Blues in the points

NEWBURY BLUES 64 v 10 CHIPPENHAM

Blues in the points

Saturday 8th Oct 2016, South West 1 East League, 3 pm KO

Newbury Blues welcomed relegated Chippenham to Monks Lane and score 9 try’s in a dominant win

Josh Love and Ben Hicks lead the team out onto the pitch to celebrate their 100 caps

Newbury U7’s are todays mascots and run out with the squad

Blues make late a change to the published squad due to a calf injury to Alex Millar in the warm up Dylan Stewart stepping in at the last minute.

Blues kick the game off and a good chase means they manage to steal possession and spread the ball wide Mike Walker making a good run before the ball is quickly spread back across the pitch to Chris Guyatt who sidesteps the defender to canter over close to the posts and a early score Dan Thorne converting 7-0 2 min’s

Chippenham restart Blues take and return a kick which rolls into touch on halfway, lineout won Chippenham try running the ball but don’t make much progress so send a kick into touch, Chippenham steal the lineout and attack the Blues defence which holds firm and forces a mistake, Blues gather the loose ball and run at Chippenham, a knock on halts their progress and gives Chippenham a scrum.
At the scrum Ryan Davis is quick to react and hacks the ball up field, Chippenham manage to get hold of the ball and try running out of their half but lose the ball, Blues attack and a good run then a chip kick takes play up to the try line, Blues keep possession but a knock on in the tackle gives Chippenham a defensive scrum. Chippenham win their scrum and kick clear to touch, Blues win the lineout and mount another attack getting back into Chippenham's 22, Chippenham's defence holds firm and wins a penalty scrum then a penalty which is cleared to touch. Blues manage to steal the lineout and set up another attack, this time Blues win the penalty which Dan Thorne slots over 10-0 15 min’s

Chippenhams restart kick is returned by Blues and again a good chase means Blues pressure turns the ball over, on this attack Blues win a penalty plus 10m when Chippenham protest to much meaning Dan Thorne has a long shot at the posts which sails over 13-0 17 min’s

Blues return Chippenhams restart kick into touch, lineout won Chippenham run a t Blues and win a penalty at the tackle, injury timeout for a Chippenham player, the penalty is kicked to touch well in Blues 22 giving them an attacking lineout, Chippenham win their lineout and the forwards pick and drive slowly forcing Blues back as well as knocking over the ref, play is brought back for a Chippenham penalty which their 10 Henry Taylor kicks over to open their scoring 13-3 20 min’s

Blues kick off and Iain Herriott reclaims the kick and sets off before releasing Rory Jones, Blues spread the ball across the pitch through the backs and keep the pressure on the Chippenham defence, again the ball is passed quickly through hands allowing Toby Thorne to break through and score the long conversion just wide 18-3 25 mins

Chippenham’s kick is returned by Blues, Chippenham gather and send a kick up fields and it rolls nicely into touch on Newbury’s 22, Blues win the lineout and Joe Pigott sends up a high kick out of their 22, Chippenham run the ball but get penalised at the tackle for holding on, Dan Thorne kicks to touch.
Chippenham knock on at the lineout giving Blues a scrum, Blues knock on at the scrum, Chippenham play advantage and a good phase of play takes them up to Blues 22, they swop direction and take play across the pitch but a loose pass evades their winger and rolls into touch, Chippenham get a scrum when Blues lineout throw is not straight, Blues pack makes amends and shoves Chippenham back and wins a penalty, Dan Thorne into touch.
Lineout won Blues run at Chippenham and get a penalty at the tackle which Dan Thorne kicks through the uprights, 21-3 32 min’s

Blues have the upper hand and for the remainder of the half and when Chippenham do attack and get into Blues 22 they cannot break through the resolute Blues defence. The Blues pack is also dominant and at the scrums is shoving Chippenham back and putting their pack under all sorts of pressure, Blues kick the ball to touch to bring half time

******

Dylan Stewart on Chris Guyatt off

Chippenham kick off the second half, Blues catch and launch a kick back into Chippenham territory, Chippenham return the kick Ryan Davis catches and sets off on one of his runs drawing the defender and releasing Toby Pearce who sidesteps the full back to sprint over and score close to the posts Dan Thorne slots over the conversion, 28-3 42 min’s

Chippenham restart, Blues gather and run back at Chippenham going across the pitch and getting into Chippenhams half and get a penalty at the tackle, Dan Thorne steps up and has a long 45m shot at the posts which is just short, Chippenham take and kick Blues gather and again run the ball winning another penalty, Dan Thorne kicks to touch in Chippenhams 22.
Blue win their lineout and attack Mike Walker is stopped just short of the line but Blues are there in numbers and the ball is fed back for Kyle Doel to drive over and score the bonus point try, Dan Thorne converts 35-3 46 min’s

Chippenham take the restart kick Blues take and another run from Ryan Davis takes play across the pitch and back up to half way, Chippenham manage to steal the ball and win a penalty which they kick to touch.

