Win gives Blues a Lifeline

Newbury kick off with the slight breeze in their favour, Marlow take and kick into touch not gaining much ground. Lineout won Blues give away possession when the chip from Toby Thorne just drifts straight into touch. Marlow win the lineout but cough up the ball allowing the Blues to attack through the forwards before getting the ball back to Richard West to put up the high ball giving the Blues time to chase and put pressure on the Marlow fullback who has to hurriedly kick to touch.
The Blues infringe at the lineout giving Marlow a free kick and the chance to relieve the early pressure, Newbury win the lineout and another high kick puts Marlow under pressure but again they get a chance to get out of their 22 when Newbury are penalised for collapsing the maul. Marlow kick into touch and put pressure on the Newbury defence as they win the lineout and attack the Newbury line through several phases of play, the Blues defence remains strong eventually forcing Marlow to make the mistake and cough up the ball and Newbury make them pay and the ball is kicked long and into touch by Richard West.
Newbury put the Marlow lineout under pressure and are rewarded with a penalty which is slotted into touch, lineout won the forwards pick and go through George Robinson Slater, Rob Drysdale and Graham Stewart before the Marlow defence infringe again and a penalty scrum 5 meters out is awarded to the Blues. The Newbury scrum has the upper hand and push’s Marlow backwards allowing Alex Millar to pick up from the back of the scrum and burst through a couple of tackles to score, Richard West adding the conversion 7-0, 11 min’s

Marlow react and from the kick off win a penalty, which is kicked safely into touch, lineout won they put the Newbury defence under a period of sustained pressure before a knock on gives Newbury a scrum and a chance to clear their lines.
The Blues forwards have the upper hand at the scrums and force a second scrum, from this Alex Miller picks up and breaks several tackles before passing to Tom Martin who keeps the move going and makes more ground he then releases Jamie Futcher who gets a bit further before being tackled, Marlow infringe and give Newbury the penalty which Richard West slots into touch in Marlow’s 22.
Newbury win the lineout and the forwards make more ground with the maul being controlled by Tom McNamara and Finn Walsh before Toby Thorne gets the ball back to Richard West who chips the Marlow defence and the quick thinking Dan Thorne out strips the Marlow defence to gather and touch done under the posts, a great team try, Richard West slotting over the conversion, 14-0, 20 min’s

Again Marlow come straight back at Newbury from the kick off but the mistake gives Newbury the chance to counter and a good run from Josh Winfield is halted and the ball stripped giving Marlow the scrum, the Newbury forwards put Marlow under pressure and they just about hold on to the ball but the clearing kick doesn’t give them much respite, Lineout won Newbury again mount a purposeful attack through the forwards mauling good yards before Josh Winfield breaks away and makes good yards, the ball is fed back to West to kick into touch deep into Marlow’s 22. Lineout stolen by the Newbury forwards they mount an attack on the Marlow try line and after several phases Marlow give away the penalty which Toby Thorne takes quickly allowing Tom Martin to squirm over, Richard West converting, 21-0, 30min’s

Newbury attack from the kick off but after another crunching run from Alex Miller the mistake comes and a knock on gives Marlow the chance to relieve the pressure, Marlow win the scrum and the clearing kick rolls safely into touch. Newbury put pressure on Marlow in midfield and force them to kick, which is safely taken by the Blues and they march back up field with Joe Binfield making a break and the forwards keeping the momentum going before a loose ball allows Marlow to fly hack through, both Jamie Futcher and Tom Martin just fail to gather and the Marlow winger makes a couple more kicks and manages to win the race and touch down wide out on the left, a great opportunist try 21-5, 36 min’s.

A late tackle on the try scorer gives Marlow a penalty kick off which is kicked into touch. Newbury steal the lineout and attack through the forwards who make good ground and win the penalty scrum, from the scrum the Blues knock on allowing Marlow to counter but they knock on allowing Josh Bartlett to pick up and make a good run before he kicks long and it rolls into touch well in the Marlow half. The Marlow throw is not straight giving Newbury an attacking scrum, from the back of the scrum Alex Miller picks up and crashes through several Marlow tacklers to make the final 15 or so yards to score close to the posts, Richard West converting 28-5 the try bonus point won and the half time whistle.

