Newbury Blues
Matches
Sat 17 Sep 2016  ·  South West 1 East
Swindon
15
26
Newbury Rugby Football Club
Newbury Blues
Tries: J BASTABLE, J PIGOTT (2), I HERRIOTTConversions: D THORNE (3)
Blues back to winning ways

Blues back to winning ways

mick futcher19 Sep 2016 - 20:27
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Newbury Blues travelled away to Swindon and get back on the winning trail with a bonus point victory

SWINDON 15 v 26 NEWBURY BLUES

Blues back to winning ways

Saturday 17th Sept 2016, South West 1 East League, 3 pm KO

Newbury Blues travelled away to Swindon and get back on the winning trail with a bonus point victory

Blues travelled to Wiltshire rivals with a changed squad from last week, back available are Rob Drysdale, Chris Guyatt, Ollie Spanswick, Mike Walker, Josh Bartlett and Iain Herriott.

Blues kick off and a good chase puts Swindon under pressure and forces them to kick out of their own 22, Blues take and run the ball before they kick to touch, Swindon win the lineout and kick, both teams resort to testing each other with the kicking game before Swindon run at Blues and earn a penalty 4 min’s which is just wide of the posts.
Blues take the 22 drop out, Swindon take and return the kick Blues run but a loose pass halts their progress and hands possession to Swindon who run into Blues 22 before a knock on gives Blues a defensive scrum. Blues win the scrum and try to run out of defence but are penalised for holding on in the tackle giving Swindon an easy penalty kick in front of the posts 3-0 8 min’s

Blues restart, Swindon take and kick which goes straight out giving Blues a lineout back in Swindon’s half, Blues win the lineout but a loose pass is knocked on, Swindon’s scrum, blues win a penalty at the scrum which is taken quickly and forces Swindon to knock on in the tackle. Blues win their scrum and spread the ball wide allowing Mike Walker to make good ground up the touch line and pass inside, Blues squander a good scoring chance when the final pass is not forthcoming and Swindon rob the ball in the tackle and kick clear. Blues win the lineout and this time the ball is quickly passed through several hands both forwards and backs which splits the Swindon defence allowing Jon Bastable to break through and score under the posts, Dan Thorne converting 3-7 13 min’s

Swindon kick off, Blues take James Macauley crashes through several tackles before releasing Mike Walker who again makes good ground getting into Swindon’s 22 before he is tackled but he manages to slip and pass to Joe Pigott who is over and under the posts for Blues 2nd try Dan Thorne converts 3-14 16 min’s

The next 15 minutes play is interrupted with mistakes, penalties and a couple of injury time outs, a couple of good running Blues moves, Rory Jones, Rob Drysdale Dylan Stewart making good runs end with a knock on or a penalty, good defence from both teams means play is mostly spent between the 22 lines and scoring chances are not forthcoming. Blues try a drop goal on one attacking play but it just wide of the uprights. Blues have another half chance when Josh Bartlett takes a Swindon kick and chips the Swindon defence they manage to gather but Blues pressure forces a knock on, Scrum won Blues attack but the tackle is taken rather than passing the ball and the Swindon forwards steal the ball. Swindon are the first to break through when on 35 mins after a long period of possession in Blues half they manage to break the Blues defence and score wide out on the left and kick the long conversion, 10-14 35 min’s

Blues take the restart kick, Swindon take and kick, Blues put Swindon under pressure through several phase’s of play but another loose pass gives Swindon the ball and they kick to touch and the half time whistle

*****

Swindon kick off the second half, Blues take and return the kick, Swindon put Blues under a period of pressure winning a couple of penalties which are kicked to touch, Blues defence holds firm and after several phases manage to win a penalty, the wind keeps the kick in play, Swindon return the kick, Joe Pigott takes and puts up a high kick back into Swindon’s half, he chases and a mistake by the Swindon defender allows Joe Pigott to flip the ball up and catch it to sprint over and score a great opportunist try the long conversion is blown in the wind just wide 10-19 46 min’s

Swindon take the restart kick which is returned by Blues, Swindon attack through several phase’s getting up to Blues 22 and win a long penalty which is kicked just wide, Blues touch it down and take the 22 drop out, Swindon again attack but cannot break through so try a chip kick over Blues defence, Blues take and kick clear, Swindon gather and again chip the Blues defence, Blues win the chase but are adjudged to have obstructed the Swindon chasers conceding the penalty and earning a yellow which looks like it is given to the wrong player. Swindon kick the penalty to touch and from the lineout force Blues to concede another.

