Newbury Blues
Matches
Sat 01 Apr 2017  ·  South West 1 East
Newbury Rugby Football Club
Newbury Blues
Tries: J BASTABLE, J BARTLETT (3), J PIGOTT, J FUTCHERConversions: N WACKWITZ (4)Penalties: N WACKWITZ
46
14
Oxford Harlequins
Blues no April Fools

Blues no April Fools

mick futcher3 Apr 2017 - 10:27
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Newbury Blues get the try bonus point victory and Old Pats slip up at Old Cents so Blues are now second in the league and in the play off place what a great April fools day

NEWBURY BLUES 46 v 14 OXFORD HARLEQUINS

Blues no April Fools

Saturday 1st April, South West 1 East League, 3 pm KO

Newbury Blues get the try bonus point victory and Old Pats slip up at Old Cents so Blues are now second in the league and in the play off place what a great April fools day

Blues make one change to the squad that beat Old Pats Alex Millar coming in after his try scoring exploits for the Stags for the unavailable Ryan Davis.

Blues are led out onto the pitch by Joe Pigott who got to 50 caps last week at Old Pats, Newbury RFC U10’s are today’s ball boys and run out with the rest of the squad

Blues kick off this important league match and are soon on the attack when Oxford Quins return the kick allowing Blues to run back at them, Blues win a penalty which is kicked to touch by Dan Thorne, Blues win the lineout and pressurize the Oxford Quins defence with some good runs from the forwards James Macauley, Ollie Spanswick and Kyle Doel before the ball is spread wide, Blues keep the ball live and come back across the pitch, Jon Bastable gets the ball spots the gap and he is over to score Nick Wackwitz converts, 7-0 4 mins

Oxford Quins restart is not 10 giving Blues a scrum on half way, Blues run the ball from the scrum but a knock on halts their progress Blues turn the scrum and steal the reset and again attack the Oxford Quins defence who concede a penalty Blues kick to touch. Lineout won Blues attack Rob Drysdale making a good run before the ball is spread wide and Blues win a penalty which Nick Wackwitz kicks through the posts, 10-0 10 mins

Oxford Quins restart kick is returned by Blues into touch, Oxford Quins win the lineout and attack Blues winning a penalty which they kick at the posts, the ball is wide so Blues take the 22 drop out, Oxford Quins take but lose the ball, Blues attack and make good progress a good Joe Pigott run getting into Oxford Quins 22, Blues keep up the pressure and when Josh Love is taken out without the ball the ref gives a penalty try Nick Wackwitz converts 17-0 18 mins

Blues gather Oxford Quins restart kick and run the ball back, Josh Love making good ground up to Oxford Quins 22, Blues win a penalty scrum but cough up possession in the tackle giving Oxford Quins a penalty which they kick to touch, Oxford Quins win the lineout and attack but don’t get far before the ball is stolen in the tackle. Blues run at Oxford Quins Josh Bartlett making good yards before a loose pass is knocked on, Oxford Quins win a penalty at the scrum which is kicked to touch, Oxford Quins win the lineout and put Blues under a period of pressure winning a scrum when Blues knock on in the tackle. Oxford Quins win the scrum and spread the ball wide getting the break through and scoring plus the conversion 17-7 32 mins

Oxford Quins return Blues restart kick Blues gather and run the ball but lose possession in the tackle, Oxford Quins run at Blues but a long pass is knocked on giving Blues a scrum just in their own half, Blues get a penalty at the scrum which they take quickly and run Oxford Quins infringe and Blues have a penalty which after a time out for injury is kicked to touch.
Blues win the lineout and Rory Jones and Dylan Stewart make good ground before the ball is spread wide through hands allowing Josh Bartlett to dodge the defenders to score close to the posts Nick Wackwitz converting, 24-7 39 mins

Oxford Quins regain possession from their kick when Blues lose the ball in the tackle, Oxford Quins attack win a penalty which they tap and go getting up to Blues 22 but a loose pass is gathered by Blues and after a quick tap penalty Blues are making good ground until a knock on halts their progress and brings the half time whistle.

*******

Ben Hicks on for Graham Stewart

Oxford Quins kick off the second half and the ball just makes 10 and bounces into touch, Blues win the lineout and run the ball getting into Oxford Quins half, Dan Thorne weaves through the defence before releasing Josh Bartlett who rounds the final defender to score the bonus point try the conversion is just wide, 29-7 41 mins

Blues get a scrum when Oxford Quins restart kick is not 10, Blues knock on at the scrum Oxford Quins win their scrum and attack the Blues defence through several phases before they lose the ball, Blues put up a high kick and a good chase push’s Oxford Quins backwards into own half, Oxford Quins kick Blues gather and kick which drifts straight out so back for an Oxford Quins lineout well in Blues half

Alex Millar on Ollie Spanswick off 47 mins

Oxford Quins win their lineout and run at Blues but lose the ball into touch off a Blues player, Blues steal the lineout and run down the touchline, Toby Pearce making good ground before off loading in the tackle to Alex Millar who crashes through a couple of tackles before he passes to Joe Pigott who is gone making the final 30 yards to score the conversion just wide 34-7 49 mins

From the restart kick Blues kick back into Oxford Quins territory they gather and run at Blues winning a penalty which is kicked to touch, Oxford Quins throw is not straight giving Blues a scrum, from the scrum Alex Millar makes a good run then Rory Jones before he kicks up the touch line the ball rolling nicely into touch. Oxford Quins win the lineout and kick clear Blues put a kick into Oxford Quins 22 and chase Oxford Quins gather and clear to touch

