Blues earn the win

NEWBURY BLUES 22 v 14 TROWBRIDGE

Blues earn the win
Saturday 05th Jan 2019, 3 pm KO South West 1 East

Newbury Blues start 2019 with a hard-fought victory over a good Trowbridge side

Blues make 2 changes to the squad who beat Swindon due to injury and unavailability, Kyle Doel and Max Hayman out, Dylan Stewart and Duncan Craigen replacing them. Blues are then forced into a late Saturday morning change when Tom Martin fails a fitness test, Tom Webster is called up for his Blues debut

Blues kick off on a grey but dry chilly afternoon in front of a big crowd and a good chase puts Trowbridge under pressure, Trowbridge win a scrum and try running the ball, a knock-on halts their progress giving Blues a scrum, a big shove by the Blues pack wins the scrum and they attack taking play across the pitch but a knock on ends the move in Trowbridge’s 22, Trowbridge hold their scrum and clear to touch.
Blues win their lineout and again put pressure on Trowbridge’s defence getting up to and over the line put are held up giving them a 5m scrum, Blues win the scrum and the ball is quickly spread wide Alex Bancroft to Dan Thorne who releases Josh Bartlett to break through and score to open the scoring, Dan Thorne adding the conversion 7-0 7 mins

Trowbridge restart Blues gather and run but a forward pass ends the move just in their own half, Trowbridge hold their scrum and run at Blues, Trowbridge concede a scrum when they knock on, Blues win the scrum and run the ball getting a penalty at the tackle which is kicked to touch, lineout won Blues again run at Trowbridge but again are stopped with a forward pass just in Trowbridge’s half.
Trowbridge hold their scrum going backwards and are forced to play out of their own 22, a good passage of running rugby takes play back into Blues half before they concede a penalty at the tackle, Blues clear to touch still in their own half, Blues attack from their lineout but another pass is knocked forwards and Trowbridge have a scrum just in Blues half, Trowbridge win the scrum but don’t get far before they make the mistake and knock-on on halfway.
Blues win their scrum and take play into the Trowbridge half before they spill the ball forwards at the tackle, Trowbridge win their scrum and their 12 breaks through several tackle attempts taking play deep into Blues half before they concede a penalty, Blues kick to touch in Trowbridge’s half but lose the lineout allowing Trowbridge to run back at Blues and get a scrum, from the scrum Trowbridge attack and get another scrum when Blues knock on in the tackle.
Trowbridge win their scrum and take play back into Blues half winning a penalty at the tackle which is kicked to touch, lineout won Trowbridge but pressure on Blues defence through several phases of their forwards picking and driving, eventually they spread the ball wide and make the break through to score a good try, the conversion is kicked 7-7 26 mins

Josh Bartlett off Tom Webster on Blood

Blues kick off and get a scrum when Trowbridge knock on, Blues win the scrum and attack taking play across the pitch put are tackled into touch 2m short, Trowbridge win the lineout and get a 5m scrum the ref holds play whilst he has a chat with Trowbridge, Scrum won Trowbridge clear to touch on their 22, Blues win the lineout and attack but a knock on halts their attack.
Trowbridge win their scrum and kick clear, Blues gather and run before a cross field kick by Dan Thorne is caught by Harvey North and he is over to score, sadly the ref deems him offside and brings play back for a Trowbridge penalty which they kick to touch

Josh Bartlett on Tom Webster off Blood 33 mins

Blues steal the lineout and run the ball getting well into Trowbridge’s half getting a penalty just outside the Trowbridge 22 in front of the posts, Dan Thorne kicks through the posts, 10-7 37 mins

Trowbridge’s miss hit restart kick is knocked on by Blues, Trowbridge win their scrum and attack, their 12 again breaks several tackles taking play into Blues 22, Blues defence holds firm and after several phases of play spent in Blues 22 Trowbridge are up to the try line but cannot touch down, they spread the ball wide but a knock on brings half time.

