Maids captain Crosley keen to take the positives from Bracknell defeat

Skipper Niall Crosley believes Maidenhead can take some positives from their 17-47 loss to Bracknell at the weekend into their clash against Marlborough next week (Saturday, November 4).

Crosley, now one of the elder statesmen in a largely youthful Maids side assembled by head coach, and director of rugby, David Mobbs-Smith, demonstrated his leadership skills and a resilient attitude in Saturday’s defeat at Braywick Park.

The versatile back, who arrived in Berkshire from Preston Grasshoppers in 2018, told the Advertiser: “It was a challenge competing with a local rival, the weather – and we’ve had some young players thrown into the deep end – but I think we did alright.

“I am pretty impressed with how we played in certain parts of the game. We defended well in the first half and our intent to play was good. We are trying to vary our game; we’re not just attacking mindlessly. We’re trying to look at the space in behind.

“For the most part, I think we played how we wanted to today, we just needed to take more of our chances. We had a bit of a front foot, look likely to score, and then we drop the ball. We have to reset after that and, unfortunately today, we didn’t have an effective set piece.

“We pride ourselves on our attack and have been averaging around 30 points a game so far this season. Obviously, we didn’t today but we couldn’t get through Bracknell’s defence, it was top quality.”

Crosley added: “It’s hard when you are a young player – stepping on for a first team game and in conditions like this. It’s hard to make an impact or have the game you want. Emotions are running high too because it’s a local derby.

“We have just got to get used to playing with each other. We will take next week as a rest week and regroup. We will stick together and come up with some solutions [to bring an end to this poor streak].”