Maidenhead 50 pts v Basingstoke 8 pts Away 3rd Feb 2007
Report by courtesy of Basingstoke Gazette.

BATTLE-WEARY Basingstoke were ruthlessly taken apart by a rampant Maidenhead, who inflicted a heavy first defeat of 2007 on Jim Dixon’s side. After the joy of beating league leaders Mounts Bay the weekend before, ’Stoke came back down to earth with a thump as Maidenhead gained revenge for October’s corres- ponding 34-30 loss at Down Grange. Clearly, the effort, both physical and psychological, put into defeating Mounts Bay left a hangover for ’Stoke, who never got going on Saturday at Braywick Park. The defence that had been so deter- mined against Bay was woefully weak and regularly punctured, as tackles were missed and gaping holes punished. There was much to praise in Maidenhead’s attacking display – especially from their dangerous backs – as they raced into a 21-0 lead inside 13 minutes and ran in eight tries in total. Winger Steve Cripps scored five tries and the impressive Stuart Mackay one. There were two more tries for fly-half Mark Ruddick and 10 more points from Mackay’s boot to deliver a crushing victory. The ball retention, recycling, hand- ling, off-load in the tackle, pace and invention on show helped Maids produce quality expansive rugby. But they were helped by a lacklustre ’Stoke who had a major collective off-day.
Skipper Ross Stirling commented: "We were very poor today, and we’re all really disappointed. "When we’ve got everyone fit and focused, we’ve got a very good team, as we proved last week. "But when we’ve got all the injuries and the boys play on with the knocks we have, the squad is stretched to its limits and we suffer the consequences." A look at the ’Stoke absentees and injured list tells such a story and allied with weary bodies, it was no wonder Dixon’s men were so out of sorts. Joining Russell Northcote and Steve Pywell on the sidelines was Tom Northcote, owing to a leg haematoma suffered against Mounts Bay, and full- back Mike Goodall (calf).
During Saturday’s game, nasty shoulder injuries to Chris Williams and Mike Swenson, plus neck damage to Simon Humberstone, meant ’Stoke had to reshuffle. Kelvin Chapman, who hasn’t played senior rugby for nearly three years, had to move from No 8 to second row when Williams went off, while scrum- half Jamie Fish had to go to the wing to cover Swenson, bringing youngster Chris Jackson in at scrum-half. Humberstone bravely played on and continued to put his body where it hurt until the pain got too much, meaning Myles Rutherford, himself playing with a long-term shoulder problem, stepped up to fly-half. That meant another change in the pack, with flanker Simon Appleby moving to inside-centre and front-row Simon Lovegrove on at blindside. The game was over as a contest by then, at 38-8 with 62 minutes gone. Cripps opened the scoring on three minutes, going over all too easily in acres of space on a right-flank overlap created by Mackay as Maids recycled from left to right after Dixon showed his backs how to tackle, recovering to stop flanker Mark Parkhouse in the previous phase. Mackay converted and later, on 11 minutes, Willcocks swept through the centres before a super one-handed off- load to the winger, who touched down and then converted his own score to make it 14-0. Humberstone was injured on 13 minutes in the build-up to Maids’ third try, scored by Ruddick and converted by Mackay, following more retention through six phases. ’Stoke responded and made their way into the Maids 22, and at the second penalty they were awarded in quick succession, the teenage fly-half took the points on offer to make it 21-3. Then came Williams’ disruptive injury, before winger Grant Murdoch, so often exposed in defence, scored a try for ’Stoke on 36 minutes, taking Dave Lambert’s pass and staying firm to ride two tacklers to score and make it 21-8. But that was as good as it got for ’Stoke. In first-half injury time, Cripps scored again in the right corner. Swenson hurled himself at him and was badly hurt, to leave it 26-8 at the interval.

The opening of the second period offered no respite. The ball passed through five pairs of hands before Ruddick scored on 50 minutes, giving Mackay an easy conversion and, three minutes later, Mackay went through again. On 67 and 71 minutes, Cripps completed the scoring for Maids to seal victory and end ’Stoke’s four South-West One match-winning streak.

Next up for ’Stoke is Saturday’s Hampshire Cup semi-final at Down Grange against rivals Havant, who moved up to sixth in National Three South after beating Clifton 36-8. But with such a ravaged squad, player-coach Dixon will surely be wondering who will be available and if it is worth risking any more of his side doing further damage.

Basingstoke: Dave Lambert; Grant Murdoch, Andrew Patrick, Myles Rutherford, Mike Swenson (rep Chris Jackson 40min); Simon Humberstone (rep Simon Lovegrove 62min), Jamie Fish; Neil Young, Andrew Rowlands, Shane Murphy; Ross Stirling, Chris Williams (rep Robbie Northcote 20min), Simon Appleby, Jim Dixon, Kelvin Chapman.