Maids end season on a high with win
Rugby: Mobbs-Smith’s men beat Bournemouth as home form continues
Maidenhead Rugby Club played out a hard-fought victory against Bournemouth at the weekend, to top off a strong end to their league season.
Bournemouth, looking to drag themselves out of relegation fight, came out of the blocks flying and took a 5-0 lead just moments after kick-off.
But Maidenhead battled back and, despite a tense second half which saw them a man down in the dying minutes of the game, secured an impressive 41-33 win at Braywick Park.
Tries from captain Shawn Ingle, vice-captain Alex French, Alex Turton and free scoring Greg Smith helped Maidenhead on their way victory.
“I think the season finished well for us, it was our fifth or sixth consecutive [home] win in a row and it made a big difference to how we thought our season went,” said head coach David MobbsSmith. “Even though some of those games were really hardfought wins, and really high scoring for the majority of them, that’s been the story of the season.
“We’re quite a young side – very attacking – so we do give our opponents opportunity to get into the game but fortunately in the second half of the season we managed to get on top of teams and particularly at home.
“Finishing off with that win [against Bournemouth] left us reasonably comfortable in the league position wise, but also in the second half of the season, not having to be in a relegation battle.”
Maidenhead’s win sees them finish 8th in the table on 48 points.
With recent form on their side, they now head into a cup competition in the Papa John’s Regional One Shield.
They were due to play Bournemouth in the first round, but the south-coast outfit have withdrawn, putting Maidenhead through to quarter final away tie against Westcliff.
Mobbs-Smith said he was confident of their chances.
“Because Bournemouth have dropped out we’re optimistic, but our home record is a lot better than our away so we’re going to have to be on our game to win,” he said.
“Hopefully we have a good side out and most of the boys have recovered from all the knocks and bangs from this season.”
Cup hopes aside, Mobbs-Smith was also looking towards next season where he said he hoped his side would build on ‘lessons learnt’ during the 23/24 campaign.
“I think, each season is different,” he said. “It’s no different to football.
“You get promotion and relegation and, in our league, you have teams that can move sideways through divisions based on their geography.
“That’s something you can’t really make a call on because you have to wait to see which sides will stay in the league, it could be very tough season.
“But we’re looking forward to it because it gives us a change to recruit, our aspirations are high.
“Because we’re a young side, we’re a year older next year so the lessons we’ve learnt and what we showed in the second half of the season we’ll be able to take into the next.”