Scrappy 4pt away win for Blues

On a sunny but windy afternoon Buckingham kick off down the slope, Blues take and kick back into Buckingham’s half, Buckingham’s 8 takes and sets off but is soon stopped by the Newbury defence, they keep the ball and after several phases of forwards play the ball reaches their backs who run at the Newbury defence before a neat grubber kick is slotted through, Toby Thorne retrieves and sends a kick back into Buckingham’s half. Buckingham set off again and after another prolonged period of attacking play manage to get back into Newbury’s 22 and after several attempts manage to break through the Blues defence to score the opening try 5-0, 5 min’s

The Blues restart and are quickly in pursuit putting Buckingham under pressure and gaining a scrum when Buckingham knock on, Newbury manage to win their scrum and attack the Buckingham defence through the forwards, Buckingham under pressure concede a penalty which Richard West slots through the posts, 5-3, 7min’s

Buckingham kick off, Newbury take and spread wide through the backs, a good kick and chase puts Buckingham under pressure and they are pushed into touch just outside their 22, the Blues win the lineout but knock on before they manage to make any ground. Newbury concede a penalty at the scrum allowing Buckingham to kick and get out of defence, Buckingham win their lineout and let their forwards drive forwards, Newbury manage to steal the ball and run out of defence first Jamie Futcher then a good run from Eddie Farebrother release’s Josh Winfield who charges up field and into Buckingham’s 22 before the tackler manages to rip the ball forcing the knock on.

Buckingham run the ball from their scrum but give away a penalty, Richard West kicks to touch, Buckingham get a scrum from Newbury’s lineout and then manage to win a penalty at their scrum which they kick into touch in Newbury’s half to relieve the pressure. Lineout won Buckingham again put the Blues defence under pressure through several phases of play before a knock on gives Newbury the chance to get out of their 22, scrum won Blues run the ball and are rewarded with a penalty but another mistake halts their progress when they knock on from the quick tap penalty.

Buckingham attack from the scrum and again put the Blues defence under pressure through several phases of play before they win a penalty and kick to touch, lineout won they keep up the pressure but when their forwards maul the Newbury defence manage to hold them up giving the Blues the scrum and the chance to clear their lines. Newbury hold on to their scrum and run the ball out of defence but don’t get far before they are ushered into touch, Buckingham attack from the lineout but a loose ball is snatched up by Eddie Farebrother who gets up field before a knock on gives Buckingham the scrum, Buckingham win the scrum and again put the Blues defence under pressure but a forward pass halts their progress.
Newbury win the scrum and another good run from Eddie Farebrother sets the Blues off up field, the ball is recycled through the backs making more ground before the ball is lost in Buckingham’s 22, the clearing kick doesn’t go far and is taken by Josh Love who slips one tackle before slipping the ball nicely to the charging Eddie Farebrother who crashes through the defence wide out on the left to score, Richard West slots over the long conversion, 5-10, 34 min’s.

Nathan Thomas on for Ben Hicks.
The last minutes of the first half are littered with mistakes from both sides which has been the story of the match so far, the half ends with Newbury’s defence managing to hold out a Buckingham attack and when the ball is knocked on by Buckingham the half time whistle is blown.
Both Coaches have plenty to talk about during the half time break

The strong cross wind seems to have eased up a bit for the second half, Newbury kick off the second half down the slope and the long kick is kept in hand by Buckingham who make good ground through several phases of play getting back into Blues half, Newbury’s defence infringes giving Buckingham a 30m pen which just sails wide. Blues take the 22-drop out and a good chase reaps its reward when they get their hands on the ball, possession is brief as they concede a penalty allowing Buckingham to tap and go and again pressure the Blues defence.
Again a mistake halts play as Buckingham knock on, both teams make mistakes over the next few minutes meaning play is stop start and little progress is made, Newbury manage to change this when at a Buckingham scrum just in their half Buckingham knock on. Newbury win the scrum then a penalty, which is kicked by Richard West, 5-13, 50 min’s

