Blues lose to a strong Tottonian's side

Rugby is a great game to be involved in. Rugby communities are great places to be and even though there was disappointment with last Saturday's result there was a moment which took place off the pitch which was one of those 'wow" moments, a moment which went above and beyond what we see and experience most Saturdays, a feel good moment, a moment to warm your insides and a moment when we realise how important family remains throughout our lives. It is about three hundred miles from the Scottish border to Newbury, on line maps suggest it will take about six hours to do the journey. Imagine then the surprise Euan Lindsay had when his parents turned up at Monks Lane on Saturday. They had travelled from their home in Scotland to surprise their boy and to see him play. The moment Euan realised was one of those touching moments and one which many of us will fondly associate with in our own lives. Toby Thorne was rightly awarded player of the match but if there was a supporter of the match award I know who my nomination would have been. It's not that the family are strangers to NRFC. They moved south to Newbury when Euan was a young lad and he played for our minis whilst his dad helped with some coaching when they were here. The family moved back to Scotland a few years ago and Euan played for Melrose first team, where his dad coaches. Euan has recently returned to Newbury for work and along with all our other new players he is most welcome at Monks Lane.

Amongst the disappointment with the result there were positives to be taken from Saturday's game. Harry Bedford was pure class throughout. Harry Waye Branch's throwing into the lineout was superb as was Alex Du Sautoy's ball work at the back of the lineout. The accuracy and timing of the vast majority of the lineouts was breathtaking, bearing in mind the challenges of throwing long with a greasy ball. The height Alex achieved in securing our ball was astonishing and all credit to his lifters. Dylan Stewart was everywhere, offering himself to take the ball up through the middle to be met more often than not with a double tackle by some big Tottonian lads. His never say die attitude typified the effort of the whole team who fought to the final whistle. A special mention to Duncan Craigen, welcome back Dunc and well played. Ben Hicks as always was immense and against bigger opponents his technique and strength has been a mainstay of Blues scrum for a long time gone and hopefully for a long time to come.

Congratulations to Tottonians on the result. They are a big, powerful, strong outfit and on the day were just a little more more accurate than Blues. Its not that Blues didn't have their chances. We hear coaches talk about creating space out wide, creating an edge, creating mis matches and Blues certainly did this on a number of occasions. Unfortunately the final pass, the final kick didn't quite go to hand and the chances had gone. However, Tottonian's defence was very strong and it is to Blues credit they managed to create the chances they did.

Right from the start the visitors put Blues under pressure with a well judged 50/22 and from the lineout they were awarded a penalty and took an early lead within the first two minutes of the game. Tottonians continued to put pressure on Blues and the visitors had the best of the first quarter of the match. However during this time, Ollie Worsfield made a strong tackle in midfield to keep play in the opposition half, Jamie Futcher made a great tackle on his opposite wing, Will Osborne made a telling run up the left wing, Jamie Futcher caught a cross field kick and made a lot of ground but on all these occasions Blues couldn't quite find the continuity they were seeking and on the twenty minute mark Tottonian's scored their first try of the game to take the score to 8-0 to the visitors. Blues now had their best spell of the first half and on another day could have scored at least two tries. This started with Dan Thorne setting up an attacking lineout from a penalty from which Blues forced another penalty and this time opted for a scrum. From the scrum, Toby Thorne's foot work almost led to a try and then a nudge through from Dan Thorne almost resulted in Will Osborne touching down. Nothing to show on the scoreboard but signs, encouraging signs which seemed to bouy up the players and supporters. The intent of Blues to attack was obvious but the well organised Tottonian defence kept Blues at bay during this period. The visitors then managed to secure some field position with their one out runners and in spite of a fantastic Ali McGee tackle and Dylan Stewart try saving tackle, Tottonian's regrouped and scored their second try to take the score to 15-0. They may even have had a third had not Duncan Craigen secured a turnover just before half time.

Within ten minutes of the restart Blues were back in the game. Harry Bedford was making his presence felt both in the wide channels and closer in and from an attacking lineout close to the visitors line Blues set up a catch and drive, performing it to perfection to allow Harry Bedford to break away to score in Blues corner to the delight of the home supporters. The conversion made the score 7-15 and when Dan Thorne landed a penalty six or seven minutes later, at 10-15 Blues were well and truly back in the game. During this period Toby Thorne continued to be a nuisance to the Tottonian defence and the visitors conceded a yellow card for a deliberate knock on which stopped a promising Blues attack. However the Tottonian power game now began to result in a lot of field position for them and just as the game was going into the final quarter they scored their third try to take the score to 10-22, one out runners again making dents in Blues defence. Still time left, still opportunities made and after a high tackle, Dan Thorne set up an attacking lineout from the resulting penalty and Blues almost broke through with some great passing skills shown by Ali McGee. It was not to be though and Tottonians forced their way back into Blues half and almost scored but Will Osborne minored the ball. Blues were now defending for all their worth and it almost seemed inevitable Tottonian's would score their bonus point try, which came from a driving lineout maul almost on the final whistle.

Many thanks to referee Spencer Pearce. Referees don't often get a positive mention and in a time when high profile referees and their families are being subjected to on line abuse it is important to recognise the work referees do. In Spencer's case, he did an admirable job and we look forward to welcoming his calm authority back to Monks Lane later in the season. Thanks also, as usual to our sponsors and supporters. It has been said many times, but you really do make a difference to this group of players representing our club. But perhaps the biggest thanks is to Euan's parents for making the journey south on a cold, grey Saturday. It epitomises what rugby is all about, it epitomises our club and it epitomises the individual families that make up our Blues family. As President Coles would say, "Come on you Blues."

Here's to next Saturday, Blues home to Jersey and Stags away at Thatcham. See you at Monks Lane or Henwick.