As the game kicked off, Tadley stormed up the field catching the visitor’s cold, excellent recycling from the forwards saw them make ground and they surged into the 22. Maidenhead were forced to give away penalties and skipper Dave Seal took a quick tap and burst over to open the scoring, Cox converted.
Maidenhead were soon on the attack, orchestrated by their classy 10 who would release the pacy backs, Tadleys centre pairing of Williams and Pike held firm with strong tackling, then just as it looked like an attacking move had been stopped the ball got to Maidenheads flier on the wing and he scored from a wide arcing run. Conversion missed.
Maidenhead attacked again and seemed to be edging the territory and possession battle, Tadley were able to break the shackles at times thanks to some great runs and support play from the forwards – N0. 8 Dan Fowler and Flankers Staley and Kolowski got through acres of work and were well supported by locks the two marks, Vatcher and Tucker.
Tadley also had the nudge in the set piece battle, the frontrow were excellent against their bigger opposition, Gordon Grierson and Vets skipper Mark Allan playing their second games of the weekend, showed great stamina and strength and Allan hit Vatcher and Kowoloski well in the lineout. As the half came to a close it appeared Tadley had weathered the storm and were enjoying some attacks of their own, when a missed tackle saw the visitors centre go through to score out wide and to take a slender 10-7 lead into the break. Coach Mark Vatcher made a tactical withdrawal to bring on fresh legged Mike Keeley.
Maidenhead looked ominous at the beginning of the second half, they speeded up their game and their quick back 3 came more into the game, they were well marshaled by Tadleys wingers Davies and Cripps-Jones the youngsters assured performances bodes well for the future. Maidenheads pacy hooker and a couple of big lumps in the pack began to carry more, but the Tadley tackling was immense as everyone put in great work.
Tadley looked like they were tiring and the games was at a tipping point, it could go either way. Roberts came on to replace Fowler and Summers replaced the now running on fumes Allan. Tadley had taken off their oldest and youngest players, a mere 30 yrs difference between the pair.
A bad injury to the visitors 13 saw a lengthy stoppage, Tadley took this opportunity to take stock and never looked back after this break. Cox now running the show thanks to quality ball from the pack pushed Tadley deep into the Maids 22, after a series of drives Keeley was able to bash over to score, Coxs conversion saw Tadley take a 4 point lead.
Maids kicked for territory and from a Tadley lineout, Prop Steve Murphy showed a great eye for a gap to burst through and canter down field, before having to slow for the support, Staley carried on the momentum and an excellent tactical kick from Cox saw Tadley back on attack. Now with their heads up they chose to run a penalty and after more energy sapping forward drives, Cox spotted gaps on the blindside and put Alex Pike in. Coxs conversion rounded of the scoring, even though Maidenhead spent the rest of the game on attack, their was no way through Tadleys wall of defence as the plays seemed to work harder as the minutes ticked away.
This was a great performance from Tadley, every player involved can be proud of their Efforts. Coach Mark Vatcher said- "I asked for a team performance rather than that of individuals, and didn’t they give us one! A fantastic display from a team put together from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Vets players - a credit to Tadley RFC".
In a game where everyone fronted up and played well, it’s difficult to pick a man of the match, it could be anyone of the forwards, but in attack and defence the two Andy’s in the backs -Craig & Williams were immense with Andy Williams just shading it. Tadley will be hoping to take this passion and commitment into the remaining league games, as well as the semi final of the Berks cup – Bracknell v Tadley @ Bracknell 2.15 KO Sunday 22nd March.
Tadley – Andy Craig, Gareth Cripps-Jones, Alex Pike, Andy Williams, Mark Davies(Toby Smith 55), Charlie Cox, Dave Seal©, Steve Murphy, Mark Allan(Summers 50), Gordon Grierson, Mark Vatcher(Mike Keeley 40), Mark Tucker, Ben Kowoloski, Darren Staley, Dan Fowler(Drew Roberts 50)
Subs not used – Paul Johnson, Doug Hawker |