Buckingham again attack from the restart and get up to Newbury’s 22 before they give away a penalty allowing Richard West to kick to touch and relieve the pressure, Newbury win the lineout but at the ruck Buckingham manage to hack the ball forward into Newbury’s 22, fullback Toby Thorne kicks clear and gain the lineout when the Buckingham scrum half manages to get his hands to the ball but cant hold it as it crosses the touchline. Buckingham steal the lineout and try to run the ball out of their own half but a knock on gives Newbury a scrum just in Buckingham’s half, Newbury return the favour when they knock on after winning the scrum.
This time Buckingham win the scrum cleanly and a great run from their scrum half breaks the Newbury defence allowing a quick pass to their 10 who steps a couple of tackles to score, conversion is missed, 10-13, 57 mins.

Newbury restart with a long kick Buckingham take and kick to touch, Newbury lose the lineout but regain possession when they are first to claim a loose pass from Buckingham then win a penalty which is kicked safely to touch. Lineout won this time; Blues put pressure on the Buckingham defence and are rewarded with a penalty, which Richard West kicks over, bouncing off the upright 10-16 61 min’s

Ben Hicks on for Tom McNamara

For the next 5 min’s of play both sides have chances to put pressure on the opposition defence but the frequent mistakes mean play is halted and possession is handed over.

Colt Dylan Stewart makes his 1st team debut and means both father and son are on the pitch when he comes on for the injured Richard West

Play is still disrupted with errors from both sides until Newbury manage to break the trend when a good Eddie Farebrother run puts Newbury on the attack, he gets the ball out to Toby Thorne who draws the defending and releases Josh Love who cuts a great line to run around the defence and score conversion just wide, 10-21, 72 min’s

Another Newbury colt makes his Newbury 1st team debut; George Anderson comes on for Henry (Maka) Veikune.

Buckingham probably have the best of the last 10 min’s of play but fail to break down the Newbury defence, meaning there is no further scores. Both the young Newbury Colts play their part in the last ten mins putting in tackles against bigger Buckingham players. The final whistle is blown when Buckingham make a mistake trying to break down the Blues defence inside Newbury’s 22

Newbury after a below par performance come away with a win and 4 pts moving up to 4th in the table, mistakes by both sides meant this game was a scrappy affair with plenty of stop start play neither side able to put good phases together and make the game theirs. The positive’s for the Blues being 1st team debut for Tom Catchpole starting at 11 and debut appearances for the two young colts. Last season these type of games went against us and we lost them, this season this young squad have gained confidence and are at the moment winning although not always playing at their best, 7 wins from 9 games and 33 pts means they are well on their way to not being drawn into the relegation worries as they have over the last few seasons

MOM went to Josh Love for playing out of position and having a great game.

Mentions to Eddie Farebrother for another good game and Iain Herriott who never stops working the unsung hero

Congratulations to the female ref who kept a tight rein on this closely contested game

Thanks to the great Newbury support who travelled to Buckingham, we must easily equal the home support at our away matches. Thanks to the ever-present H2O officer Ben Davies

Newbury now have a week off which will hopefully give those with injuries and knocks time to recover before the big game on Sat 15th when the Blues welcome the undefeated league leaders Chippenham to Monks Lane

Ben HICKS, Rob DRYSDALE, Graham STEWART, Josh WINFIELD, Tom McNAMARA,
Henry (Maka) VEIKUNE, Paul HACKETT, Eddie FAREBROTHER, Joe BINFIELD, Richard WEST,
Jamie FUTCHER, Josh LOVE, Iain HERRIOTT, Tom CATCHPOLE, Toby THORNE
Nathan THOMAS, Dylan STEWART, George ANDERSON

Remainder of the league results

Bletchley 20 – 28 Reading
Chippenham 48 – 13 Maidenhead
Devizes 5 – 35 Leighton Buzzard
Trowbridge 6 – 37 Towcestrians
Windsor 39 – 17 Swindon
Witney 15 – 14 Grove