The visitors had the better of the second half in the South West One East clash but were unable to carve out any definite chances apart from a Jason Donnelly penalty attempt fifteen minutes from the end which narrowly missed.

Reading showed six changes from the team that lost to Leighton Buzzard, including three of the three quarter line and a new scrum half, Stuart Borthwick, who captained the team.

The new-look back line were impressive in defence given this was the first time they played together, and in particular the new centre pairing of Alex Dorliac and Gavin Parke gave their opposite numbers little change.

The back row of Charlie Davies, Gerald Hegarty and Ashley Chapman were also impressive in their defensive work.

The game was typical early season fare with final passes going astray and defences on top.

All of the scoring came in the final twenty minutes of the first half, with Maidenhead taking the lead from a scrum close to the line when their impressive No. 8 Alex Gallina touched down for an unconverted try.

Reading, who had spent very little time in their opponent’s territory up until then, immediately responded with a penalty from Jason Donnelly for an infringement from the kick off.

And they then took the lead with the best try of the match when Dorliac cut through and moved the ball inside to full back Alex Murray-Smith who made ground before moving the ball out to Donnelly who scored under the posts. The fly-half converted his own try and Reading were 10-7 up.

However Maids then pinned Reading back, choosing to kick to the corner from a number of penalties which might have been kicked at the posts.

Reading held out until close to the end of the half when Maidenhead scored a somewhat controversial try, being allowed to continue a lineout drive despite claims of obstruction.

The visitors could not prevent Darragh Cantillon crossing for the try which Mark Childerhouse converted to give Maidenhead what turned out to be a winning lead.

Reading had the better of the second half but were let down by a failure to secure their own ball from crucial lineouts when they had worked themselves into good positions and inaccuracies in their finishing which meant that a number of half chances for tries went begging.

Positives for Reading were Borthwick, who posed a constant threat to the Maidenhead back-row with his ability to break the line, Dorliac, and the returning Davies who put in a fine performance.

Despite this second loss of the season Reading’s coach, Paul Gaster, stressed there were plenty of reasons for optimism to come from the game.

He highlighted the improved defensive performance and the level of commitment from the team which could not be faulted and augured well for when the team settle down and get more used to playing together.

Reading host unbeaten Newbury on Saturday (3pm ko) in what is likely to be a challenging contest.