Maids are buoyant again
Mobbs-Smith hoping side can back up impressive away win at home to Sutton & Epsom
David Mobbs-Smith claims Maidenhead are feeling buoyant once again as they look to finish the year off strongly having broken their run of defeats with a 24-10 victory at Bournemouth two weeks ago.
Having had a little break to refresh minds and bodies, the Maidenhead coach is now keen for the side to back up their win over Bournemouth with another positive display against second bottom Sutton & Epsom, but he’s warned his players not to underestimate Saturday’s visitors to Braywick
Park.
With some of their key players back from suspension and injury, Maids have done well in recent weeks, losing narrowly to Brighton and Havant before finally stopping the rot of five defeats with a seriously impressive display at Bournemouth.
Defensively they were on point to limit their hosts to only 10 points, while their set piece play was also very good, laying the groundwork for some exciting running rugby that Mobbs-Smith feels should have yielded more than 24 points.
Recent results leave them fifth in the Regional 1 South Central division table, some way adrift of leaders Wimbledon, however, Mobbs-Smith feels a lot of teams in the league are of a similar quality and he feels that with a strong finish to the year, they could challenge for a top three spot in the second half of the season.
“We’ve played well now for quite a few games, and we put in the same kind of performance on the road at Bournemouth, but this time we got the result,” he said.
“I can't be unhappy with how the team performed. Our set piece was solid and it gave us a good attacking platform. We were able to build a good lead and then maintain it.”
Wimbledon and Camberley are currently setting the pace in the division, with Havant desperately hanging onto their coattails, but Maidenhead impressed in their 34-29 loss to Havant and, while the head coach believes they’re a little bit behind the top two, he feels Maids are on a par, if not better than most of their other rivals.
“We defended well, but Bournemouth’s defence was also remarkable,” he said.
“They managed to keep the score down to 24. They defended really well under immense amounts of pressure. It kept it a close game. It was a good feeling to go and win on the road. The lads are now buoyant again and looking forward to this weekend.”
It’s been a welcome two-week break for Maids and Mobbs-Smith believes that if they can keep their best players fit between now and Christmas, they could be in for a very positive second half of the season. He was also very complimentary of Saturday’s opponents Sutton & Epsom, who he feels are in a false position in the table.
“It’s the same for all teams,” he said. “It will give us a chance to clear up a few of those niggly injuries, but it's difficult in this league, you’re never quite sure what state your opponents are in.
“They’re a solid team. Where they are in the league, they must be scratching their heads, because they’ve had so many narrow defeats.
“We have our objections leading up to Christmas, but it’s not easy in this league. A lot of the other sides are very competitive and close in capability and squads.
“Wimbledon and Camberley look like they might just be a little stronger than the rest, but Havant are hanging onto their tails, but they’ve had a few close calls.
“In general they seem to be a little bit stronger. We have got our objectives to win as many games as we can between now and Christmas, to see where that puts us in the table going into January, February and March.”
He added: “We are getting most of our players back now, so if we can keep people fit through this Christmas period. If we can do well between now and Christmas it should put us in a good position to launch through to the end of the season, with only eight games to come after Christmas. However, we’ll still have to play those two good teams
“There have been so many close calls. Sutton & Epsom have had so many close calls that I hope they don’t reverse that pattern this weekend.
“They might be second from bottom, but they’ve had so many narrow defeats. They only lost to Havant narrowly. They’re coming to us with a very similar defeat against Havant to the one we had.
“Sides look so even which is why we’re getting these results. They had some of their best performances, and we had some of our poorest performances.
“We lost to Oxford Harlequins but scored 26 points ourselves. We’d be going to play them away and still feel optimistic. Fingers crossed we can continue to put in solid defensive performances.”