Ben Hicks off Graham Stewart on

Blues steal the lineout and a great Dylan Stewart run starts Blues off on another great attack, Blues win a scrum and the ball is quickly spread to the backs Iain Herriott makes a great 40m run and in the tackle slips a pass to Josh Love who in a flash is over to score Dan Thorne kicking the conversion, 42-3 52 min’s

Chippenham are now being over run by the speed of the Blues attack and look resigned to defeat, they take the restart kick Blues return the kick deep into Chippenhams half they clear to touch on halfway. Blues win the lineout and a good Josh Love run takes play back into Chippenhams half Dylan Stewart continues into Chippenhams 22, Chippenham win a penalty and clear to touch.

Jake Richardson on Josh Love off

Chippenham win their lineout and run the ball getting up to halfway before they lose the ball, Blues set off on another attack Iain Herriott making good ground he releases Jake Richardson who keeps up the progress before slipping a pass to Joe Pigott who is gone and over the line under the posts Dan Thorne slotting his easiest kick of the game so far to make the score 49-3 59 min’s

Chippenham take the restart kick Blues catch but get shoved into touch, Blues steal the lineout and run but don’t get far before they knock on. Chippenham win their scrum and run the ball but a knock on gives Blues possession just in their own half, scrum won Blues run at Chippenham Toby Thorne making good ground but a loose pass is knocked on.

Rory Jones off Chris Guyatt on

Blues shove Chippenham back at the scrum which is re-set, Chippenham under pressure manage to win their scrum and run out of defence before putting a chip kick over the Blues defensive wall, Blues gather and James Macauley bursts through a couple of tackles before passing to Toby Thorne who keeps the momentum going he releases Mike Walker who rounds one defender before slipping the ball back to Toby Thorne who splits the defence to score wide out, Dan Thorne just wide with the kick, 54-3 65 min’s

Chippenham take the kick Blues knock on, Chippenham take the scrum but make a hash of it allowing Blues to hack the ball up fields, in the chase the Blues and Chippenham players collide, Chippenham win a penalty which they kick to touch on halfway.

Rob Drysdale off Ben Hicks on 68 min’s

Chippenham win the lineout and their forwards maul up the pitch but concede a penalty, Dan Thorne kicks safely to touch, lineout won the ball is passed out to the backs Jake Richardson breaking through he releases Toby Thorne who slips past the defence and is over to score his hatrick try Dan Thorne just wide with the long conversion, 59-3 72 min’s

Toby Thorne off Josh Love on

Chippenham restart and get a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won Chippenhams forwards maul getting up to the line and good pressure gets them a penalty, they tap and go and again are camped on the Blues line eventually their persistence pays and their forwards drive over to score and kick the conversion to get a consolation score, 59-10 76 mins

Blues restart and a good chase by Jake Richardson means he pats the ball back, Blues gather and Graham Stewart sets off on a barging run he releases Kyle Doel who keeps the move going before passing to Dan Thorne who makes one of his sniping runs before passing to Josh Love who takes play into Chippenhams 22, he spots Iain Herriott who is coming at speed and he takes the pass to cut a great line and splits the Chippenham defence to score Dan Thorne just wide with the long conversion and the final whistle ends a great game which Blues win 64-10 with one of their best performances.

What a difference a couple of seasons make 2014-2015 Chippenham swept all before them as they won the league, straight back down they have had a terrible start to this season losing all 6 matches.
Blues have amassed 6 bonus points in 6 games this season, last season Blues got 8 bonus points in 26 games

Well done to the Blues for a great win which was a joy for the spectators to watch

Well done to the referee Grant Phillips who kept good control of the game and kept the game flowing.

Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, James Macauley, Jon Bastable, Kyle Doel, Chris Guyatt,
Ryan Davis, Rory Jones, Joe Pigott, Dan Thorne, Toby Pearce, Josh Love, Iain Herriott,
Mike Walker, Toby Thorne, Graham Stewart, Dylan Stewart, Jake Richardson

Next week Blues have a week off from league duty, returning on Saturday 22nd October away to Oxfordshire neighbours Grove who have had a good start to the season and are just behind Blues in the league, a tough derby game in prospect