Blues all at sea in Weston Super Mare

WESTON SUPER MARE 23 v 11 NEWBURY BLUES

Blues all at sea in Weston Super Mare

Saturday 30th Sept 2017, 3pm KO South West Premier

Newbury Blues produce another lacklustre inept display to give Weston Super Mare their first league win this season

Newbury Blues travelled to Weston Super Mare and leave with nothing after a poor display gives Weston Super Mare their first win this season, this is the third game in a row that Blues have been below par and defeated and give their opposition their first wins of the season

Blues U15s Touring squad form the tunnel and applaud both sides onto the pitch

Weston kick off the game Blues return the kick, Weston launch a high kick and a good chase forces Blues into a hurried kick which drifts straight out so play is back for a Weston lineout, Weston attack the Blues defence brushing through several tackles before Blues manage to halt their progress at the line, play is brought back for an earlier penalty which they kick to touch. Lineout won Weston’s forwards maul up to the line, Blues again infringe trying to halt them and earn a yellow card, again Weston’s forwards maul from their lineout before the player at the back of the maul peels off and up the blindside to score, the conversion is wide, 5-0 5 mins

Weston return Blues long restart kick into touch, lineout won Blues attack Alex Millar making good ground and Blues winning a penalty which Dan Thorne slides just past the posts 7 mins

Weston take the 22 drop out and manage to regain possession, they run the ball before chipping over the Blues defence, Blues gather and run the ball through several phases before a good kick and chase means Weston are tackled into touch deep in their own half, Blues again run at Weston’s defence Ben Hicks making good yards, Blues win a penalty scrum which soon results in a penalty which Richard West kicks 5-3 13 mins

Weston manage to re-gather their restart kick and again run at Blues breaking several tackles and get into Blues 22 spending several phases on the line before play is brought back for their penalty which they kick, 8-3 17 mins

Blues restart kick is taken by Weston and the run back into Blues half far too easily before conceding a penalty at the tackle allowing Blues to clear to touch, Weston steal Blues lineout and clear from their own 22 into touch, Blues win this lineout and run the ball across the pitch but a knock on gives Weston a scrum. Weston hold their scrum despite being shoved back and up but lose the ball Blues play the advantage but again play comes back for the penalty, Blues spurn the easy points and take a quick tap and go spending several phases’ s camped on the line, but a mistake means Weston have the ball and they kick clear, a good chase results in Blues being taken into touch. Weston attack from the lineout before a neat cross field kick is just knocked on giving Blues a defensive scrum, Blues win their scrum and kick clear upfield, Weston run but don’t get far before they spill the ball, Blues run getting up to half way before they make the mistake, Weston return the compliment Blues run then put up a high kick, Weston gather but are penalised at the tackle Richard West kicks this one to make the score 8-6 29 mins

Weston again manage to regain their restart kick and launch another attack winning a penalty which is kicked to touch, Weston knock on at the lineout giving Blues a defensive scrum which Blues win and kick to touch, play see saws for the next few minutes with both sides guilty of making mistakes and handing over possession when in good attacking positions, the half ends when Weston who have had the better of the last few minutes scoring their second try when the ball is released through their backs to their winger who is over to score wide out on their right, the long conversion is successful 15-6 and half time

******

Blues kick off the second half both side opt to kick before Weston run the ball making good ground through poor Blues tackles getting into Blues 22 before they spill the ball, Blues gather and run but are held so they kick to touch, lineout is not straight giving Blues a scrum.
Blues win the scrum and run before putting up a high kick and a good chase means they manage to keep hold of the ball, Blues attack making some ground but a knock on halts their progress, Weston win their scrum and clear to touch in Blues 22, Weston steal Blues lineout and attack but a knock on in Blues 22 gives Blues a chance to get out of their 22

Richard West off Timothy Roach on,
Dylan Stewart off Ollie Spanswick on 50 mins

Blues win the scrum and clear to touch, Weston win their lineout and attack winning a penalty at the tackle which they kick 18-6 52 mins

Weston just manage to hold Blues restart kick and kick back into Blues half, Blues gather and run getting up to Weston’s 22 and keep the pressure on Weston’s defence, Blues infringe on the try line allowing Weston to clear to touch, lineout won Weston kick long well into Blues half, Blues gather and their best attacking play of the game so far results in them getting into Weston’s 22, Blues win a penalty which they take quick allowing Dan Thorne to score the try, the long conversion is just short, 18-11 60 mins

Weston kick off and are soon back on the attack when they catch Blues kick and get into Blues 22, Blues defence manages to steal the ball and try running out of their 22 but knock on, Weston play advantage and put the Blues defence under pressure, play is stopped for an injury

