Blues off song

NEWBURY BLUES 13 v 22 IVYBRIDGE
Blues off song
Saturday 23rd Sept 2017, 3pm KO
Newbury Blues welcomed Ivybridge to Monks Lane for the first time and produce a poor performance to suffer their second defeat in a row.

Newbury Blues short of several players due to unavailability and injury give a 1st team debut to Timothy Roach, also Rhys Davies and Adam Neal are making their debut starts at home.

Newbury U7’s lead Blues onto the pitch in front of a smaller than normal Newbury crowd

Ivybridge kick off this league match having lost twice and won once in their previous games , Blues return the kick and get a scrum when Ivybridge knock on, scrum won Blues run the ball winning a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won Blues spread the ball across the pitch before a neat grubber kick and good chase forces Ivybridge to take into touch, Blues win their lineout and the forwards rumble over the line at speed allowing Josh Winfield to score Richard West kicks the conversion, 7-0 5 mins

From the restart Blues return the kick long and into touch, Ivybridge take a quick throw and their backs make good ground getting up to Blues 22 and win a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won they again run the ball but this time the Blues defence holds them out so they send a grubber kick into touch well in Blues 22. Blues win the lineout and after the forwards have made several yards the ball is kicked deep, Ivybridge again run at Blues before the forwards take the ball and maul, Blues manage to hold them up and win the scrum, from the scrum Blues kick long giving Ivybridge a 22-drop out. Blues gather the kick and again put in a kick deep into Ivybridge territory, Ivybridge catch and run at Blues breaking several tackles and making good ground before a good kick rolls into touch well in Blues 22. Ivybridge steal the lineout and attack winning a penalty in front of the posts which their 10 Mitch Pinkus kicks, 7-3 14 mins

Ivybridge are now looking slightly the better team and are able to capitalise on Blues mistakes to keep the pressure on for long periods of play, Blues defence holds out and for the next 10 mins play see-saws from end to end, Blues are first to break the deadlock and after some good attacking rugby are awarded a penalty which is kicked by Richard West 10-3 30 mins

Ivybridge’s restart kick is returned by Blues, this time Ivybridge run the ball and their backs cut through the Blues defence far to easily to run 80m for fullback Charlie Bryant to score under the posts Mitch Pinkus converts 10-10 31 mins

Both teams have chances in the remaining 10 minutes of the half but are unable to make the breakthrough and add to their score before the half time whistle is blown, 10-10 probably summing up the first half of a pretty even game

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Blues are first to make the breakthrough in the second half and within 4 mins some good attacking Rugby results in a penalty which Richard West slots over 13-10 44 mins,

Rory Jones off Alex Millar on

Ivybridge put pressure on Blues for the next 5 mins but cannot score and eventually Blues are able to clear to touch

Rob Drysdale off George Cotterell on 50 mins

Ivybridge again attack from the lineout but concede a penalty allowing Blues to kick to touch and relieve the pressure

Kyle Doel off Dylan Stewart on 54 mins

Blues win the lineout and attack but spill the ball allowing Ivybridge to run from their line and win a penalty which they kick to touch, lineout won they run at Blues getting into Blues 22 before their forwards pick and drive through several phases, Ivybridge play advantage from a penalty and their 10 Mitch Pinkus breaks the deadlock when he chips Blues defence and gathers to score the conversion is just wide 13-15 59 mins

Kyle Doel on Adam Neal off

Ivybridge run from Blues restart kick getting up to half way before they are tackled into touch, Blues lineout is not straight giving Ivybridge the scrum, from the scrum they run across the pitch before play is stopped for an Ivybridge injury, play restarts with an Ivybridge scrum and after a couple of phases they kick the ball deep into Blues half. Blues gather and kick over the Ivybridge defence, Ivybridge gather and run but concede a penalty at the tackle allowing Richard West to clear to touch on Ivybridge’s 22, lineout won Blues forwards maul before the ball is spread wide, a neat inside pass is knocked on with the try line beckoning, Ivybridge win the scrum then get a penalty allowing them to clear their lines. From the lineout Ivybridge win another penalty and Blues get a harsh yellow card, the penalty is kicked to touch, lineout won Ivybridge attack getting into Blues 22 before Mitch Pinkus cons the Blues defence for the second time and his deft kick bounces nicely for him to score and kick the conversion 13-22 71 mins

Blues have a chance to score in the final minutes but again a knock on hands over possession and allows Ivybridge to clear their lines, the final whistle is blown when deep in their own half Ivybridge win a penalty and clear to touch

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, James Macauley, Kyle Doel, Adam Neal, Josh Winfield, Finn Walsh,
Rory Jones, Joe Pigott, Richard West, Timothy Roach, Rhys Davies, Dan Thorne, Josh Bartlett,
Toby Thorne, George Cotterell, Alex Millar, Dylan Stewart,

Next Sat 30th Blues have a trip to the seaside, a game at Weston Super Mare who also gained promotion last season; they have lost twice and drawn twice so far this season, a game Blues need to win