A bridge to far

IVYBRIDGE 25 v 8 NEWBURY BLUES

A bridge to far

Saturday 13th Jan 2018, 2-30 pm KO South West Premier

Newbury Blues slip to a disappointing defeat at Ivybridge, getting out muscled by the bigger Ivybridge pack

A depleted Blues squad make the long journey to Ivybridge and return with a pointless defeat which means they slide into the relegation places

Blues kick off up the slight slope and the first 9 mins Blues spend most of the time defending in their own half, eventually they break out and a great phase of play takes them up to the try line only to be prevented from scoring a try when Ivybridge’s 9 kills the ball and earns a yellow card, Blues get a penalty which Richard West kicks 0-3 9 mins

Ivybridge restart and again manage to put the Blues defence under sustained pressure, eventually they make the breakthrough when the ref deems Blues have infringed and stopped them from scoring giving Ivybridge a penalty try and Blues a yellow card 7-3 17 mins

Blues restart, Ivybridge return a long kick into touch, Blues manage to steal the ball after losing the lineout and clear upfield, Ivybridge mount another attack from their own half before kicking deep into Blues half, Alex Millar sets off on one of is runs making good ground before he is halted, Blues then put through a good grubber kick and a good chase is rewarded when Ivybridge knock on still on their own 22, Blues manage to hold onto their scrum and Alex Millar sets off and releases Cameron Golby Barr who is through the gap in Ivybridge’s defence to score wide out 7-8 23 mins

Ivybridge take the restart kick which is returned long and into touch by Richard West, Ivybridge take a quick lineout and put a long kick into Blues 22, good pressure from Ivybridge forces a hurried kick by Blues out of defence, Ivybridge mount another attack from the lineout and win a scrum, from the scrum they spread the ball wide to score wide out on their right, 12-8 28 mins

From the restart both teams have a spell of kicking before Ivybridge get a pen and kick to touch,

Aaron Johnston off Graham Stewart on 30 mins

From the lineout Ivybridge’s dominant forwards maul up field winning a penalty which is kicked to touch, again their forwards make good progress getting over the line put are held up,

Ben Hicks off Dylan Stewart on 34 mins, pack reshuffle

After a scrum reset Ivybridge’s pack shove Blues backwards and they score their third try making the score 17-8 38 mins

Ivybridge are straight back into Blues 22 from the restart and win a scrum, their pack produce another big shove and score the bonus point try on half time 22-8

*****************

Time for the coaches to do their work

Ivybridge get a penalty after a few minutes of the second half which is just wide, Blues take the 22 drop out, Ivybridge run the ball but Blues manage to steal at the tackle but soon concede a penalty which Ivybridge kick to touch win the lineout and put pressure on Blues getting into the 22 before conceding a penalty Blues clear to touch, Blues win the lineout but don’t get far before a loose pass is picked up by Ivybridge and they get back into Blues 22 before they are halted and win a scrum.

Joe Pigott off Anthony Hackett on 53mins

From the scrum Ivybridge get penalised for crossing allowing Blues to clear to touch, from the lineout Blues get into Ivybridge’s half and win a penalty which is kicked to touch, Blues attack from the lineout but lose the ball allowing Ivybridge to attack through several phases getting back to half way before knocking on,

Duncan Craigen off Joe Pigott on and a positional reshuffle 58 mins

Blues are shoved off the scrum and Ivybridge kick to touch, Blues win the lineout and try a clearing kick which is charged down, Blues manager to regather the ball and run, Blues win a penalty then get 10 yds.’ which is kicked to touch, Blues attack from the lineout and get a penalty, the long shot sails just past the posts on 64 mins. Ivybridge take the 22 drop out Blues gather and run the ball but get tackled into touch, Ivybridge win their lineout and attack getting into Blues 22 but a knock on gives Blues a scrum. Blues pack is shoved off the ball allowing Ivybridge to attack, ball lost Blues run out of defence then kick clear, Ivybridge gather and kick to touch in Blues 22. Ivybridge keep up the pressure on Blues defence and on 75 mins make the breakthrough when they win a penalty which they kick 25-8

Alex Millar off Blues down to 14 as all subs are injured

The remaining 5 minutes neither side can add to their points and the game ends when Ivybridge knock on in Blues 22

MOM Alex Millar whose charging runs caused Ivybridge problems

Sadly, this result means Blues slip into the relegation zone

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Jack Walsh, Aaron Johnston, Kyle Doel, Duncan Craigen, Josh Winfield,
Ollie Spanswick, Alex Millar, Joe Pigott, Richard West, Jamie Futcher, Josh Love, Dan Thorne, Cameron Golby Barr, Josh Bartlett, Graham Stewart, Dylan Stewart, Anthony Hackett

Report from Ivybridge’s website

FOUR WINS FROM FIVE

By Stephanie Newman

UP INTO TOP HALF OF THE TABLE

Those five points on Saturday has moved us up from ninth to seventh in the standings after Brixham and Weston-Super-Mare, who had started the day ahead of them, both lost.
With all our tries coming in the first half when we totally dominated Newbury.
Damon Akerman was tripped as he was about to score and the referee didn't hesitate in awarding a penalty try. The other scorers were winger Billy Pinkus, scrum half Ben Watts and Marcus Prout, Luke Martell added one first half conversion.
Our only score in the second half was a penalty from Mitch Pinkus coming about ten minutes from the end.
Sadly for the second week running the game went to uncontested scrums but we had proved to once again be dominant at the set-piece.
“It was a really, really dominant performance,” commented player-coach Lewis Paterson.
“We did miss a lot of points from the boot. I think if we had got all our kicks the score would have been 34-8 and I think that would have been a true reflection of the game.
“We were not world-beaters but we were very much in sync. It was a really good team performance.
“Newbury are a good side. They are gritty and it is a shame to see a side like that quite near the bottom.”
Let’s hope we can make it three wins in a row in 2018 when next weekend we travel to bottom side Hornets.