Marlow kick off the second half and just miss keeping possession allowing Toby Thorne to kick long and safely into touch, Marlow win the lineout and try to mount an attack but cough up the ball allowing Tom Martin to break several tackles before releasing the ball to Josh Bartlett who rounds the Marlow defence and sprints the final 20 meters to score wide out on the right, the conversion just sliding past the posts 33-5, 44 min’s

Marlow attack from the restart but spill the ball allowing the Blues to counter attack and then kick in to Marlow territory, Marlow attack but again they spill the ball giving the Blues the scrum. From the scrum Newbury run the ball through the backs and cross the line for Josh Bartlett to score but the final pass from Jamie Futcher is ruled forward so Marlow have a scrum on their 5 meter line and the chance to clear their lines. Jack Muggridge comes on for Richard West.
Marlow win the scrum and clear to touch giving Newbury an attacking lineout, the Blues win the lineout and attack the Marlow line through several phases but good Marlow defence means that after getting over the line the ball is held up, from the now uncontested scrums Newbury knock on allowing Marlow to clear their lines from their scrum and kick into touch in Newbury’s half. Newbury win a free kick from the lineout, which is quickly tapped and taken by Toby Thorne who gets to half way before he is stopped.
Play is interrupted for a few minutes due to an injury to players on both sides; Greg Price and Jack Walsh come on for Tom McNamara and Rob Drysdale.
Newbury win the scrum and attack the Marlow line through the forwards good runs from Finn Walsh and Jack Walsh making ground before Joe Binfield crashes up a few more yards, the Newbury attack keeps up the pressure and another crunching run from Alex Millar gets within a few yards of the try line allowing Jack Muggridge to pop the ball to Greg Price to dive over, Jack Muggridge converting 40-5, 60 min’s

Newbury attack from the kick off and after a few minutes are back into the Marlow 22 and putting severe pressure on the now tired Marlow defence, the backs are now making good yards and passing with confidence allowing Dan Thorne to split the Marlow defence and score close to the posts, Jack Muggridge converting, 47-5 65 min’s

Marlow kick off and the first bit of silly play erupts with a hand bags at ten paces episode this soon subsides and play continues with a Newbury penalty which is slotted into touch, from the lineout another crunching run from Alex Millar is only stopped 5 meters out, Marlow regain possession and get into the Newbury half. Marlow attack and spend the next 10 mins or so camped in the Newbury half but are unable to break through the Blues defence, luckily for the Blues good defence and mistakes by Marlow mean they are unable to score. Richard West comes on for Tom Martin. Newbury finish the game with a final attack when Toby Thorne breaks away from a Newbury Scrum and makes good ground before passing out to Jamie Futcher whose grubber kick through forces the Marlow defence to run into touch. Lineout won Newbury attack the Marlow line and Josh Winfield dives over the line just failing to score as the Marlow defence manage to dislodge the ball.
A good game for the Blues and their supporters and credit to Marlow who kept contesting right to the final whistle
Man of the Match went to the human wrecking ball Alex Millar.

Credit must also go to the ref who kept a good fairly contested game flowing with good use of the advantage laws

Thanks to all the Newbury supporters cheering on this young squad on Saturday they really do appreciate your support, let’s try and get as many at Witney as we can to make it like a home game

Newbury now need a win at Witney and hope either Buckingham or Cheltenham lose next week and they will be safe for another season, if the results go against them they will have to travel to champions Oxford and get a result and hope the others lose.

Squad;
Graham STEWART (c), Rob DRYSDALE, George ROBINSON SLATER,
Tom MCNAMARA, Josh WINFIELD, Finn WALSH, Josh LOVE, Alex MILLAR,
Toby THORNE, Richard WEST, Josh BARTLETT, Joe BINFIELD,
Dan THORNE, Jamie FUTCHER, Tom MARTIN.
Greg PRICE, Jack WALSH, Jack MUGGRIDGE