played well in the last couple of weeks, but they're in desperate need of a victory. Their last in the league came on September 24, away to Banbury, and they’ve conceded more than 30 points in four of their last five matches, each of which ended in defeat, so they’ll need to get better defensively if they’re to grind out a win on the south coast.
Mobbs-Smith said: “100 per cent, a win would help us build for the next game and the boys come down to training with an extra spring in their step. But some of our play, and some of our tries on Saturday were superb, I have no complaints there.
“We lost to Brighton in a close game. They (Bournemouth) beat Brighton by one point this weekend, so if you were a betting man, you’d probably say it's going to be a tight game.
“Are they slight favourites because they're at home, maybe? But we’d like to go down there and give a really good performance. We’ll take what we can from the Havant game and imprint that onto another side in the league and see how they cope.
“A win would certainly lift the spirits coming back on the coach.”