Blues make 1 change giving Alex Weekes his first start, Blues seem to be suffering from the gap weekend and the elation of winning the league the previous weekend.

Blues kick off Quins gather and spend several phases of play in their own half, the ball is lost forwards giving Blues a scrum, Blues attack from their scrum spreading the ball wide a forward pass halts their progress giving Quins a scrum in their own half, Quins run the ball from their scrum, injury time out for Ryan Davis who took a heavy blow to the head whilst tackling a Quins player.

Ryan Davis off Tom Erskine on 6 mins

Quins restart play with a scrum making some progress before the ball is lost forwards, Blues win the scrum and run at Quins who concede a scrum when they knock the ball forwards in the tackle, Blues have a scrum still in their own half which they win but soon cough up possession, Quins attack spreading the ball wide breaking through the Blues defence to score, the conversion hits the upright, 5-0 10 mins

Quins are up for this game and have soon taken play into Blues 22 but a knock on then a penalty gives Blues the chance to kick clear and get out of their 22, Blues win their lineout and take play into Quins half before they knock on giving Quins a scrum, Blues pack steal the scrum and Blues soon have a penalty at the tackle which is kicked to touch, lineout won Blues attack, again a knock on halts their progress, Blues again win the scrum and get a penalty, Blues quickly tap and go allowing Alex Bancroft to weave through the Quins defence to score under the posts, Dan Thorne converts 5-7 21 mins

Quins restart and soon have a penalty which just slides pass the uprights, Blues take the 22 drop out, Quins gather and attack taking play deep into Blues half, James Lewis reads the pass and intercepts, he takes play up to Quins 22 with a good run slips a pass to Rob Drysdale who draws the tackler and pass’s to Harvey North who runs up the touch line to score wide out on the left, the long conversion hits the upright and Blues have the lead on 25 mins 5-12

Quins restart kick is gathered by Blues who run the ball taking play up to Quins 22 before a stray boot knocks the ball forwards into Quins hands they attack through several phases getting deep into Blues half before a loose pass rolls into touch, Quins manage to steal possession at the lineout and again put the Blues defence under pressure which eventually tells and they break through several Blues tackles to score wide out on their left, the conversion is wide, 10-12 31 mins

Blues kick off Quins gather take play up to half way and soon have a penalty, the kick doesn’t find touch allowing Blues to counter attack and get a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won Quins take play across the pitch, ref blows for an injury time out, play is restarted with a Quins scrum, Blues win the scrum allowing Alex Sparkes to break up the blind side he passes to Harvey North who runs up the touch line to score the long conversion is just short, 10-17 35 mins

Quins kick off Blues gather and a good Toby Thorne run then Josh Winfield takes play up to Quins 22, Blues keep the ball live and are soon up to the line, Blues are back in control of the game, play is brought back for a Blues scrum which they win and mount another attack on Quins line, Blues cough up possession allowing Quins to run out of defence and get a penalty at the tackle, Quins win their lineout and take play across the pitch, a knock on gives Blues a scrum just in Quins half. Blues win the scrum and get a penalty which is kicked to touch in Quins 22, from the lineout Blues forwards maul before the ball is spread wide to Rory Jones who side steps the defender to score the bonus point try under the posts Dan Thorne kicks the conversion which takes him past 200 points, 10-24 Half Time

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Quins second half kick-off isn’t 10 so Blues have a scrum on half way, Blues attack from the scrum taking play up to Quins 22 before an accidental off side gives Quins a scrum, Quins take play into Blues half before conceding a penalty at the tackle, Blues tap and go but don’t get far before they lose possession, Quins attack and after several phases spread the ball wide to score wide out on their left the conversion is short 15-24 45 mins

Jon Grieve off James Macaulay on

Blues kick off is gathered by Quins and they soon have a penalty which is kicked to touch, lineout won they try to maul but ref deems ball isn’t coming out so a Quins scrum, Blues pack win the Quins scrum and attack, Quins intercept a loose Blues pass and try running the ball but good Blues defence pushes them backwards, Quins get a scrum at the tackle

Tom Hunt on James Lewis off 50 mins

Quins under pressure hold their scrum and run the ball getting a penalty Quins play advantage, Play is stopped for an injury and Quins kick their penalty to touch. Quins attack from their lineout taking play across the pitch and back but a good Ben Hicks tackle takes the player into touch, ref talks to players after a silly handbags episode, Blues win the lineout and maul before conceding a penalty scrum, Blues pack makes amends and wins another Quins scrum allowing a clearing kick, Quins gather and run straight back at Blues spreading play across the pitch and getting through some poor Blues tackling to score 20-24 58 mins

Blues kick off Quins run straight back at Blues getting to halfway, Quins keep possession and are soon up to Blues 22, Quins concede a penalty at the tackle, Blues kick doesn’t find touch allowing Quins to run at Blues, again they are penalised at the tackle this time Blues kick finds touch, lineout won Blues forwards maul before the ball is released to the backs, Dan Thorne makes a good run before passing to Rory Jones who breaks through to score a try Dan Thorne converts 20-31 69 mins

Quins restart, Blues gather and run the ball after several phases Kyle Doel crashes through several tackles, Blues keep the ball live, Rory Jones makes good ground before slipping a back-hand pass to Toby Thorne who out runs the defender to score, the long conversion is just short 20-36 71 mins

Quins kick off and the next few minutes are spent with both sides trying to make the breakthrough, Blues get closest and a series of scrums keeps them camped in Quins 22, Blues get over the line but are held up, from the 5m scrum Blues frustration and eagerness means they concede a penalty plus 10m for chat, Quins tap and go taking play into Blues half where Blues again concede a needless penalty which Quins kick to touch in Blues 22. Quins win their lineout and have soon made Blues pay the ultimate price for conceding needless penalties by scoring their 5th try the conversion is wide, 25-36 39 mins

Quins run Blues restart kick back and get another chance as again Blues concede a penalty which Quins kick to touch deep in Blues half, Blues manage to steal Quins lineout and run out of defence, a knock on brings the full-time whistle

Blues have managed to get the try bonus win but are not happy with a below par performance, plenty to work on in training this week ready for the visit of Royal Wootton Bassett, Quins try bonus point means they cannot be caught by Witney so are safe

Good luck to Quins for the last few games of the season

MOM Rob Drysdale
DOD Josh Winfield

Newbury Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, Jon Grieve, Kyle Doel, Duncan Craigen,
Alex Weekes, Ryan Davis, Josh Winfield,
Alex Sparkes, Alex Bancroft, Toby Thorne, Rory Jones, Dan Thorne, Harvey North, James Lewis,
James Macaulay, Tom Erskine, Tom Hunt,

Thanks to the ref who let the game flow on the 4G pitch

Thanks to the great Blues support who again easily outnumbered the home support

Thanks to Ian Jack for the matchday photo’s and Jess for the matchday video

Blues next match is Home against Royal Wootton Bassett March 30th, 3pm KO.
The big Pink Charity day and 90th Year celebrations