Winless on the road: Maidenhead still seeking first away point after loss to Tunbridge Wells

Tunbridge Wells 47, Maidenhead 14

Maidenhead suffered a heavy - but not unexpected - 47-14 defeat on the road at second placed Tunbridge Wells on Saturday and remain without a point away from Braywick Park in the Regional 1 South Central Division this season.

It’s been slim pickings away from home for Maidenhead, who’ve now lost all six of their away matches - often by deflating scorelines.

All of Maidenhead’s 15 points have come from three impressive - and entertaining - home wins over Hammersmith & Fulham, Wimbledon and Worthing.

But they haven’t managed even a losing bonus point on the road where they’ve gone down to some heavy defeats against the likes of CS Stags (67-0), Jersey (60-12), London Scottish Lions (50-7) and now Tunbridge Wells (47-14).

They were more competitive in their away displays at Bracknell (26-14) and Farnham (38-22) but were largely second best in both and still failed to collect any points to help with their season’s tally.

They simply haven’t managed to impose themselves on their opponents in the same way away from Braywick Park, and Mobbs-Smith admitted last week it’s a concern and something he and his team will have to address if they’re to avoid relegation this season.

Travelling to Tunbridge Wells without several key players due to unavailability this weekend, Maidenhead were always going to be up against it playing one of the division’s toughest and most consistent outfits.

Again, their hopes of scoring four tries for a bonus point were thwarted by the home side’s mean defence, while another slow start to the game ensured they were always playing catch up rugby against a team who ruthlessly exposed their defensive frailties.

The home side raced into a 33-7 lead at the interval, having long put the contest to bed before the half-time whistle sounded. The second half was more even as Tunbridge Wells took their collective foot off the gas, but Maidenhead still finished two tries short of claiming a point for their efforts.

David Thornton scored two of the home side’s seven tries, while Thomas Waghorne, Brady Robertson, Jarrod Binsted and Alistair Main were among the other scorers. George Montgomery converted six of their seven scores to keep Maidenhead well out of reach.

Results elsewhere mean Maidenhead remain in 10th place, just a point behind ninth placed Camberley and eight points behind Worthing who currently occupy eighth - the last spot guaranteed to be safe this season.

With Worthing, Camberley, Hammersmith & Fulham and Wimbledon all losing as well, Saturday’s result isn’t a complete disaster, however, Maids will need to collect maybe one or two wins from their remaining games against fourth placed Old Alleynians on Saturday, Hammersmith & Fulham away on December 13 and Bracknell at home on December 20, if they’re to claw back some ground on the teams above them.

Ninth-placed Camberley will also be feeling sorry for themselves this week after losing 85-19 at home to leaders - and title favourites - Jersey. Second bottom Wimbledon were edged out 35-26 by Bracknell - picking up another useful bonus point to creep a little closer to Maids - while bottom club Hammersmith lost 34-12 at home to London Scottish Lions.