The final home game of the 25/26 season starts with a sellout lunch then Blues produce a great performance in front of a big crowd on a beautiful sunny day to defeat high flying Cleve. After the match the club house is alive with great music from Madness tribute band Badness, a great way to end the day on Blues last home game of this season, a day to remember!!

Cleve kick off and get an attacking lineout when Blues clearing kick drifts straight out, lineout won Cleve attack and after numerous phases manage to break through and score wide left the conversion is kicked 2 mins 0-7, memories of the game at Cleve resurface

Blues restart Cleve gather and clear to touch, Cleve manage to get hold of the ball after Blues win their lineout and mount another attack getting into Blues 22 and up to the try line but a foot in touch is ruled instead of a try after some confusion so a Blues defensive lineout, Blues hold their lineout and clear to touch just short of halfway, lineout won Cleve attack keeping the ball in hand but Blues defence holds firm and eventually force the error a forward pass giving Blues a scrum just in Cleve’s half.
Scrum won Blues attack taking play left and get a penalty which is kicked to touch on Cleve’s 22, lineout won Blues forwards maul before attacking the Cleve defensive line, the ball reaches Joe Davis who bursts through the Cleve defenders to score, Dan Thorne adds the conversion 12mins 7-7

Cleve restart and after a couple of kicks Blues with a great passage of attacking running rugby take play up to Cleve’s 22 and get a penalty for offside which is kicked to touch in Cleve’s 22, Blues hold their lineout and spread play wide left Cleve win a penalty and kick to touch in Blues half, Blues steal the lineout and quickly take play right then put in a chip kick and chase, Blues get hold of the ball and soon have a penalty, Sidney Adams taps and goes passing to Dan Thorne who puts in a crossfield kick which is caught by Harry Waye-Branch who is over to score wide left the long conversion is just wide 19mins 12-7

Cleve restart, Blues gather and clear to touch lineout won they attack but concede a penalty at the tackle, Blues tap and go taking play into Cleve’s half before a knock on gives Cleve a scrum, Cleve attack from their scrum and after numerous phases of attacking rugby they spread the ball right to make the breakthrough and score they add the conversion 24 mins 12-14

Blues restart and chase Samuel Thompson injured in the chase, Cleve gather and clear to touch.

26 mins Samuel Thompson off Jonny Lees on

Lineout won Blue attack but are pushed back by Cleve’s rush defence, Blues put up a high kick and chase, Cleve under pressure clear to touch just outside their 22 Blues had got a hand on the ball so a Cleve lineout, they hold their lineout and put up a high kick into Blues half, Blues just manage to hold onto the ball and a great run from Dan Thorne takes play up to Cleve’s 22 he releases Will Osborne who is tackled 5m short of the line, Blues keep the ball live and quickly pass left for Harry Waye-Branch to go over and score his second try, Dan Thorne adds the conversion, 30mins 19-14.

Cleve kick off Blues gather and kick to touch just short of halfway, Cleve attack from their lineout taking play up to Blues 22 before Blues manage to get hold of the ball and run out of defence, Dan Thorne puts in a chip kick and gets a penalty when he is taken out off the ball, Blue kick to touch just in Cleve’s half, Cleve steal the lineout and attack getting into Blues half before some good rucking at the tackle by Blues gets them possession, Blues attack taking play wide left then back right with some good running rugby, Blues keep up the pressure and release Michael Klichowicz who dodges several defenders to weave through on one of his mazy runs to score the try bonus point try close to the posts, Dan Thorne adds the conversion 35mins, 26-14

Cleve restart Blues gather and some great running rugby takes them back into Cleve’s 22, Blues keep the ball live and spread it wide left for Ben Hurford-John to go over and keep his great try scoring record adding up, Dan Thorne adds the conversion, 38 mins 33-14

Cleve kick off and get a scrum in Blues 22 for a knock on, scrum won Cleve mount another attack getting into Blues 22 and get a penalty scrum on the 5m line, scrum won they take play wide right to get over on the stroke of half time, the conversion is just wide, 33-19 Half time. A great first half of rugby

******

Blues kick off the second half, Cleve gather and run across the pitch, a knock on gives Blues a scrum in Cleve’s half, scrum won Blues attack across the pitch and get a penalty at the tackle, the kick doesn’t find touch allowing Cleve to kick back into Blues half, Blues gather and attack a good run from Chris Harvey takes play up to Cleves 22, Blues keep the ball live and spread right, Dan Sanders puts in a chip kick which just bounces wrongly and is knocked on giving Cleve a scrum, they hold their scrum and kick clear to touch still in their own half, Blue win their lineout and take play left before swopping back to the right allowing Dan Sanders to run through the Cleve tacklers to score, Dan Thorne adds the conversion 44 mins 40-19

Cleve restart Blues gather and clear to touch, Blues get a scrum at the lineout and send a kick deep into Cleve’s half they run out of defence getting to halfway and get a penalty which is kicked to touch deep in Blues 22, lineout won their forwards maul but concede a penalty at the tackle Blues clear to touch still in their own half. Lineout won Blues attack and some good running rugby takes them into Cleve’s half before a neat grubber kick rolls into touch on Cleve’s 22, Cleve hold their lineout and maul before putting up ahigh kick, Dan Sanders gathers and runs up to half way but is sadly injured in the tackle and the ball is knocked on

