Unfortunately for the Blues this proved to be their downfall as a much bigger Towcestrians pack dominated possession winning by far the lions share of the scrums and the lineout.

Tows kick off and immediately put the Blues under pressure forcing Richard West to kick downfield; Tows 15 takes and runs the ball back before putting up a high kick back into Blues 22. Tommy Martin takes and sets off on one of his runs but is soon stopped by Tows strong tackling, the ball is recycled allowing Richard West to kick back into Tows territory, again Tows launch a concerted attack but are stopped briefly when they knock on, win overturn Newbury’s scrum and break through weak Newbury tackling to score wide out on the left the long conversion is successful, 7-0, 7 min’s
This is the sign of things to come and for the next 15 minutes the Newbury defence is under pressure, which is only relieved when Tows make mistakes. This constant pressure eventually tells and Tows score their second try, 12-0, 23 min’s
Chris Hawkins on for Henry (Maka) Veikune
Tows attack from Newbury’s restart and make good ground getting into Newbury’s 22 but are stopped when they knock on, Newbury’s pack is shoved backwards giving the dominant Tows pack the ball and they march over the line to score, 19-0, 27 min’s
Henry (Maka) Veikune back on for Chris Hawkins
Newbury manage to steal possession from the kick off and attack Tows defence, sadly the ball is lost in Tows 22, Tows winger hacks the ball forward and wins the chase to kick again and gets a great bounce to catch and make the final yards to score their bonus point try,24-0, 30 min’s
Towcestrians attack from the kick off and again poor Newbury tackling lets them get straight back into Newbury’s half and win a scrum.
Chris Hawkins on for Aaron Johnston
Newbury have a couple of chances to get on the score sheet but good Tows defence holds them out, eventually they steal the ball and kick well into the Newbury half, they steal Newbury’s lineout and the forwards maul the remaining metres to score 31-0, 40 min’s
Newbury manage to steal their restart and put several phases of play together getting into Towcestrians 22 and are just held out before the ball is lost and kicked to touch to bring the half time whistle

The Blues kick off the second half and manage to regain the ball and then get a penalty which is taken quickly and results in a Newbury scrum, Newbury manage to hold the scrum and win a free kick which Dan Thorne takes quickly and spreads the ball which allows Josh Bartlett to switch direction at speed to score close to the posts Richard West converts making the score 31-7, 43 min’s
Restart taken Newbury attack and put up a kick into Tows 22, their fullback takes and again gets through to many weak Newbury tackles back in to Newbury’s half where they win a penalty. The penalty is kicked into touch, lineout won Tows again run at the Newbury defence put are stopped by a forward pass, Newbury’s much lighter and smaller pack is shoved of the ball allowing Tows to pick up and score, 36-7, 46 min’s
Newbury restart and manage to get the ball back but a mistake hands possession back to Tows who run back at the Blues, a loose Tows pass ends in Eddie Farebrother’s hands and he sets of on one of his runs before the Blues are ushered into touch, Tows win the lineout and kick into Newbury’s half, Edward David returns with a great run and Dan Thorne sends a chip kick over the Tows defence who get the ball but are forced into touch. Again Tows steal the lineout and run the ball back into Newbury’s half before a forward pass gives Newbury the scrum, Blues manage to keep the ball but a loose pass gives it straight back to Tows who kick into touch well in Newbury territory. Tows lineout is dominant and again they steal the ball from Newbury’s throw and run the ball into Newbury’s 22 before a knock on stops their progress, again they shove the Newbury pack off the ball but in their haste pass forward.
Will Clarke on For Nathan Thomas, Iain Herriott moves into the pack, Alex Price-Richards on for Richard West.
Tows pack shove Newbury back and ball at their feet shove Newbury backwards over their try line to score, 43-7, 57 min’s
Newbury keep the ball from the kick off and after several phases of play they change tact and the ball is kicked into touch, Tows win the lineout and try to run out of defence but lose the ball allowing Newbury to launch another attack before they lose the ball. Tows run the ball and attack across field getting up to Newbury’s 22 before a knock on gives Newbury a scrum. Newbury hold firm at the scrum and run the ball, which eventually reaches Will Clarke who chips the Tows defence, Blues are unlucky when trying to re-gather the chip they knock on. Tows win the scrum on half way and get through several weak Newbury tackles to score under the posts, 50-7, 68 min’s
Newbury don’t give up and are unlucky when they knock on trying to re-gather the restart, Tows win the scrum and again make good ground through poor Blues tackling before they cough up possession. Newbury win the scrum and Will Clarke slots the ball forward, Tows keep the ball in hand and get back into Newbury’s 22 but give away a penalty. Dan Thorne takes quickly and makes good ground before a great run from Alex Price-Richards takes play into Tows 22 but again a mistake from the Blues halts their progress. Tows win the scrum but give away penalty, Newbury take quickly and are rewarded with another penalty in Tows 22, quickly taken the ball is passed to Tom Martin who crashes over, Will Clarke converts bringing the final whistle and a score of 50-14 to Towcestrians

Second half performance better than the first from Blues which was encouraging to see, but with 10 forwards missing, Towcestrians were bigger and more experienced at every position. Blues still managed to create scoring opportunities, which in previous matches have been converted.

The Blues will re-group this week and prepare for the visit of Trowbridge to Monks Lane on Saturday and they will be looking to continue their winning form at home.

Thanks to a great travelling support for the Blues we must have had easily as many as the home support and thanks to the H2O officer’s Ben Davies and Tom Allen

Squad
Jack Caunt, Rob Drysdale, Aaron Johnston, Nathan Thomas, Ben Hicks, Chris Gladwin,
Henry (Maka) Veikune, Eddie Farebrother, Dan Thorne (C), Richard West, Edward David,
Iain Herriott, Josh Bartlett, Jamie Futcher, Tom Martin.
Chris Hawkins, Alex Price-Richards, Will Clarke