Newbury vs Amersham & Chiltern, National League 3 S/West (14/01/12)

Amersham kicked-off and inside 3 minutes Newbury had made the worst start possible, with an inch-perfect cross-kick by the visiting fly-half finding his winger for a touch-down in the corner. Newbury pushed back and camped in the Amersham half for a period during which they earned two penalties (neither in kickable range). But disappointingly the Newbury line out was not working well, and the second such failure enabled Amersham to kick long. Once back in the Newbury half a good running combination allowed Amersham’s outside centre to cut inside and dive in under the posts. The kick, easier than the first one, was converted to make it 12-0.

On 18 minutes Ali Widdop, Luke Sawyer and Dan Thorne at last gave the home crowd something to cheer as they charged deep into the Amersham half, resulting in a penalty to Newbury for offside, which Dan Thorne kicked to touch for a 5 metre lineout. The lineout was taken cleanly this time by Matt Stronge, and the forwards rumbled towards the Amersham line before Ali Widdop broke off to dive through and score. Thorne was unlucky with the conversion but Newbury were back in the game at 12-5.

A sterile period of midfield nip-and-tuck was punctuated on the half-hour mark by a yellow card for Amersham’s tight-head prop. But despite the man advantage, it was Amersham who pressed on, missing a very simple penalty chance.

From nowhere, Alex Kane produced a 40 yard break, Dan Thorne kicked the ball cross-field and Tommy Martin gathered superbly to beat two men. When the third defender stopped him, Sam Vine was supporting, but he in turn was halted and the break came to nothing as Newbury were penalised for holding-on.

Rob Drysdale replaced a concussed Ali Widdop as Newbury started the second half in the ascendant, But another failed line-out allowed Amersham to clear back to the half-way line. Then Drysdale was given a yellow card for joining a maul from the side – harsh because it was pretty much a first offence.

Amersham’s kicker, not having a great day, missed another easy penalty, but 12 minutes into the second half he redeemed himself somewhat by dropping a goal. Czerpak and Maher led the charge back upfield which came to nought and as Amersham attacked again, the fly-half, who clearly now had drop-goal fever, spurned an impressive overlap to poorly miss a drop at the posts.

At the three-quarter mark as Drysdale returned from his yellow card, coach Andy Widdop rolled the dice and brought on Paul Archer and Will Spencer to add fresh energy to the cause. Spencer made an immediate impression with a bold 30 metre run, but then received a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on. Coincident with that Dan Thorne pulled a hamstring and Newbury, with all three replacements on, were reduced to 13 men. Things got worse when Luke Sawyer departed with a dislocated shoulder, thus adding to Newbury’s front row squad problems.

Even with Spencer returning Newbury were destined to play out this game with never more than 13 players, and despite bravely soaking up pressure it was not surprising that they conceded a further 2 scores. It is an anomaly of organised rugby union in this country that at levels 1 to 3 teams are allowed 7 replacements. In colts and junior rugby and indeed in lower level leagues again its 7 replacements. But between levels 5 and 9 only THREE replacements are allowed. This is supposed to help the clubs in some way, but it is hard to see how, and the rule didn’t help Newbury today as it took a game in which they were competitive for 60 minutes out of their grasp. Perhaps Sir Billy Beaumont could take a look at this stupid rule when he is elected chairman of the RFU! But all credit to a battling Amersham team, for whom the win takes them out of the bottom 3 of the division.

Newbury: Hawkins, Widdop (Drysdale 38), Sawyer, Taylor, Stronge (Archer 58), Ashburner, Maher, Vine, Czerpak, D.Thorne, Martin, Kane, Meyer (W.Spencer 58), Chamunorwa, Bartlett

Amersham & Chiltern: Cadogan, Kirby, Naude, Bond, Gentles, Gramennos, Fischer, Hogan, Polataivao, Smalley, Portland, Webb, Budgen, Reeve, Jacks

Paul Sanders