Jamie Futcher on Toby Pearce off 55 mins

Blues win the lineout and get up to Oxford Quins 22 but knock on, Blues win a penalty at the scrum which Dan Thorne kicks to touch giving Blues a 5m lineout, from the lineout Blues forwards maul up to the line but cannot get over so Blues have a 5m scrum. Blues win the scrum and again attack the try line but cannot quite get over, the ball is recycled and a big hit on Josh Love forces a knock on, Oxford Quins win the 5m scrum and kick clear Jamie Futcher takes and passes to Josh Bartlett, Blues attack making good ground Alex Millar off loads to Dan Thorne who breaks through the Oxford Quins defence draws the last defender before passing to Jamie Futcher who strolls over to score Nick Wackwitz converts 41 –7 64 mins

Josh Love off Toby Pearce on

Oxford Quins take the restart kick and a good chase is rewarded when they win a scrum, Blues spill the ball, from the scrum Oxford Quins put the Blues defence under pressure winning a penalty scrum. Oxford Quins hold their scrum and the forwards maul getting up to the line but the Blues defence hold them up, the 5m scrum is reset and Oxford Quins spread the ball wide, Blues manage to steal possession and try running out of defence but a telegraphed pass is intercepted by Oxford Quins and they score an opportunist try plus the conversion 41-14 70 mins

Dylan Stewart off Ollie Spanswick on

Blues take the restart kick and a good chase is rewarded when Oxford Quins knock on, they manage to steal possession at the scrum and take play up to half way before a knock on halts their progress. Blues win the scrum and a good Joe Pigott run takes play well into Oxford Quins territory before he releases Ollie Spanswick who makes more ground before he passes to Josh Bartlett who cuts a diagonal line across the pitch to score wide out on the left his hat trick try, the long conversion just dips under the crossbar, 46-14 75 mins

Josh Bartlett off Dylan Stewart on and a positional reshuffle

Oxford Quins restart Blues take and run the ball, the last few minutes of the match are played out with neither side having a scoring opportunity and both side making mistakes so possession is swapping before to much ground is made, Blues make a mistake in Oxford Quins half and the final whistle is blown to the cheers of the Blues support.

News comes of the great result at Old Cents bringing a huge cheer, Old Cents have beaten Old Pats 18-10 meaning Blues now leapfrog Old Pats into second and the play off place and have a 4 point cushion what a great April Fools day

Well done to this Blues squad who produced some of their best expansive rugby today in scoring some great team try’s

Forwards MOM Dylan Stewart
Backs MOM Joe Pigott

Thanks to the ref Andrew Green who had a great game, kept control and allowed the game to flow

Great big thanks to the Blues support who cheer on the boys, which ever match whether home or away the Blues support always easily outnumber the opposition followers

Also thanks to the players who treated some of the loyal supporters to the prematch lunch a great gesture much appreciated by all

Blues Squad
Graham Stewart, Rob Drysdale, James Macauley, Kyle Doel, Jon Bastable,
Dylan Stewart, Ollie Spanswick, Rory Jones, Joe Pigott, Nick Wackwitz,
Toby Pearce, Josh Love, Dan Thorne, Toby Thorne, Josh Bartlett
Ben Hicks, Alex Millar, Jamie Futcher

Blues next league match is away at Reading on Saturday April 8th, although Reading are already relegated this is a Berks derby and will not be an easy game they will want to spoil the Blues run to second place and the play off game.
Two more wins and the play off place, a home match against Clevedon belongs to Blues

Report from Newbury Today Malcolm Howe

Blues put one hand on play-off spot
Bartlett treble and Patesians defeat mean its in Newbury's own hands

Newbury Blues 46 Oxford Harlequins 14
THE second loudest cheer of the afternoon rang out when news came through that Old Centralians had downed Old Patesians and Blues had charged into second place in South West One East.

Now four points ahead of their Cheltenham rivals, only Reading’s two clubs - bottom of the table Reading and similarly relegation-threatened Reading Abbey - can deny Blues an end of season play-off and probably a home game with Clevedon.
“I asked the boys for a big performance,” said head coach Lee Goodall, “as this was one of our potential banana skins.
“But the tries we scored today were top drawer and some of the best we’ve scored all year and the performance was superb.
“But what I said to the boys under the posts is that we can celebrate tonight, but there's still two games to go and we’ve got to win both games and get bonus points out of them if we can and then think about the play-offs.”
Full back Josh Bartlett ran in a hat-trick of tries in a game that saw Blues surge clear in the opening stages. Jon Bastable touched inside four minutes of the start, Nick Wackwitz adding a conversion and a penalty before Josh Love had a likely denied him at the cost of a free seven-pointer before Harlequins rallied with a Sam Watkinson try converted by Huw Dimond and a better spell that ended when Bartlett rounded off a flowing move by going over for another Wackwitz-converted score to give Blues a 24-7 lead at the break.
The bonus point was in the bag in the first minute of the second period when Bartlett was again on the end of a rapid break, and Joe Pigott soon added another.
Jamie Futcher was on the end of a move carved out by Dan Thorne and Alex Millar, and although Archie Van Dijk added a second try for Harlequins, converted by Watkinson, Bartlett touched down his third before the end to seal half of a winning double completed by Old Centralians’ 18-10 success that leaves Blues’ promotion hopes in their own hands.

Newbury Blues: Bartlett; T. Thorne, D. Thorne, Love, Pearce; Wackwitz, Pigott; G. Stewart, Drysdale, Macauley; Bastable, Doel; Spanswick, D. Stewart, Jones. Subs: Hicks, Millar, Futcher.

Match details

Match date

Sat 01 Apr 2017

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

South West 1 East

League position

2
Newbury Blues
11
Oxford Harlequins
Team overview
Further reading

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