WESTON 15 ptsMAIDENHEAD 26 pts

WESTON made a dream start at the Recreation Ground against third-placed Maidenhead and were 10-3 ahead until just prior to the interval, but during those last few minutes they were overtaken and were unable to recover.

After the break, Maidenhead went from strength to strength with their well organised pack and near-perfect line-out and until the final quarter, Weston could hardly keep hold of the ball, let alone sustain any worthwhile attacks.

The Seasiders opened the scoring in the second minute when Maidenhead's attempted counter-attack from James Reid's long punt broke down close to their line and Takura Madamombe helped himself to a try which Reid converted.

Rob Hawkins replied with a penalty for the visitors before a powerful charge by Michael Denbee was halted illegally and Reid kicked the goal, but things began to go wrong after that.

Kevin Hobbs' burst down the right was well re-cycled, but when the ball emerged there was no Weston player to carry on the move and Maidenhead gained possession and the hosts began to lose the plot.

There was a yellow card for Goran Vucicevic before Hawkins reduced the arrears with another penalty and he was soon converting a try by Max Willcox for a 13-10 lead.

Maidenhead continued their attack in the second period and as Weston's discipline subsided further, there was another yellow card, this time for Andrew Richards, and the visitors took immediate advantage.

A line-out drive gave a try to Joe Thomas and Hawkins kicked his third penalty, but with 10 minutes remaining, Weston struck back with a perfect demonstration of ball retention when Joe Ewens touched down after 10 phases and 21 passes.

But they flattered to deceive and poor defending donated the crucial try to Mark Mueller. Skipper David Burge's team was still not finished and as they drove to the line, two visiting players deliberately killed the ball and Weston's misery was compounded when Chris Derrick was red-carded for an alleged stamping offence.

With their sub-standard discipline and so many wrong options, this was Weston's poorest performance of the season and Maidenhead fully deserved their first victory in the ninth competitive match between the clubs.

Weston: G Vucicevic (sin-bin 35); T J Madamombe, M McQuaid, J Ewens, P Sprague; J Reid, R Drabble; H Smith (D Milenkovic 49), D Burge, C Derrick (red card 83), A Richards (sin-bin 46), B Noble (A Russell 47), M Denbee, K Hobbs, G Sparks. Replacement not used: D Taylor.