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Trowbridge kick off the second half and manage to knock the ball back and mount an attack, Dylan Stewart manages a great steal in the tackle and releases Josh Winfield who makes one of his runs taking play up to Trowbridge’s 22, Trowbridge manage to steal the ball at the tackle and clear to touch, Blues win the lineout but soon cough up possession allowing Trowbridge to kick clear into touch just outside Blues 22, Blues hold their lineout another Josh Winfield run gets play moving in the right direction for Blues, Kris Ford takes play across the pitch, Blues keep hold of the ball and it is quickly spread back across the pitch, Josh Winfield charges releases Toby Thorne who makes ground draws the defender and slips a pass to Dan Thorne who cuts a great line to score the conversion is just wide, 15-7 45 mins

Trowbridge restart Blues take and Kris Ford charges up field he releases Harvey North who takes play into Trowbridge’s 22 before being stopped, Trowbridge win a penalty at the tackle plus 10m for Blues back chat which they kick to touch, their lineout throw isn’t straight so Blues have a scrum which they win but then lose the ball at the tackle, Trowbridge kick but play is brought back for their scrum in Blues half, Trowbridge win the scrum and the ball reaches their 12 who breaks through several Blues tackles to score under the posts the conversion is kicked and there is only 1 point in this tight game, 15-14 50 mins

Dylan Stewart off Duncan Craigen on

Trowbridge run the ball from Blues restart kick but lose the ball in the tackle, Blues attack and a chip kick from Blues takes play up to Trowbridge’s 22, they gather and get back into Blues half before conceding a penalty

Josh Bartlett off Tom Webster on 54 mins

Blues kick to touch win the lineout and again attack Trowbridge’s defensive line but lose the ball, Trowbridge get into Blues half before they concede a penalty at the tackle, Blues kick to touch on Trowbridge’s 22, lineout won Blues set up a driving maul which takes play close to the line, Blues forwards then pick and drive getting up to the line but Trowbridge hold them out, Blues have a 5m scrum, injury time out.
Blues pack shove Trowbridge back at the scrum taking play over the line, Trowbridge collapse the scrum, the ref awards Blues a penalty try, 22-14 61 mins

Trowbridge restart Blues gather and run but a forward pass halts their progress, Blues manage to steal the scrum and kick up field a good chase holds Trowbridge who get a penalty at the tackle which is kicked to touch on half way, Trowbridge win their lineout but are held in their own half before being forced into touch, Blues lose a scrappy lineout but manage to pinch possession back but lose it again when they knock on in the tackle on Trowbridge’s 22, Trowbridge hold their scrum and take play close to halfway before play is held up for an injury.
Trowbridge restart with a scrum and take play into Blues half winning a penalty which they kick to touch in Blues 22, Blues steal the lineout and kick Trowbridge run getting back to Blues 22 they take play across the pitch before being tackled into touch.

Rob Drysdale off, Aaron Johnston on 73 mins

Trowbridge win a penalty scrum at the lineout, from the scrum they put pressure on Blues defence, James Macaulay manages to steal the ball and Blues clear to touch on their own 22, Trowbridge win the lineout and take play across the pitch and back through several phases but cannot break the Blues defence, eventually the mistake comes and a knock on gives Blues a defensive scrum.
From the scrum Blues clear to touch then manage to steal the lineout and win a penalty which is kicked to touch. Blues win the lineout and Alex Millar makes a good run breaking tackles, Blues keep the ball live and get up to the line but concede a penalty at the tackle, Trowbridge clear to touch and get another penalty at the lineout which is kicked to touch, lineout won they attack and get another penalty which is kicked to touch well in Blues half.
Blues steal the lineout and run the ball but cough up possession at the tackle, Trowbridge counter attack and soon have another penalty which they elect to kick at the posts to gain the losing bonus point, the kick drifts just wide and the full-time whistle is blown

Credit to both teams for putting on a display of competitive rugby in a hard-fought match a great advert for rugby at this level

Blues are pushed all the way but manage to keep their 100% win record intact with this narrow victory

MOM goes to Alex Millar
DOD goes to Rob Drysdale

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, James Macaulay, Tom Erskine, Josh Winfield,
Ryan Davis, Dylan Stewart, Alex Millar
Tom Hunt, Alex Bancroft, Harvey North, Kris Ford, Dan Thorne, Toby Thorne, Josh Bartlett
Aaron Johnston, Duncan Craigen, Tom Webster

Thanks to the mascots for the day

Thanks to the large Blues crowd for your great support

Blues next match is away at Wimborne Jan 12th 2-15pm KO, we have a coach for this match so if you want to travel with the team please contact Brian Trott