Newbury Blues came through their hardest test yet at Royal Wootton Bassett to come away with a hard fought well-earned 4-point win, dropping their first bonus point

Blues travel to Royal Wootton Bassett with a side showing 4 changes from the side that beat Oxford Harlequins last Saturday for this crucial top of the table clash

Blues kick off on a windy cloudy afternoon, the mornings rain blown away, Bassett gather and are driven back by Blues so they clear to touch, Blues win the lineout but soon spill the ball, Bassett play advantage then they knock on so back for their scrum, Bassett win their scrum and run at Blues before a neat grubber kick rolls into touch just outside Blues 22. Blues win the lineout and run out of defence getting back into Bassett’s half before conceding a penalty at the tackle, Bassett’s kick doesn’t find touch giving Blues a chance to run back at Bassett, a high tackle is missed by the ref and a couple of phases later Bassett are awarded a strange penalty. Bassett kick to touch win their lineout and soon have another penalty which they kick to touch, again they win their lineout and get a penalty which is kicked to touch. Ref talks to Blues.
Bassett win their lineout and their forwards drive towards the line, Blues manage to steal the ball and kick clear to touch still in their own half, Bassett are pushed backwards from their lineout so elect to kick back into Blues half, Blues gather and take play back into Bassett’s half before they cough up possession, Bassett run the ball and get a penalty for a marginal Blues high tackle, Blues get a yellow card, Bassett kick to touch win the lineout and take play into Blues 22, Blues get a scrum hold possession and clear to touch on half way.
Bassett win the lineout then knock on giving Blues a scrum, Blues attack from the scrum getting into Bassett’s half before a spilt ball gives possession to Bassett, they play advantage and take play back into Blues half before they lose possession, Blues run then put up a high kick, Bassett return the kick, Blues gather and get a scrum.
Blues win the scrum and attack; the ref halts play as there is a scuffle. Blues have a scrum where play stopped, from the scrum Blues run the ball taking play into Bassett’s half, a forward pass halts their progress and Bassett have a scrum, from the scrum good Blues pressure forces Bassett backwards, James Macaulay robs the ball at the tackle and sets Blues off on an attack, Blues win a penalty which is kicked to touch in Bassett’s 22.

Kyle Doel on Josh Winfield off 25 mins

Bassett steal the lineout and kick clear, Blues run back at Bassett taking play into Bassett’s 22, Blues get up to the line but are held out by good Bassett defence, eventually after several phases of play Blues make the breakthrough when Max Hayman bursts through to score under the posts, Dan Thorne converts 0-7 28 mins

Bassett’s restart kick doesn’t go 10m so back for a Blues scrum on half way, Blues attack getting into Bassett’s half before they are held giving Bassett a scrum, from the scrum Bassett attack the blues making good ground before they lose the ball, Blues counter attack but a knock on halts their progress, Bassett win the scrum in their own half and run the ball getting up to half way before they are tackled into touch, Bassett soon have a penalty then 10 m for a Blues indiscretion which they kick to touch, lineout won they put pressure on Blues defence which holds firm and forces a knock on.
Blues win the reset scrum just outside their 22 and run out of defence, Bassett steal the ball at the tackle but the Blues defence push them backwards until they change direction and take play back into Blues half, Blues get their hands on the ball and some good attacking play takes them up to Bassett’s 22, Bassett get a penalty at the tackle which they tap and go and kick to touch bringing half time to this keenly fought top of the table clash, time for the coaches to do their work

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Bassett kick off the second half and soon have a scrum when Blues knock on just in Bassett’s half, scrum won Bassett attack taking play back into Blues half before they are tackled into touch, Blues win the lineout and run at Bassett but concede a scrum with a forward pass, Bassett attack from the scrum and after several phases of play are camped in Blues 22 eventually they get a penalty which is slotted between the posts 3-7 44 mins

