Blue Blues

NEWBURY BLUES 18 v 27 OLD PATESIANS

Blue Blues

Saturday 26th Nov 2016, South West 1 East League, 2-15 pm KO

Newbury Blues welcomed top of the table Old Patesians to Monks Lane and suffer a rare home defeat

Blues are forced into a couple of change’s Toby Pearce onto the bench as captain Dan Thorne is out with an ankle injury he sustained at Old Centralians, and Ollie Spanswick onto the bench when Ben O’Shea is a late ankle injury withdrawal

Old Pats who were relegated from Div 3 South West last season are tough opponents and deserved their win, they were far more clinical than the Blues, they managed to convert their visits into the red zone into points where as the Blues didn’t a valuable lesson learnt

Blues were led out by the mascots from the Newbury U8’s, Old Pats kick off the match with half the team in front of the kicker and are awarded a penalty at the tackle; the kick at the posts is wide, Blues take the 22 drop out Old Pats take and attack getting into Blues 22 before they spill the ball allowing Blues to run out of defence then kick to touch. Old Pats win their lineout but a knock on halts their progress and gives Blues a scrum, Blues pack under pressure just win their scrum and run at Old Pats making good ground before they are ushered over the touch line. Old Pats win the lineout and put up a high kick, Blues take and try running the ball before they put up a high cross field kick, Jamie Futcher puts the Old Pats defender under pressure and Blues get their hands on the loose ball and are further rewarded when they get a penalty, Nick Wackwitz sends a low kick between the posts making the score 3-0 4 min’s.

Old Pats restart and get a scrum when Blues knock on, Old Pats pack have the Blues pack under pressure and win a penalty which is kicked for touch, the kick doesn’t make touch allowing Blues to kick clear, Old Pats catch and again put Blues defence under pressure getting into Blues 22 before a knock on gives Blues a defensive scrum, Blues pack under pressure concede a penalty which is kicked by Old Pats, 3-3 8 min’s

Blues take the restart kick and quickly put Old Pats under pressure, the clearing kick is straight out so back close to Old Pats 22 for a Blues lineout, Blues win their lineout and spread the ball wide forcing Old Pats to concede a penalty, Blues play the advantage and keep up the attack but after a couple of phases with no progress made the ref brings play back for the penalty, Nick Wackwitz kicks making the score 6-3 12 min’s

Old Pats take the restart kick, Blues gather and make good ground Josh Love making good ground, Blues are penalised at the tackle giving Old Pats the scrum, Old Pats win the scrum and run the ball but when they are stopped its back for a penalty Blues had encroached offside, Old Pats kick to touch win the lineout and run at the Blues defence, a good Nick Wackwitz tackle forces the ball loose and allows Blues to attack, good running rugby from the forwards Graham Stewart, Robbie Drysdale, and Jon Bastable keeps Blues going forwards before the backs take over Toby Thorne to Josh Bartlett who releases Mike Walker but he just steps on the touch line under pressure from the Old Pats defender giving them a lineout.
Old Pats win the lineout and their forwards maul upfields making good ground before they kick into Blues half, Blues gather and run the ball getting well into Old Pats half before they spill the ball allowing Old Pats to run out of defence but a knock on gives Blues a scrum in Old Pats half, Blues win the scrum then a penalty which Nick Wackwitz has a long attempt at the posts, the kick is just short, Old Pats run out of defence but good Blues tackling takes them into touch.
Lineout won Blues launch another attack, win a penalty which they kick to touch in Old Pats 22, lineout won Blues keep the ball with their forwards and after several pick and drives Kyle Doel breaks through the tackles to score, Nick Wackwitz converts 13-3, 25 min’s

Old Pats kick off Blues return the kick, Old Pats gather and run back at Blues getting through some weak Blues tackling and progressing into Blues half then putting a kick into Blues 22, Blues call a mark but the kick doesn’t find touch allowing Old Pats to launch another attack before sending another kick into Blues 22, Blues gather and kick clear but again the kick fails to find touch, Old Pats launch another attack and this time the pressure tells and they manager to breach the Blues defence to score, the long conversion just wide making the score 13-8 30 min’s

Old Pats are now playing with confidence and attack the Blues straight from the kick off breaking through several weak Blues tackles, Blues regroup and manage to slow them up but constant Old Pats pressure is rewarded when they score close to the posts and the easy conversion is slotted over and they take the lead 13-15 34 min’s

Dylan Stewart and Ben Hicks off, Ollie Spanswick and George Robinson-Slater on

Old Pats have hit a purple patch and a couple of minutes later they break through the Blues defence and are over again to score under the posts 13-22 36 mins

Old Pats attack from the restart but a knock on gives Blues a scrum; Blues pack under pressure just keep possession and win a penalty, which brings half time.