Ben Hicks and Chris Guyatt off Ollie Spanswick and Kyle Doel on 57 mins

Swindon win the lineout and put Blues under a period of pressure but lose the ball allowing Blues to kick clear, Swindon run back at Blues and chip a kick over Blues defence Jamie Futcher just doing enough to force the error from Swindon and the ball rolls dead. Blues take the 22 drop out, Swindon have the better of the next few minutes and spend most of the time in Blues 22, Blues only managing to kick out of defence which allows Swindon to launch another attack. Swindon keep up the pressure and are rewarded when they make the break through and score wide out on their left the conversion just wide 15-19 61 mins

The game is now evenly balanced, Blues restart Swindon take and return the kick, Blues gather and run the ball Rory Jones, Graham Stewart and the forwards making ground and win a penalty, the long attempts is just wide, Swindon touch it down, injury time out and Blues are back to 15.
Swindon take the 22 drop out, Kyle Doel takes and charges upfields, Blues kick into Swindon’s 22, Swindon kick to touch.

Rory Jones off Ben Hicks on 65 mins

Blues win the lineout and run the ball, Blues win a penalty which Dan Thorne kicks to touch, Swindon steal the lineout and kick, they then win a penalty which they kick to touch, they win the lineout and put up a high kick which is taken by Josh Bartlett who kicks, his kicked is partially charged down but it falls nicely for him and he gathers and makes good ground and Swindon concede a penalty

Toby Thorne off Iain Herriott on 70 mins

Dan Thorne’s long attempt is just wide of the posts, Swindon touch down then take the 22 drop out Rob Drysdale takes a good run takes him into Swindon’s 22 but Blues lose the ball. Swindon win their defensive scrum and kick clear, Blues take and run but a spilt ball gives Swindon possession and then a penalty which they kick to touch.
Blues steal the lineout then win a penalty which Dan Thorne kicks to touch, Blues lineout is not straight giving Swindon a scrum, they kick out of defence Blues take and a good Jon Bastable run takes play back into Swindon’s 22, Blues keep possession and spread the ball through hands allowing Iain Herriott to get over and score the bonus point try wide out on the left, Dan Thorne kicking the long conversion 15-26 78 mins

Swindon restart and a good chase puts Blues under pressure but a good kick to touch relieves the pressure, Swindon’s lineout is not straight, Blues win the scrum and Ollie Spanswick makes a run but Swindon manage to hold firm and force a mistake. Swindon attack but a good tackle by Blues rips the ball free in their 22, Blues win the scrum and kick to touch bringing the final whistle
A good return to winning ways by the Blues earning a bonus point win in what is always a keenly and fairly fought difficult fixture to win

Joint MOM goes to forwards James Macauley and Jon Bastable who both had great games leading from the front

Squad
Graham Stewart, Rob Drysdale, James Macauley, Jon Bastable, Ben Hicks,
Chris Guyatt, Dylan Stewart, Rory Jones, Joe Pigott, Dan Thorne,,
Jamie Futcher, Josh Love, Toby Thorne, Mike Walker, Josh Bartlett,
Kyle Doel, Ollie Spanswick, Iain Herriott

Next week Saturday 17th Blues are home and have a tricky Berkshire derby against Windsor, This will be a good Berks derby as Windsor after an opening day win have lost their next two matches, getting thumped by Berkshire rivals Maidenhead 45-13 last Saturday so they will be keen to turn the tables and beat Blues

Match details

Match date

Sat 17 Sep 2016

Kickoff

15:00

Meet time

12:15

Location

Instructions

Leave Newbury at 12:30
Be at Swindon by 1:15

Competition

South West 1 East

League position

1
Newbury Blues
10
Swindon
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Player Sponsor - Prianto
Player Sponsor - VOS
Team Sponsor - T  Mather Tree Services
Team Sponsor - Kress
Club Sponsor - Precision Fabrication
Club Sponsor - Dave Shields
Player Sponsor - Kept Assets Limited
Player Sponsor - Swindon Sports Therapy
Player Sponsor - WMJ Consulting
Player Sponsor - MJP THERAPY
Player Sponsor - Vets4Pets