Blues manage to get hold of the ball from their restart kick and get a scrum deep in Bassett’s half , from the scrum Blues get a penalty which they kick at the posts, the wind drags it just wide.
Bassett take the 22 drop out, Blues again attack in midfield but concede a scrum from a knock on in Bassett’s half. Bassett win their scrum and a good kick takes play back into Blues 22, Blues run out of defence but spill the ball Bassett fly hack and a good chase is just won by Blues and they kick over the dead ball line

Toby Pearce off Kris Ford on 48 mins

Bassett have an attacking 5m scrum, their forwards take play up to the line then they take it wide but cannot make the breakthrough, Blues defence push them backwards but concede a penalty in doing so, Bassett kick to touch, Blues manage to steal the 5m lineout and after a couple of drives clear to touch on their 30m line, Bassett win their lineout and their forwards maul making some ground before they are held by Blues giving them a scrum.
Blues win the scrum and set off in attack Kris Ford charging through the Bassett defence, Blues keep the ball live and some good interplay from Tom Martin and Harvey North results in Harvey North rounding the defence to score close to the posts, Dan Thorne converts 3-14 54 mins

Stephen Ansell on Ben Hicks off

From Bassett’s restart kick Blues make good ground Kyle Doel and Kris Ford charging through the defenders, Blues win a scrum but don’t get far before they concede possession and Bassett have scrum deep in their own half, from the scrum Bassett run spreading the ball wide, a big tackle from Blues gives them a harsh red card and Bassett a penalty 58 mins
Bassett kick to touch, Blues manage to steal the lineout and a good Tom Hunt run takes play deep into Bassett’s 22, a Blues pass is caught by a Bassett player and they run out of defence taking play up to Blues 22 before they are tackled into touch.

Rob Drysdale off Josh Winfield on 65 mins

Blues win the lineout their forwards maul before Alex Bancroft clears to touch, Bassett attack from the lineout taking play deep into Blues half before conceding a penalty at the tackle, Blues kick to touch just in Bassett’s half, lineout won Blues put pressure on Bassett’s defence and after several phases of play in Bassett’s 22 are rewarded when Josh Bartlett splits the defence to dive over and score close to the posts, Dan Thorne converts 3-21 70 mins

Blues now have 10mins to get the bonus point try not easy with 14 players on the pitch, from the kick off Blues run but again the mistake comes and a knock on gives Bassett a scrum, Blues manage to steal possession and then get a scrum when Bassett knock on in the tackle, scrum won Blues attack but a knock on gives Bassett another scrum, from the scrum Bassett run the ball before putting in a good kick which the ref deems Blues have touched so an attacking lineout to Bassett
Lineout won Bassett attack, a good steal from Blues saves the day and they run out of defence, again Blues concede a penalty at the tackle allowing Bassett to kick to touch in Blues 22 and an attacking 5m lineout, Bassett’s forwards maul from their lineout, another good steal from James Macaulay saves the day and Blues have the chance to clear their lines, Blues kick is charged down and luckily rolls over the dead ball line.
Blues take the 22 drop out Bassett gather and after several phases of attacking play spread the ball wide to score a good try, the long conversion is kicked 10-21 and the final whistle

A good top of the table clash keenly and hard fought by both teams with no quarter given both in defence and attack a great advert for the standard of rugby in this league

Good luck to Bassett for the remainder of the season and looking forward to the return match at Monks Lane
Bassett’s MOM went to Bola Vereti
Blues MOM went to Tom Hunt

DOD to Alex Millar

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, James Macaulay, Tom Erskine, Josh Winfield,
Max Hayman, Ryan Davis, Alex Millar
Tom Hunt, Alex Bancroft, Toby Pearce, Dan Thorne, Harvey North, Josh Bartlett, Tom Martin, Stephen Ansell, Kyle Doel, Kris Ford,

A big thanks to the great Blues support who travelled in numbers to Royal Wootton Bassett to cheer on the Blues, much appreciated by the Players

Thanks again to Ian Jack for the great photo’s much appreciated

Blues next match is at home Sat 8th Dec 3pm KO against Salisbury who will be trying to be the first team to beat the Blues and end their recent slump in form