******

Blues kick off the second half, Old Pats under pressure just get their hands on the ball and put up a high kick and chase, Old Pats knock on giving Blues a scrum, Blues hold their scrum and send the ball wide through the backs getting into Old Pats half winning a penalty, Blues tap and go and again spread the ball wide but a loose pass rolls into touch.
Old Pats win the lineout and run at Blues but lose the ball in the tackle, Blues attack making good ground, a good Kyle Doel run wins a penalty but he is hurt in the tackle.

Kyle Doel off Ben Hicks on

Blues kick to touch win, the lineout and run at Old Pats but a knock on halts their progress giving Old Pats a scrum just in their own 22, Old Pats win the scrum and try running out of defence before they send a kick up the pitch, Blues gather and Mike Walker and Toby Thorne make good runs and Blues are rewarded with a penalty which they kick to touch. Blues win their lineout and spread the ball wide then back into Blues corner getting into Old Pats 22 before a knock on ends the attack, Old Pats clear to touch from the scrum, Blues win the scrum and again put the Old Pats under pressure spreading the ball wide but again a mistake halts their progress and gives Old Pats a scrum. Old Pats try running out of defence but Blues hold them and manage to steal the ball; again Blues cough up possession when they knock on.

Jamie Futcher off Toby Pearce on

Blues manage to steal the ball at the scrum and launch another attack but get penalised at the tackle, Old Pats kick to touch win the lineout then send a kick into Blues 22, Blues gather and kick clear to touch, Blues win a scrum on half way when Old Pats lineout throw is crooked, Blues scrum under pressure means the ball is out and rolling loose, Blues have to kick it out, Old Pats win the lineout and spread the ball wide allowing their full back to cut a great line to score his third try and gets Old Pats the try bonus point, the conversion is just wide 13-27 55 min’s

Blues take the restart kick, which is returned by Old Pats, Blues gather and kick to touch just outside Old Pats 22, Old Pats throw is not straight giving Blues an attacking scrum, Blues win the scrum and the forwards push towards the line George Robinson-Slater and Rory Jones making good yards before the ball is recycled back to Josh Winfield to break the tackle and score wide out in Blues corner the conversion just short 18-27 59 mins

Old Pats take the restart kick and get a yellow when the take out the Blues player in the air,, injury time out

Ryan Jones off Dylan Stewart on 61 mins

Blues kick the penalty to touch but the throw in is not straight giving Old Pats a scrum on half way, scrum won Old Pats run the ball before kicking, Toby Pearce takes and runs he releases the backs but again a loose pass rolls into touch, Old Pats win and kick back into Blues half, Blues gather but don’t get far before they are penalised at the tackle, Old Pats kick to touch.

Ryan Jones on Jon Bastable off 65 mins

Blues have the better of the remaining minutes but cannot break down the Old Pats defence and the score remains the same, a good clean and well contested game of rugby a credit to both teams

MOM goes to Rory Jones

Good luck to Old Pats for the remainder of the season, looking good for an immediate return to Div 3 South West

Blues need to get back into the winning groove at Oxford Harlequins next Saturday

Thanks to the great Blues support

Blues Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, Graham Stewart, Jon Bastable, Kyle Doel, Josh Winfield,
Dylan Stewart, Rory Jones, Joe Pigott, Nick Wackwitz, Jamie Futcher, Josh Love, Josh Bartlett
Mike Walker, Toby Thorne, George Robinson-Slater, Ollie Spanswick, Toby Pearce

Next Saturday 3rd December Blues are away at Oxford Harlequins