Maids ready for key Marlborough clash
Home win will all but guarantee safety this season
After a two-week hiatus from competitive play, Maidenhead
RFC are set to return to action in the Regional 1 South Central league this weekend, with an eagerly anticipated match against Marlborough marking the beginning of a critical phase in their season.
Currently positioned ninth in the league standings, head coach David Mobbs-Smith understands the importance of every game remaining this season as Maids battle to avoid relegation. With Marlborough (10th) also vying for safety, this encounter at Braywick Park is going to be anything but comfortable.
Over the past fortnight, Maidenhead have been doubling down on their training efforts, fine-tuning strategies, and rallying together to try and secure vital points in their final five fixtures.
“I expect things to be tough on Saturday, pretty much how it was when we faced them in November,” Mobbs-Smith told the Advertiser.
“It will probably be a really tight game and I think we will be under physical pressure from them as they’re a big, powerful side. We will have our work cut out dealing with their physicality and we will have to try and outplay them in other ways.
“This game is huge for both teams in terms of where they are in the league and the run in now until the end of the season. Marlborough picked up a very good result two weeks ago too which will have lifted their spirits.
“In the two-week break, we’ve done some fun stuff, some teambonding stuff, and some specific fitness/training stuff. At the end of the season, you start to fatigue so you’ve got to get your mind set on how you’re going to deal with those last 10-15 minutes of a game.
“We’ve trained accordingly to make sure that we’re one of the fittest teams in the league for the remainder of the season. We haven’t sat back and done nothing over that fortnight. We have been able to use it as a springboard for these final five matches.
“A win this weekend changes our view for the remaining four games and a loss, likewise. It’s the same for them.
“I think you become so much more focused on the bigger picture towards the end of the season as opposed to a week-by-week review, shall we say, of how we’ve done or what we’re going to do next week. It’s much more objective-based now, especially considering where we are in the league.”
On injuries, Mobbs-Smith added: “We’ve got a couple of players out but fortunately we’ve got some really good stand-ins. We have three players out but that’s probably the same for everybody around this time of the year. The wear and tear on the body, and some of those niggle injuries are now starting to turn into something bigger than niggles.
“We’re resting one to make sure he’s fit, or as close to fitness as possible for the other four matches, and the other two are more long term and they probably won’t be back before the end of the season.”
Maidenhead defeated Marlborough 26-22 when the two sides went head-to-head at The
Common in November.