Blues Royal Win

WINDSOR 7 v 37 NEWBURY BLUES

Blues Royal Win

Saturday 14th Jan, South West 1 East League, 2-00 pm KO

Newbury Blues travel to Windsor and get a good away win with a four-try bonus point victory next to the Castle

Blues travel to Windsor with a much changed squad from last week Josh Winfield and
Ollie Spanswick are out injured, George Robinson-Slater, Alex Millar and Will Carlisle are unavailable, with all the previous injuries it means Blues have two players Duncan Craigen and Cameron Golby Barr on the bench for their first games this season

Blues kick off the match on a heavy pitch on a damp overcast Saturday afternoon in the shadow of the Castle walls, Windsor return the kick allowing Blues to run back into Windsor’s half before a knock on halts their progress, the ref takes play back for an earlier Windsor knock on in the tackle, Blues win the scrum and kick deep into Windsor’s half, they return the kick into touch on half way. Blues lose possession at the lineout allowing Windsor to get up to the 22 before they are stopped and Blues get a scrum, from the scrum Blues win a penalty which is kicked to touch, Blues win a scruffy lineout but after a couple of phases lose the ball at the ruck, the ref takes play back for a Windsor scrum.
Windsor attack from the scrum getting into Blues 22 but a knock on gives Blues possession and a chance to take play out of their 22 as they play the advantage and run the ball before kicking to touch, Blues steal the lineout and kick the ball rolling into touch, Windsor hold onto their lineout and a some good attacking rugby takes them into Blues 22 before the Blues defence holds them up and wins a 5m scrum. Blues win the reset scrum and run out of defence before a kick takes play up to half way, Windsor run the ball getting back into Blues 22 before knocking on, Blues win the scrum and kick up field, Windsor return the kick into touch in Blues 22, lineout won they get a penalty which is kicked to touch 5m out, from the lineout they put pressure on the Blues line but cannot make the breakthrough, Blues defence wins a 5m scrum which allows Ryan Davis to run out of defence, the forwards keep the momentum going a series of pick and drives takes play up the pitch before a knock on halts progress.
Windsor win the scrum and launch another attack getting well into Blues territory, they send a neat chip kick over the Blues defensive line and win a penalty which is just wide of the posts 23 mins, Blues take the restart long and a good chase puts the Windsor defence under pressure and wins a penalty which Nick Wackwitz slots between the posts 0-3 26 min’s

Windsor’s restart kick is two long giving Blues a scrum on halfway, Blues pack has the better at the scrum and the ball is spread through the backs making good ground, the final pass opens the defence allowing Jamie Futcher to make the last 20m down the touchline to score a try wide out on the right the long conversion just wide 0-8 30 min’s

Aaron Johnston off James Macauley on

Blues have the better of the remainder of the half put cannot add to their score, Windsor have a couple of good attacks but are unable to make the break through so remain scoreless, half time. Summing up a stop start first half, Windsor had the better of the first 25 mins spending long periods camped in Blues half but were unable to convert this pressure into points, Blues came back in the next 15 mins and managed to score a penalty and a try

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Windsor kick off the second half, Blues catch and Ryan Davis is off on one of his runs, Blues keep the move going and win a scrum, injury time out, Blues run the ball from the scrum but a knock on gives Windsor a scrum, from the scrum Windsor kick into Blues half, Blues gather and progress back into Windsor’s half before another knock on gives Windsor a scrum, another injury time out.
Windsor just hold their scrum but straight away lose the ball allowing Blues to attack and make good ground before a knock on stops their progress, Blues pack makes amends and shoves Windsor back and win the ball, Ryan Davis picks up at the base and releases Nick Wackwitz, who spreads the ball out, Josh Love makes a great run and as he is tackled offloads to Dan Thorne who steps the final defender to score, Nick Wackwitz converts, 0-15 46 mins

Windsor restart kick is taken by Blues who attack up the left hand side of the pitch getting up to Windsor’s 22 before a knock on halts progress, Windsor win their scrum and try running out of defence but after couple of phase’s kick clear to touch, Blues win the lineout and the forwards make ground before Ryan Davis makes the break through cutting through the Windsor tacklers to run 30m and score under the posts, Nick Wackwitz converting 0-22 50 min’s

Duncan Craigen on Kyle Doel off

Blues now have the upper hand and from Windsor’s restart kick run straight back at Windsor and win a penalty which is kicked to touch, Blues again run at Windsor from the lineout but cough up possession giving Windsor a chance to relieve the Blues pressure, Windsor try running the ball but Blues defence wins and forces a mistake giving Blues a scrum.