Rory Jones off Dylan Stewart on Blood, 63 mins

Weston win their scrum and run across the field before they lose the ball, Blues run but get held up giving Weston the scrum, from the scrum Weston attack winning a penalty which they kick, the long shot is just wide 65 mins

Graham Stewart on Ben Hicks off

Blues take the 22 drop out, Weston gather and attack slicing through poor Blues defence getting into Blues 22 and eventually the pressure tells, and they are over the line to score their third try wide out the conversion is wide 23-11 67 mins

Blood reversal Dylan Stewart off Rory Jones on

Blues restart and win a penalty which they kick to touch, they win the lineout but are penalised for crossing, Weston kick long, Blues try running out of defence but don’t get far before they lose the ball, Weston set off but a loose pass is straight into Blues hands, so they are off and try running back at Weston making good ground and getting into Weston’s 22, Blues keep up the pressure but a knock on halts their progress and another scoring chance is lost. Weston win the scrum and kick clear, Blues gather and attack but again poor play results in a knock on, Weston gather and play the advantage and a good clearing kick rolls into touch well in Blues half, Blues win their lineout and try running but a poor pass is into touch, Weston lose their lineout but again Blues make a mistake and give Weston possession. Weston have the better of the final minutes and spend it in Blues territory but cannot turn the pressure into points.

Weston deserved this victory they managed to score the points when they put the Blues defence under pressure, whereas Blues came up with more mistakes than points

Blues need to regroup and get back to playing the rugby they are capable of, all knew the step up would mean harder games and results would need to be ground out, this has been proven in the last three games

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, James Macauley, Kyle Doel, Josh Winfield, Rory Jones, Dylan Stewart,
Alex Millar, Joe Pigott, Richard West, Toby Pearce, Rhys Davies, Dan Thorne, Josh Bartlett,
Toby Thorne, Graham Stewart, Ollie Spanswick, Timothy Roach

Thanks to the great Blues support who travelled to Weston

Thanks to the U15’s who were on tour and there to support the Blues

Thanks to the Old Boys Cowboy touring group who made a weekend of it at Weston and were trying to drink the place dry!!!!!

Next Saturday 7th Oct Blues are at home against Hornets 3 pm KO a must win game

Westons report

Seasiders chalk up first league victory of the season

By Pete Sloman

In front of a large crowd, Weston secure an important first league win....

Weston got their season under way properly with a well deserved win against Newbury Blues who were welcomed to the rec for this fifth round of the South West Premier League. Weston set off at a cracking pace and were pressing at the Newbury line within the first minutes. Forward pressure resulted in a blind side move and hooker Dave Bird was on hand to touch down with only four minutes gone. The conversion from close to the left touchline was just missed by James Mackay.
Weston kept up the pressure but were penalised on 16 minutes for not releasing and Newbury’s West kicked the goal. From the kick off Weston applied good pressure and forced a penalty of their own kicked by James Mackay and Weston led 8-3 after 20 minutes.
Newbury were carrying the ball well and their large pack were attempting inroads with phase after phase which resulted in a second penalty again kicked by West. Weston had some fear that they might lose their lead as a result of persistent infringements but their play was more considered and careful and it was Newbury who were to suffer a yellow card as the blind side flanker was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for repeated offences.
Weston were to have the final word in the half after excellent work saw Weston move the ball out wide with some fast and accurate handling and Robbie Mackay was on hand to score in the corner. James Mackay made the conversion as the game moved into injury time and the teams turned round with Weston holding a 15—6 advantage.
At the start of the second half Weston again set the early pace and could easily have scored but for a dropped pass. Continued pressure brought a penalty as the Newbury forwards infringed at the breakdown and Mackay kicked to give Weston an 18-6 lead.
James Mackay had two further attempts at goal which were close but unsuccessful and then against the run of play Newbury broke free and despite great defence from Weston the visitors scored a try which went unconverted.
Weston turned the screw once more and maintained great speed and better skills than they have shown in recent games and with a penalty advantage they continued to work the ball through several phases and Spelman made his way over the line despite the attentions of two defenders.
As the game moved into time added on Weston came close to scoring a bonus point try through the forwards but were denied by the final whistle with the score 23-11 in Weston’s favour. They will nevertheless be delighted to have registered their first win of the season and should be very encouraged by their improved performance. This win moves them up to ninth spot in the league with several other results helping their position.
As indicated in the programme notes Rob Solomon and Andy Ballard have been in correspondence with the RFU and also with the SW Premier league administrators to have Weston’s try bonus point against Bournemouth added to their total. A quick look at the official league table will show that the points total has now been corrected. Matches in the SW Premier now have an electronic match card system and although there have been a few teething problems the system now appears to be working well.