Christmas comes early for Reading as Newbury gift them the win and four points

Reading kicked off with quite a strong gusty wind behind them and immediately put the young Blues under pressure when they charge down a clearance kick, luckily they knock on and allow Newbury to clear their lines with a kick upfield, this is short lived as the kick doesn’t find touch and Reading are straight back on the attack forcing the Blues defence to concede a penalty which Readings ten A Tweedie kicks, 0-3 on 4 mins.

From the kick off Reading run straight through Newbury’s woeful tackling only being stopped by last man Matt Maher on his own 22 with a try saving tackle and a knock on by Reading, from the scrum Reading give away a penalty allowing Richard West to clear to touch. Reading steal the lineout but the ball is won back by Matt Maher and the Blues forwards George Robinson Slater, Graham Stewart and Tom Erskine pick and drive gaining good ground, after several phases the Newbury attack is rewarded when Reading give away a penalty which Richard West slots over 3-3 on 10 mins.

Reading restart and Newbury return the kick back into the Reading half who kick straight into touch so play returns into Readings half. Newbury again lose their lineout allowing Reading to attack and after a couple of phases win a penalty which the Reading 10 kicks to touch on Newburys 22, winning the line out they attack Newburys defence which stands firm forcing Reading into an error of a forward pass, the lighter Newbury pack is on top and wins the scrum but the ball is given away with a sliced clearance kick allowing Reading to come straight back at the Blues defence and force the penalty well within kicking distance of A Tweedie 3-6 15mins.

A good high restart from Richard West allows Newbury to put pressure on the Reading catcher who knocks on, Newbury win the scrum and attack through the backs Jack Muggridge Toby Thorne and Edward David but cough up possession when they knock on, Reading infringe at the scrum giving the Blues a free kick but possession is again given away when they knock on. Reading win the scrum and kick into Newburys half where Tom Martin catches and kicks to safety then is floored by a slightly late tackle. This penalty allows Newbury to kick safely to touch, winning the lineout Reading under pressure concede a second quick penalty which Richard West puts further downfield and into touch, Newbury win the lineout but knock on, they win the scrum against the head but again cough up possession allowing Reading to clear, the next few phases of play are error strew by both sides either dropping passes or losing possession this ended when Matt Maher picks up a loose ball and splits the Reading defence to make the required 30 yards to score Richard West adding the conversion 10-6 on 28 mins.

Newbury now have the upper hand and from the kick off the Newbury forwards make good ground through Tom Dyer and Matt Maher releasing the ball back to Richard West who puts up a high kick giving Josh Love time to chase up and tackle the fullback as he catches the ball, the Newbury pressure forces the turnover and they attack up the right hand side but are held up, scrum half Toby Seward spins the ball out to the centres who press up and fullback Tom Martin takes the final pass to score wide out on the left 15-6 on 31mins.

Mark Spalton comes on for Tom Martin, who cannot shake off the injury suffered earlier. Newbury attack straight from the kick off and force the Reading defence to give away a pen which Richard West puts safely into touch, Reading steal the lineout and kick into Newburys half, Mark Spalton catches and makes good ground but again Newbury are not quick enough in support allowing Reading to steal the ball and get up to Newburys 22 where a great interception from Josh Love steals the ball and off he gallops passing to Toby Seward then Jamie Futcher back through the centres and several pairs of hands to Rob Drysdale then Matt Maher who is held up a couple of meters short but gets the pass out to Mark Spalton to cross the line and score wide out on the right, 20-6 35 mins.

Newbury commit the cardinal sin and allow Reading to get on the score sheet a couple of minutes later when way ward tackling and defence allows Reading to spread the ball wide out to their Fullback Jordan Gomez to score wide out on the right 20-11 38 mins. Time for the kick off and couple more phase’s of midfield play before the half time whistle.

Newbury kick off the second half with the benefit of the wind, Reading take and kick to touch, Newbury win the lineout through Finn Walsh but the attack comes to an abrupt end when they knock on, Reading attack from the scrum but infringe in Newburys half allowing Richard West to clear to safety. Newbury win the lineout but Reading’s defensive pressure tells and Newbury lose possession allowing Reading to get into Newburys half and win a penalty which just misses the posts. This seems to sting Reading into action and straight from the kick off they carve through poor Newbury defence to score under the posts 20-18 48 mins.

Reading are now the better team and another attacking move only breaks down when a wayward Reading pass is gathered by Jamie Futcher who is wrapped up and the ball is stolen, Reading attack but luckily for the Blues they infringe and gift a penalty to Newbury allowing Richard West to clear to safety. Newbury lose the lineout but force Reading to lose the ball allowing the backs to make some ground before they lose possession to the Reading defence who have now got the upper hand. For the next 12 or so minutes play is mostly fixed in the midfield areas and neither attack can breach each others defensive lines, possession swaps from side to side as the mistakes keep littering the play. Reading are first to string a run of phases together and on 64 mins force the Newbury defence to give away a penalty which A Tweedie slots over 20-21.

Newbury mount an attack from the Kick off and force a penalty from the Reading defence which they decide to kick into touch and take the 5 meter lineout but again they don’t manage to win the lineout and Reading are able to keep possession and win a penalty scrum then a penalty so are able to clear to touch, from the lineout they kick up field into Newburys in goal area where Newbury touch the ball down.

Newbury kick off and Richard West gets the ball into touch where they steal the lineout but again a mistake coughs up possession and Reading take full advantage to stroll through the poor Newbury defence to score a far too easy try, 20-26 on 73 mins. Newbury attack from the kick off and put pressure on the Reading defence forcing a penalty which Richard West puts safely into touch, win the lineout but again lose possession to Reading who try to run out of defence but concede a penalty which allows Newbury to regain the ball and kick to touch keeping the pressure on Reading’s defence. Newbury get up to Readings try line and are only stopped by Reading infringing and giving away a series of penalties which results in a Reading player receiving a yellow card and Newbury scoring a try as Toby Thorne breaks two tackles to score, sadly the conversion just slides past the posts 25-26 78 mins. Kick off taken and the final whistle is blown.

Newbury take two points with a try and losing bonus but Reading steal the win and four points.

If only Newbury could have the ability to close out these close games. Too many league points have been gifted to our opposition, the game at Reading was easily winnable so were games against Windsor, Devizes, Grove, Maidenhead and last but not least on Saturday to Reading.

Inconsistent second half performances have cost Newbury dear and they should be sitting mid-table in the league. The Blues have proven that they are capable of being competitive in this league. They must continue to work hard and eliminate the small errors which create these results. The squad knows all too well what faces them in 2014 and this starts with a must win game at bottom of the table Salisbury on Jan 4th.

Squad;
Graham Stewart (c), Rob Drysdale, George Robinson Slater, Tom Erskine, Finn Walsh
Tom Dyer, Josh Love, Matt Maher, Toby Seward, Richard West,
Edward David, Jack Muggridge, Toby Thorne, Jamie Futcher, Tom Martin,
Ben Hicks (Not used), Mark Spalton, Steve Denner (Not used)
Head Coach; Lee Goodall
Manager Bob Ward