Cameron Golby Barr on Joe Pigott off, backs are reshuffled 54 mins

Blues win the scrum and run the ball but a knock on gives Windsor a scrum, from the scrum Windsor run the ball before sending a kick into Blues 22, they gather and Jamie Futcher kicks clear, Windsor gather and get back into Blues 22 but knock on, Windsor steal the scrum and attack the blindside but are ushered into touch, Blues win the lineout then a penalty which is kicked to touch still well in Blues half. Lineout won Blues forwards maul making good ground before the ball is passed out through the backs reaching Toby Thorne who draws the defender before releasing Cameron Golby Barr who is gone around the defender to score a great try which earns the bonus point, the conversion is just wide, 0-27 65 mins

Windsor take the restart kick, Blues gather and return the kick, Windsor run back at Blues but are stopped by some good tackling Ryan Davis hitting hard, Windsor kick, Blues gather and a good attack takes them up to Windsor’s 22, the final pass is spurned and in a flash Windsor have stolen the ball at the tackle and their winger James Howard runs from their own 22 to score, the conversion is successful making the score 7-27 71 mins

Rob Drysdale and Jon Bastable off Aaron Johnston and Kyle Doel on

From the Blues restart kick Windsor knock on, Scrum won Blues attack spreading the ball out to Josh Love who takes the tacklers over the line with him to score a try the conversion is just wide
7-32 74 mins

Blues are now in the driving seat and from the restart kick run straight through Windsor, Ryan Davis crashes through the tackles, Nick Wackwitz out to Toby Thorne on to Cameron Goby Barr who releases Josh Love and he slips a neat pass to Dan Thorne who is over to score a well worked try the conversion just missing, 7-37 77 mins

Blues launch one final attack from the restart and some good play takes them up to Windsor’s 22 but they are unable to add to their score, Windsor get the ball and try running out of defence but are taken into touch and the final whistle is blown

A much better 2nd half performance by the Blues, started to play their fast running game with the ball being quickly played through hands which split open the tiring Windsor defence on several occasions scoring 5 try’s.

Forwards MOM goes to Ryan Davis, his best game this season
Backs MOM goes to Josh Love, another great game

Thanks to the ref who kept control of this Berkshire derby

Blues Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, Aaron Johnston, Jon Bastable, Kyle Doel, Chris Guyatt, Dylan Stewart, Ryan Davis, Joe Pigott, Nick Wackwitz, Jamie Futcher, Josh Love, Dan Thorne, Anthony Hackett
Toby Thorne, James Macauley, Duncan Craigen, Cameron Golby Barr

This result is a testament to the strength in depth of the Blues squad with so many players out those coming in can still produce a great result like this, a total of 35 players have played for the Blues so far this season

A good contingent of Blues committee members and supporters also attended the prematch meal; thanks to Windsor for a fantastic lunch many thanks to your new chef.

Thanks to the great supporters for Newbury Blues who by far outnumbered the home support, it is great for the players and much appreciated

The league has closed up a bit at the top with Banbury beating Maidenhead and Old Patesians scraping a win at Royal Wootton Bassett, means every game remaining is vital in deciding the promotion places especially those between the top 3
Blues have a tough home game next Saturday against Banbury who sit in 4th place in the league, Blues need to do what Maidenhead couldn’t and beat them

Banbury 20 - 17 Maidenhead
Chippenham 43 - 12 Grove
Reading Abbey 11 - 18 Oxford Harlequins
Royal Wootton Bassett 10 - 18 Old Patesians
Swindon 13 - 27 Old Centralians
Windsor 7 - 37 Newbury Blues
Witney 16 - 15 Reading