Witney away

Newbury RFC U14s travelled to Witney RFC for their second match of the season. It was apparent from the first few minutes of the game that this would be no easy encounter. The Witney pack were big and powerful and their backs full of running. They were very fired up and the hits, both ways, resounded around the pitch. After about 10 minutes, Newbury, having defended brilliantly against the initial onslaught, began to impose themselves on the game and strong running saw Arham go over for our first try. This was followed, after another 10 minutes, with a try from James Barker after continuous pressure in the Witney 22. Our defence continued to hold strong, with Matthew Gaskell shutting down everything Witney tried to run down his number 10 channel, particularly through their giant number 8. The strength and speed of Arham and Oz Williams caused Witney constant problems and the home team had to pull off a series of excellent cover tackles to keep within touch of Newbury. Matt Kean, playing for the first time at full back, played like a man possessed, knocking down attacker after attacker and, when going forward himself, requiring two or three bigger defenders to stop him. Further pressure saw Arham break through Witney's defence for another try. By the final quarter, Newbury, having the smaller squad of players, were tiring, but battling ferociously, with Ethan running strongly from everywhere. Our tiredness allowed Witney finally to break our defence out wide for their first try, followed, not long afterwards, by a second. However, Newbury rallied impressively and, shortly before the final whistle, a perfectly executed training ground move saw an inside ball put Matt Kean through the line at pace for a final try. This was a hugely entertaining game and every single player did himself proud – once again, substitutions seemingly having no impact on the team's cohesion and effectiveness.

Final score: Witney 14 Newbury 24

Man of the Match (awarded by the Witney coaches): Matt Kean

Many thanks to Witney for being great hosts and we look forward to playing more fixtures in the future.