Chiltern puts neighbour to the sword

Chiltern travelled to Maidenhead needing to secure maximum points to pull clear of the relegation zone. Injuries continue to dominate Chiltern's season, however they were boosted by three debutants prop Arkerei Manaia, wing Hilton Mudariki and fullback Tim Lloyd.

Chiltern took an early lead with David Hughes on target with a penalty but Chiltern struggled to come to terms with Maidenhead’s new artificial pitch which was very greasy to play on. Giving up several pieces of possession allowed Maidenhead’s fly half to kick a low diagonal ball behind Chiltern's backs which their left wing kicked ahead and ran on to score an excellent try which was converted.

However, sustained Chiltern pressure on Maidenhead's 22 for a period of time led to a series of penalties allowing David Hughes to give Chiltern a 7-12 advantage. Things got worse for the home side just before half-time when their poor discipline also cost them a yellow card for their fly half. Chiltern took swift advantage with a beautifully worked try coming from a half break by fly half David Hughes, who had earlier replaced Rob Smalley at 10 after he had injured his ribs. Hughes managed get his hands free in contact to pop the ball to centre David Skelton who side-stepped the opposition full back to score under the posts. The try was converted by Hughes, giving the away side a 7-19 lead at half-time.

Chiltern continued to press, taking further advantage of the yellow card to score early in second half. First Tim Lloyd, then David Skelton, then Danny Samuels were held just inches from the try-line before hooker Tom Blackburn drove over - again Hughes slotted the conversion.

Maidenhead tried valiantly to get back into the game testing Chiltern's defence, but when Chiltern lost their hooker Blackburn to a yellow card, the home score scored a disputed try. The referee allowed Maidenhead to drive forward although no maul had been formed, but they failed to convert the resultant try making the score 12-26.

With Chiltern back to full strength they 'let rip' and dominated the remainder of the match. As the home side tired, Chiltern scored a further three tries though it could easily have been a few more. The first by Tim Lloyd in the corner after a great driving run by new prop Arkerei Manaia, Skelton secured his second following some really good running lines and skipper Craig Webb broke clear of a loose tackle to charge unopposed under posts - all converted by Hughes. Final score 12-47.

It was good to see Chiltern finally get one or two players back from injury and there were impressive performances by all three debutants.