Maidenhead turn the tide for come-from-behind victory over Brighton

Alex Turton takes in the applause of the Braywick Park crowd after his 50th appearance.

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Maidenhead 27, Brighton 26

Maidenhead RFC's clash with Brighton at Braywick Park this afternoon lived up to the sides' 'ding-dong' contests of the past as the hosts fought back from 19-0 down in the first half to claim a 27-26 victory.

Having been outmuscled as a forward pack and outthought in the set piece during last weekend's disappointing away defeat at Hammersmith & Fulham, it looked like Brighton might cause Maids similar problems in the early stages of this thrilling encounter.

However, on this occasion Maids managed to find answers to the questions being posed to them and - once they managed to turn the momentum in their favour - Brighton found it impossible to wrestle it back.

Off their game from the opening minutes, Maids were quickly pressed onto the backfoot by a Brighton team who shot out of the blocks as they chased a first league win of the season.

The game was only 10 minutes old when Brighton made the most of a quick break down field to score through their number 16. Tackles were missed as the visitors edged their way to the line before they eventually spotted a gap to go through and score near the posts. The conversion from Charlie Manger made it 7-0.

Instead of being stung into a response, things went from bad for worse for the home side as the visitors went over again three minutes later.

Manger had a major hand in it, chipping a brilliantly inventive kick over Maidenhead heads for Marcus Condon to catch and dive over in the corner. Manger missed his kick at the extras, but Brighton had given themselves a platform from which to go on and win their first game.

They were even better set on the half-hour mark when Maxx Morris and William Varley exchanged passes to slice through Maidenhead's static backline. Again, chances to hold up the break went begging as tackles were missed and Angus North took advantage to touch down the visitors' third try of the afternoon to make it 19-0 with the conversion from Manger.

That they didn't go on to win the match from here probably owed a lot to their own lack of confidence in protecting a lead, as well as a lack of discipline which opened the door for Maidenhead to get back into the game.

Having been reduced to 14 players for the final minutes of the half through an infringement as Maids pressed for their first score, Brighton enabled the hosts to score two quickfire tries before the break. First, Max Thomas barged his way through to finally break the visitor’s resistance - which until that stage had been magnificent in the face of some decent - if not sustained - pressure.

Greg Smith couldn’t swing over the extras, and he missed again a few minutes later after Iwan Hughes grabbed the hosts' second try.

On his 50 appearance, Alex Turton was the man who created the chance - even if he wasn't quite able to finish it off. Breaking from deep he darted past tackles down the left wing before being stopped just metres from the line/ Fortunately, Hughes was in hot pursuit and managed to pick up the offload to go over in the corner.

Neither try was converted but the tide had been turned.

Smith grabbed his first points of the afternoon early in the second half from a penalty which kept the scoreboard ticking over for the hosts, and a few minutes later they grabbed the lead for the first time in the match. It followed a second sin-bin for the visitors following a high tackle on Smith. Brighton were starting to show a lack of discipline. 

With Brighton players fearing the ball being spread wide for the lurking Turton, they left gaps through the middle for captain Alex French to show a surprising turn of speed and strength to power his way over close to the posts. Smith slotted to make it 20-19.

It was a lead Maids wouldn't let slip - although it was a close-run thing in the end and closer than it probably should have been.

Firstly, Maids scored their fourth try of the afternoon to secure a bonus point in the 58th minute. Drew Prince was the man to get it over in the right corner, collecting the ball in acres of space after Maids had drawn Brighton players in defending their try line.

But just when it seemed Brighton had run out of steam, they found a second wind on the hour mark as they crashed over from a rolling maul to make it 27-26 thanks to a brilliant conversion from Manger wide on the touchline.

That's the way the score remained, although French can count himself aggrieved not to have had a second try to his name after appearing to touch the ball down over the try line in the 72nd minute. The referee, not up with play, couldn't see what most of the crowd at Braywick Park clearly could, which was French grounding the ball before Brighton players managed to get hands underneath it.

Maids remain sixth but they're now just five points behind CS Stags heading into a tough run of fixtures starting at second placed Jersey RFC on Saturday, November 30 (kick-off 1.30pm).

It also means they're now 14 points clear of the bottom two.