Newbury Blues topple the league leaders

NEWBURY BLUES 13 v 5 TOWCESTRIANS

Newbury Blues topple the league leaders

Saturday 28th November 2015, South West 1 East League

Newbury entertained league leaders Towcestrians and keep up their 100% home record with a hard fought well-deserved victory.

Captain Dan Thorne leads the Blues squad out onto the pitch to celebrate his 100th league game for the Blues a great achievement, and what a way to celebrate with a great victory over the league leaders, a memorable afternoon.

Blues have to make several changes for this match due to injury and unavailability

Tows kick off, Blues take and run the ball winning a penalty at the first tackle, Ryan Trevaskis kicks to touch, lineout won Blues spread the ball through the backs to Josh Bartlett who dodges the Tows defence to make a great run getting into Tows 22 before he is stopped, Blues support is quickly there, the ball gets to Iain Herriott who breaks through to score wide out on the left, the long conversion just dragged wide by the wind, 5-0 3 min’s

Tows take the restart kick and a good chase keeps the pressure on the Blues, Tows manage to rip the ball in the tackle and run at the Blues defence but knock on, Tows pack win the scrum and get into Blues 22 before a mistake hands the ball to Blues who kick into touch to relieve the pressure, Blues win the lineout and run the ball but concede a penalty at the breakdown. Tows kick to touch just in Blues 22, lineout won they run at the Blues defence but a knock on halts their progress and gives Blues a scrum, Blues pack led by the evergreen Graham Stewart win their scrum Andy Herriott feeds the ball out to Ryan Trevaskis, Tows infringe giving Blues a penalty which is kicked safely to touch.
Blues win their lineout but don’t get far Tows manage to hold them up in the tackle giving them the scrum. Tows win their scrum and run up the blind side but good Blues defence shoves them into touch. Blues win the lineout and kick into Tows half, Tows gather and return the kick with the wind into Blues 22 where Blues knock on giving Tows an attacking scrum, Blues forwards put the pressure on forcing the mistake Tows knock on giving Blues the scrum. Blues forwards win their scrum, Andy Herriott quickly feeding the ball to Ryan Trevaskis who kicks to touch, Tows lose their lineout allowing Blues to kick to touch, Tows win their lineout and spread the ball quickly through the backs to their 11 who gets over wide out on the right the conversion just wide, 5-5 10 min’s

Sadly Joe Lawrence has to leave the field with a leg injury on his first team debut, Finn Walsh coming on.
Blues take the restart, Tows take and return the kick, Josh Bartlett takes and sets off on one of his runs, the ball is then spread through the backs, Iain Herriott takes up the challenge then releases Dan Thorne and on to Jamie Futcher getting into Tows 22 their fullbacks tackle preventing a try, Blues have a scrum though and keep up the pressure with the ball being spread quickly across the pitch this time Steve Denner gets over the line but is held up by great defensive tackling from the Tows defence. Blues have a 5m scrum but although the forwards win the scrum Blues make the mistake and knock on.
Tows win their scrum and kick up field, a great chase by their winger gets his hands on the ball but he cannot keep hold of it and knocks on giving Blues a scrum on half way. Blues win their scrum but a loose ball is picked up by Tows who run at the Blues defence winning a penalty, which they kick to touch, lineout won they get into Blues 22 putting pressure on the Blues defence through several phases of play, eventually Blues defence forces a penalty for holding on, Blues penalty kick doesn’t make touch allowing Tows to return the kick which rolls nicely into touch in Blues 22.
Tows knock on at the lineout giving Blues the scrum, Blues forwards win their scrum and run the ball allowing space for the ball to be kicked to touch, Tows win their lineout and launch another attack but spill the ball allowing Blues to run the ball through the forwards, Graham Stewart, Rob Drysdale and Finn Walsh before they change tact and kick the ball into Tows half, a good chase by Steve Denner and Josh Bartlett forces the Tows player into touch, the ref brings play back for a Newbury penalty which is kicked to touch.
Blues win their lineout but again a knock on halts their progress giving Tows a scrum, Blues disrupt the scrum and manage to steal possession allowing them to mount another attack which leads to another good run from Josh Bartlett who gets into Tows 22 before slipping a pass to Ryan Trevaskis who splits the defenders to score the conversion again just sliding past the posts, 10-5, 29 mins

Tows restart is taken by Blues who kick back into Tows half, Tows gather and run the ball before kicking over the Blues defence, Blues catch and run the ball winning a penalty, which they kick to touch. Blues just have the better of the last few minutes of the first half their forwards making good ground through Ben Hicks, Finn Walsh, Ben O’Shea and Chris Guyatt, but are unable to add to their score, Tows launch the last attack of the half but a mistake brings the half time whistle. Both Teams retire to the changing rooms as the rain comes down

****

Blues kick off the second half with the rain easing off, a great Blues chase forces Tows to hurriedly kick to touch, Blues win their lineout and rumble well into Tows 22 before Tows steal the ball then win a scrum, from the scrum Tows kick out of defence, Josh Bartlett takes and is off on one of his runs getting into Tows half where their defence infringes at the tackle giving Blues a penalty, up steps Ryan Trevaskis to slot the kick through the posts making the score 13-5, 42 mins.

