MAIDENHEAD 26 v 14 NEWBURY BLUES
Newbury Blues travelling woes continue
Saturday 05th December 2015, South West 1 East League
Newbury Blues travelled to Berkshire rivals Maidenhead and after last weeks match produce a performance well below par and came away pointless
Newbury travelled to Maidenhead for this Berkshire derby on the artificial pitch on a windy but dry day. Several players are unavailable from last week due to injury and unavailability but good to see Kyle Doel and Joe Pigott back in the team and Ryan Davis Tom Sanders and Toby Thorne back and on the bench.
After Blues best performance of the season last week, this was a poor stuttering error ridden performance, which allowed a game, which could have been won drift away, poor decision making and conceding two soft try’s in a 5 min spell in the last quarter resulting in a pointless defeat
Blues kick off against the strong cross wind a good chase results in Blues keeping hold of the ball, after several phases Blues are up to Maidenheads 22 but a mistake means Maidenhead get possession and kick long out of defence, Blues gather and run back at Maidenhead, Blues stray off side at the break down giving Maidenhead a penalty. Maidenhead kick to touch and from the lineout the forwards pick and drive making good ground to score close to the posts 7-0, 3 min’s
Blues restart is kicked back by Maidenhead, Blues gather and kick up field but are brought back as the kick is straight out, Maids win the lineout but knock on, Blues win a penalty at the scrum just outside their 22, Blues kick to touch and win the lineout the ball is fed out by Joe Pigott to Iain Herriott who makes good ground before releasing Josh Love, Blues win a pen for offside, Ryan Trevaskis kicking to touch.
Blues lineout is not straight giving Maids a scrum, from the scrum Maids run the ball but don’t get far before they lose the ball allowing Blues to counter attack, Blues win a pen for offside which is kicked to touch, lineout won Blues run the ball through Dan Thorne and Jamie Futcher, Blues win a penalty again for offside, Ryan Trevaskis long attempt against the wind just wide 10 min’s
Maids restart kick is taken by Blues but a mistake comes allowing Maids to get the ball, they soon have a penalty when Blues stray offside which they kick to touch, Maids win the attacking lineout and their forwards rumble the remaining 15m far to easily to score an easy try 12-0 15 mins
Blues have slightly the better of play over the next 20 mins but are unable to make the breakthrough to score, some good searching runs by Josh Bartlett Dan Thorne Iain Herriott Ben O’Shea Kyle Doel Josh Love and Josh Winfield’s are spoilt when mistakes hand over position. Maidenhead are just wide with a penalty attempt on 24 mins
Blues keep most of the play in Maidenhead’s half and are unlucky when a break by Josh Bartlett and Steve Denner ends with a foot in touch. Both captains are spoken to during this period as the handbags come out.
Blues win a penalty which is kicked to touch just outside Maids 22, lineout won Blues spread the ball through hands across the pitch and make the break through when Josh Love steps inside the defender to score Ryan Trevaskis converts 12-7 36 min’s
Maidenhead’s 14 gets a yellow card
Maidenhead have the better of the final minutes and right on halftime win a penalty, which is just wide bringing the half time whistle. Josh Bartlett off with a dead leg Toby Thorne on
Maidenhead kick of the second half Blues take and after winning a scrum and a penalty take play into Maids 22, from the lineout Blues get up to the try line but fail to score, good Maidenhead defence holding them out, Blues get the scrum but concede a free kick allowing Maidenhead to kick out of defence, Blues gather and again get into Maids 22 but a knock on stops their progress and gives Maidenhead a 5m defensive scrum. Time out for an injury to Maids prop
Ryan Davis on Dylan Stewart off 46 mins
Blues keep up the pressure at Maidenheads scrum and force them to carry back over the line and touch down, Blues now have an attacking 5m scrum but again Blues make a mess of the scrum knocking on. Ben Hicks off with a badly cut head Tom Sanders on 49 mins
Maidenhead return the favour a mess at the scrum results in a loose ball, which is touched down by the ever-alert Josh Love to score his second try, Ryan Trevaskis kicking the conversion to take a slender lead 12-14 52 mins
Maidenhead have the better of the next 20 or so minutes but cannot break down the Blues defence, Blues cannot get hold of the ball so spend long periods defending in their own half, Blues get a strange yellow card on 68 mins
Maidenhead keep up the pressure and 2 minutes later have made the extra man count to score and convert 19-14, 70 mins
Maidenhead now have the upper hand and are soon further in front when their center breaks through several poor Blues defensive tackles allowing Maidstone to score the bonus point try 26-14, 74 mins
Blues respond and have the better of the final minutes but mistakes cost them scoring chances and allow Maidenhead to relieve the pressure, on one attack Blues get another strange yellow and Maidenhead a red in a bit of a melee. The game ends with Maidenhead kicking a penalty to touch
Blues are left to rue a result that should have been at the least a lot closer, instead Maidenhead end their 3 match run of defeats and earn a welcome bonus point win good luck to them for the rest of the season
Josh Love earning MOM for his never say die attitude and 2 try’s
Next game is another Berkshire derby away at Windsor on Sat 12th December; Blues need to change their fortunes and get a win on their travels
Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, Graham Stewart, Ben O’Shea, Kyle Doel,
Dylan Stewart, Josh Love, Josh Winfield, Joe Pigott, Ryan Trevaskis,
Steve Denner, Iain Herriott, Dan Thorne, Jamie Futcher, Josh Bartlett,
Tom Sanders, Ryan Davis, Toby Thorne.