52 mins Dan Sanders off Beau Power on

Cleve win their scrum and attack taking play right before putting in a kick, Blues just get there first and touch the ball down giving them a goal line drop out, Blues kick is gathered by Cleve who attack a neat chip kick is gathered and the ball kept live allowing them to break through the Blues defence and score under the posts, 54 mins 40-26

Blues restart and get hold of the ball mounting another attack, a great charging run from Sam Bramhall takes play up to the try line, good Cleve defence pushes Blues back and they eventually steal the ball and kick up field, Blues gather and attack taking play up to Cleves 22 before a neat kick just rolls into touch deep in Cleve’s 22

58 mins Sam Bramhall off George Robinson-Slater on

Blues steal Cleve’s lineout and their forwards drive up to the line getting a penalty, Blues tap and go and after a couple of forwards phases Jonny Lees breaks through to score, Dan Thorne adds the conversion 59mins 47-26

Cleve restart Blues gather and try running before ahigh kick just drifts out, Blues steal the lineout and attack before a neat crossfield kick just evades the Blues attackers and rolls into touch in Cleves 22, lineout won Cleve’s forwards maul before making a break and get a penalty which is kicked to touch in Blues half, lineout won Cleve attack across the pitch before a knock on gives Blues a scrum, Blues hold their scrum and try running out of defence before a crossfield kick is just gathered by Cleve they attack but concede a penalty at the tackle, Blues quickly tap and go and soon have another penalty this time Blues kick to touch just in Cleve’s half. Blue get a penalty at the lineout which is kicked to touch on Cleve’s 22, lineout won Blues forwards attack getting into Cleve’s 22 before the ball is released to Dan Thorne who side steps 1 defender and breaks the tackle to run in from 20m and score under the posts he adds the conversion 70 mins 54-26

Jonny Lees off Samuel Thompson on

Cleve restart and get a penalty at the tackle for holding on they kick to touch giving them an attacking 5m lineout, their forwards maul from the lineout and eventually get over to score wide left, the conversion is just wide, 72 mins 54-31

Blues kick off, Cleve gather and run out of defence taking play first left then right getting up to halfway before the ball is spilt in the tackle, Ben Hurford-John gets hold of it and is gone breaking several tackles and side stepping the full back to score under the posts, Dan Thorne adds the conversion 76mins 61-31

Christian Collett off Jonny Lees on

Cleve kick off and get a scrum when Blues knock on, scrum won they attack but lose the ball and Blues run making ground and getting into Cleve’s half before a knock on in the tackle gives Cleve a scrum, they get a free kick at the scrum and run at Blues, a neat grubber kick and chase results in them getting a try the conversion brings the final whistle and an end to a great game of rugby final score 61-38
Blue getting some revenge for the result at Cleve, most points Cleve have conceded in a game this season

Good luck to Cleve in your remaining 2 league matches and the promotion play offs

Thanks to the Ref Dave Elliot who kept control of a keenly contested game and kept it flowing

Scorer’s 1st Half
12 min Joe Davis try, Dan Thorne Conversion
19 min Harry Waye-Branch try
30 min Harry Waye-Branch try, Dan Thorne Conversion
35 min Michael Klichowicz try, Dan Thorne Conversion
38 min Ben Hurford-John try, Dan Thorne Conversion

Scorer’s 2nd Half
44 min Daniel Sanders try, Dan Thorne Conversion
59 min Jonny Lees try, Dan Thorne Conversion
70 min Dan Thorne try, Dan Thorne Conversion
75 min Ben Hurford-John try, Dan Thorne Conversion

MOM – Dan Thorne

Newbury Blues Squad
Forwards 1-8, Ben Hicks, Samuel Thompson, Sam Bramhall, Kyle Doel, Joe Davis,
Chris Harvey, Harry Waye-Branch, Will Osborne.
Backs 9-15, Sidney Adams, Dan Thorne, Ben Hurford John, Christian Collett, Jamie Futcher
Daniel Sanders, Michael Klichowicz.
Finishers 16-18, George Robinson-Slater, Jonny Lees, Beau Power

Blues next Fixture is Sat 28th March Away @ Witney 3pm KO

Stags Home v Tadley

Big thanks to all our Player Sponsors and our Club Sponsors, your support is much appreciated

Big thanks to our fantastic supporters, the team really appreciate your support, and hope you enjoyed the day

Big thanks to our match day photographer Peter Branch whose photos can be found on Facebook
Newbury RFC Seniors Supporters Photography Page
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063526195463

Also big thanks to our match day photographer Ian Jack whose photos are on the Pitchero website
https://www.newburyrugby.co.uk/photos

Big thanks to Kennet Radio for their support, https://kennetradio.com/category/sport/

Finally a big thanks to the NWN for their match reports and support much appreciated https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/sport/rugby/