Blues gather Tows restart kick and the forwards drive up field before the kick is put into Tows half, Tows gather and get out of defence when they first win a scrum then a penalty which allows them to kick to touch well in Blues half, they win the lineout but quickly concede a penalty which Blues kick to touch on half way, lineout won the ball is fed back for Dan Thorne to slot a kick through the Tows defence, Tows knock on giving Blues a scrum just in Tows half.
Blues forwards under pressure just manage to hold their own scrum but infringe at the tackle giving Tows a penalty and Blues a yellow card, Tows kick to touch and win the lineout their forwards mauling up to Blues 22 before the Blues defence manages to halt them and hold them up to win the scrum. Blues are shoved off the ball at the scrum but Josh Love is first to react and re-gathers the ball and makes 25m up the touchline before releasing Josh Winfield who keeps the move going before slipping the ball back to Josh Love who gets tackled into touch.
Blues manage to steal the ball and spread it wide through the backs Iain Herriott to Dan Thorne to Jamie Futcher who chips the ball over the Tows defence, a great Blues chase puts the Tows defence under pressure but they hold on and win a 5m-penalty scrum. Blues put the pressure on at the scrum and are rewarded with a scrum, this time Tows disrupt Blues scrum but touch the loose ball down giving them another 5m scrum, this time they hold on and their forwards pick and drive getting out of their 22 and win a penalty which they kick to touch just in their own half.
Tows win their lineout but Blues pressure forces the mistake and Blues have the ball but they don’t get far before a knock on hands possession back, Tows win their scrum 10m in their own half, their forwards maul up field then they kick over the Blues defence and into touch. Blues win the lineout but the clearing kick drifts straight into touch giving Tows an attacking lineout on Blues 22. Tows win the lineout but a loose pass rolls into touch giving Blues a defensive lineout in their own 22, Tows steal the lineout and mount another attack but the Blues defence holds firm and they manage to steal the ball and kick clear to the 30m mark.
Tows win their lineout and again put pressure on the Blues defence that holds firm and wins a penalty scrum, the Tows forwards put pressure on the Blues pack and manage to turn it through 90 to win the put in, Tows pack now has the upper hand they win their scrum shoving Blues pack backwards before spreading the ball wide and across the pitch winning another penalty scrum on Blues 22.
Tows pack again shove Blues back winning another scrum, Tows win and the forwards pick and drive but the Blues defence stands firm meaning Tows only manage to creep sideways. Blues defence wins a penalty scrum, Tows pack again shove the lighter Blues pack back but this time Blues keep possession and are rewarded with a penalty when a Tows player is penalised for laying on the wrong side.
Ryan Trevaskis kicks safely to touch, Blues win their lineout and run out the Tows defence which infringes giving Blues a long penalty shot at goal, Ryan Trevaskis kicks but it just slides past the posts, Tows touch it down giving them a 22 drop out. Time is up so Tows decide to tap and go, Blues get a yellow for blocking, Tows tap and go again getting into Blues half and nearly into Blues 22 before the great Blues defence manage to shove Tows and the ball into touch bringing the final whistle

A great hard fought game by both teams in wet and windy conditions, the difference on the day being some outstanding defending from this young Blues squad.

This victory knocking Tows of the top of the league and bringing the Blues up to 3rd

Good luck to Tows for the remainder of the season look forward to the return game

As for man of the match it would be hard to pick one, this should be labelled as a squad performance including those who didn’t get on, but guess on his 100th it can only be captain Dan Thorne who was inspirational in leading his squad through out the match

The Coaches now have the unenviable task of picking the squad for Saturdays match

Next game is a Berkshire derby away at Maidenhead on Sat 5th December followed by another away Berkshire derby at Windsor on Sat 12th December

Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale Graham Stewart, Ben O’SHEA, Joe Lawrence,
Chris Guyatt, Josh Love, Josh Winfield, Andy Herriott, Ryan Trevaskis,
Steve Denner, Iain Herriott, Dan Thorne, Jamie Futcher, Josh Bartlett
Paul Sayers, Dylan Stewart, Finn Walsh