Witney take the spoils

Saturday’s game marked the 1st team debut for one of the older players Jamie Bull.

A minutes silence for the great Nelson Mandela was observed by all before the Kick Off

Witney’s kick off not 10 so scrum to Newbury, winning the second set scrum Newbury get the ball out through the backs for Tom Martin to dodge the tackles and carry up field sadly the attack is ended when the Blues lose the ball allowing Witney to kick to touch. After a period of midfield play and a couple more kicks to touch Witney attack through their forwards making good ground forcing the Newbury defence to concede a pen, which the Witney 10 pushes wide of the posts. Witney are bigger than the young Blues and use this to their advantage to boss the play and force the Blues into defence for a long period, Newbury’s defence holds out for several minutes but eventually the pressure tells and ends with a try on 12 mins from Witney’s centre Matt Clarke, conversion misses 0-5.
Newbury win possession from the kick off and after several phases of running rugby which included some good runs from scrum half Toby Seward, centre’s Steve Denner, Toby Thorne and forwards Finn Walsh and Tom Erskine force the Witney defence to concede a pen on 15 mins which Richard West slots over 3-5. The bigger older Witney side again push the Blues back into defence and force another penalty, again the Witney kicker is wayward, Witney know have the upper hand forcing the Blues to defend for long periods which ends on 22 mins with the Witney winger James Monks bursting through to touch down, conversion is wide 3-10. From the kick off Witney kick back to the Blues allowing Jamie Futcher to catch and get back into Witney’s half, win the pen which Richard West kicks to touch well in the Witney 22, unfortunately Newbury’s lineout is misfiring which allows Witney to steal the ball and kick to safety. Newbury run at the Witney defence and again the backs Toby Thorne and Edward David make good yards, a cross field kick is knocked back by Jamie Futcher into the hands of Josh Love who is held up on the line but the ref comes back for the previous pen, from the pen the Newbury forwards Ben Hicks, Graham Stewart and Rob Drysdale rumble back to the line only to be halted 1m short, the ball is fed out to the backs who try to breach the Witney defence but no luck, the Blues do win a scrum but cough up the ball to the bigger Witney pack allowing them to ease the pressure for a couple of minutes but that is all as the Newbury attacking pressure forces the penalty right in front of the posts allowing Richard West to bring the score to 6-10 on 32 mins. Witney come back at the Blues and the bigger players force the young Blues to miss several tackles the only thing that stops them from scoring are their own mistakes, this pressure eventually tells and again wing James Monks crashes over 35 mins, this time the conversion is successful 6-17. The next 5 mins of play up to half time belongs to the Blues but they cannot add to the score even after a 40 yd dash from Tom Martin splits the Witney defence.

The second half starts badly for the Blues and after losing a scrum on half way they allow the Witney forwards to run and make good ground eventually Witney’s prop Robbie Richardson is allowed to gallop over wide out on the right on 44mins, conversion missed so 6-22. Matt Childs replaces Tom Erskine and from the Newbury kick off he makes a great tackle as the Witney player catches the ball Witney scramble the ball back and kick to safety. Newbury’s young guns now manage to put Witney under pressure and have the lions share of possession and spend long periods camped in Witney’s half but are unable to breach Witney’s defence even with the evasive running from Edward David and Tom Martin breaking tackles. Newbury are slowly but surely gaining momentum and again good running from the backs get Newbury well inside the Witney 22, the forwards take over and carries from Jamie Bull and Jack Crawford mean Newbury are very close to the try line but just cant get over too touchdown eventually losing the ball allowing Witney to kick under pressure from Toby Seward a short distance into touch. Newbury keep up the pressure but just cannot turn pressure into points, Witney ease the pressure when they win the ball and just get out of their 22 only to give the Blues a penalty scrum on 53 mins. Witney win the scrum against the head and get into Newbury’s half but knock on allowing Newbury to regain possession and a penalty later Newbury are back in Witney’s 22. After several phases of attack and a couple of scrums for the Blues, Mark Spalton comes on for Steve Denner on 60 mins and the Blues continue to drive at the Witney line being held up illegally by Witney’s defence, Witney’s scrum half getting a yellow card on 63 mins. Again Newbury do every thing but score and get bundled into touch a couple of meters out, Witney claim the line out under pressure and clear to the safety of the touchline, Newbury don’t stop attacking and again the forwards drive for the line but accidental offside gives away a penalty scrum. George Robinson Slater comes on for Ben Hicks on 65 mins, Witney win the scrum and get the ball up field and into touch Newbury lose the lineout allowing Witney to attack and spend some time in Newbury’s half before losing the ball. Newbury attack through the backs Toby Thorne Mark Spalton and Edward David and good progress is halted 10 yds out by a knock on, Newbury rob the ball from the back of the Witney scrum but again great defence from Witney forces a Newbury error and Witney clear their lines. Slack tackling from the Blues allows Witney to make good ground and get into Newbury’s 22, only some last ditch tackling from Newbury’s defence keeps out Witney and eventually forces the knock on but they steal the ball from the scrum and again attack the Newbury line luckily they lose the ball giving Newbury time to re-organise their defence ready for Witney’s next attack, after several phases of play in which Witney win a couple of scrums and a penalty which they kick to touch 5yds out but again their mistake the throw is not straight allows Newbury to partially clear their lines, Witney regain possession from a scrum and attack again but luckily a loose ball is fly hacked out giving the Newbury defence some breathing space. This is short lived and Witney are soon back in attack and force Newbury to give away a penalty in range of Witney’s kicker who slots it over 6-25 on 79 minutes. Newbury manage one more attack after winning a Witney scrum but another mistake coughs up the ball to Witney who kick into touch and the final whistle.

A game that should have been closer but on the day Witney deserved the win

Lets hope for a great start to the second half of the season and a win against local rivals Reading this Saturday

Squad;
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, Graham Stewart (c), Tom Erskine, Jamie Bull,
Jack Crawford, Josh Love, Finn Walsh, Toby Seward, Richard West,
Edward David, Steve Denner, Toby Thorne, Jamie Futcher, Tom Martin,
George Robinson Slater, Matt Childs, Mark Spalton
Coach; Lee Goodall
Manager Bob Ward

Again thanks to the Newbury supporters, this young squad really appreciate your support