Newbury Blues
Matches
Sat 06 Dec 2014  ·  South West 1 East
Newbury Rugby Football Club
Newbury Blues
Tries: J BARTLETT, D THORNEConversions: R WEST, W CLARKEPenalties: R WEST (2), W CLARKE
23
20
Grove
Blues rescue a 4 pt league win with a last minute penalty

Blues rescue a 4 pt league win with a last minute penalty

mick futcher7 Dec 2014 - 21:11
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Newbury Blues welcomed Grove to Monks Lane hoping to avenge the defeat to them last season when a late Grove penalty defeated the Blues 24-25

The Blues are led onto the pitch by Toby Thorne to acknowledge his 50th cap on a sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon in front of a big crowd.

Blues kick off, Grove take and kick back into Newbury’s half, Jamie Futcher takes and the Blues run the ball back at Grove, after several phase’s the Blues are awarded a penalty which Richard West kicks safely to touch well into Groves half. Blues manage to keep possession at an untidy lineout and the forwards roll up field winning a scrum. Blues keep up the pressure and from the scrum they get a free kick, Blues take quickly but a knock on halts their progress.
Grove win their scrum and the forwards run the ball, they manage to win a penalty allowing them to kick to touch and relieve the Newbury pressure, Newbury manage to steal the lineout and again put the Grove defence under pressure. After several phase’s the Blues try a chip kick to try and breakthrough but Grove get there first, Blues manage to hold the Grove defender up giving the Blues an attacking scrum, the scrum is reset a couple of times and the front rows are spoken to by the ref before Newbury quickly move the ball across the pitch winning a penalty which Richard West kicks, 3-0, 7 min’s

Grove re-start and manage to disrupt the play before a hack through by Newbury takes play back into Groves half, Newbury are quickly up but concede a penalty, Groves kick to touch is wayward and taken by Toby Thorne who kicks up field and luckily is helped into touch by a Grove hand giving the Blues the lineout in Grove territory.
Newbury hand possession back when they pass forwards from the lineout, Grove hold onto their scrum and send play back into Newbury’s half with a big kick which is taken by Toby Thorne who returns the kick back up field and into touch. Grove take quickly and after a couple of phases kick back into Blues half, Dan Thorne takes and sends a kick over the Grove defence and nicely into touch.
Grove win the lineout and the clearing kick gains them a few yards, Newbury attack from the lineout and after a period of pressure win a penalty which slides just pass the posts.
Grove restart and are soon rewarded for their solid defence when they win a penalty which is kicked to touch in Newbury’s half, lineout won they attack the Newbury defence but lose the ball allowing the Blues to run it back into Groves half before they concede a penalty at the ruck allowing Grove to clear the danger and take play back to half way. Grove win the lineout and run at the Blues, the Blues defence gives away a penalty allowing Grove to kick to touch taking play into Newbury’s 22. Newbury manage to steal the ball and take play up to half way where they win a scrum, from the scrum the Blues make good ground with runs from the forwards, eventually the ball reaches Eddie Farebrother who makes the final yards to cross the line but the ref deems the ball is ripped out before he touches down. Grove have a 5m scrum and try to run out of defence but lose the ball allowing the Blues to put more pressure on the Grove defence which stays firm and holds up the Blues right on the try line giving them another defensive 5m scrum. This time Newbury manage to disrupt the Grove scrum and get their hands on the ball again trying to run the ball through the Grove defence, a forward pass halting their progress. Grove win the scrum but their clearing kick only takes play back to their 22 and a Newbury lineout, the Blues win the lineout and the forwards try again but Grove manage to steal the ball and break out making the length of the pitch to score a try under the posts, 3-7, 28 min’s

For the next few minutes Newbury have the lions share of possession but cannot break down the Grove defence and are down to 14 when they get a yellow card. Grove are unable to take advantage of the extra man and after a brief foray into Newbury’s half lose the ball.
Newbury attack through forwards and backs and are soon back up to the Grove 22, the Blues change tactics and a great cross field kick from Richard West is well caught by Josh Bartlett to score, Richard West adding the conversion 10-7, 38 min’s

Play restarts but neither team can add to their scores before the half time whistle is blown,
10-7, Halftime.

Newbury go into halftime knowing that after all the possession and time spent in Groves 22 they should be leading by a far greater margin

Both Coaches have a job to do at Halftime

Grove kick off the second half and make the first mistake when the kick sails straight into touch, their forwards make amends and turn Newbury’s scrum 90 to win back possession, they win the scrum but concede a penalty which Richard West slots into touch. Newbury win the lineout but soon lose the ball allowing Grove to try and relieve the pressure, the kick from just outside their 22 is straight out so play is brought back and Newbury have an attacking lineout.
Newbury are having trouble breaking down the Grove defence and the chip forward is a bit to far allowing Grove to take and call a mark, the kick is long and bounces nicely into touch just in Newbury’s half. Newbury win a free kick at the lineout and Richard West puts up a high kick which allows the Newbury chasers to get close enough to worry the Grove catcher who knocks on giving the Blues a scrum 30m out from the Grove try line. Scrum won the Blues again attack the Grove defence, which this time concedes a penalty, Richard West kicks making the score 13-7, 45 min’s

Both teams make mistakes whilst trying to run the ball over the next few minutes, eventually the Newbury backs make good ground and a good kick sends the ball into touch in Groves half, but again a mistake comes and Grove get a penalty at the lineout which is kicked to touch 20 m in Newbury’s half. Grove win the lineout and put pressure on the Newbury defence, which concedes another penalty scrum, they win the scrum but a knock on halts their progress. George Robinson Slater on for Ben Hicks
Newbury lose their scrum and Grove have another chance to attack the Blues defence, first they attack through their forwards then the ball is chipped over the Newbury defence and into touch. The Blues win the lineout and send a defensive kick into touch, Will Clarke on for Richard West. Grove keep possession at the lineout and launch another attack chipping the Newbury defenders, Newbury get the ball and kick up field to relieve the pressure.
Grove gather and again run back at the Blues but give away a penalty allowing Will Clarke to kick to touch, Newbury infringe at the lineout giving Grove possession which they kick into touch, Newbury take the lineout quickly and run the ball getting into Groves half before they spill the ball allowing Grove to kick up field. Toby Thorne gathers and runs releasing Josh Bartlett who dodges a couple of tackles before being halted, Newbury knock on giving Grove a scrum just outside their own 22, scrum won their backs make the break and cut through the Newbury defence making the 60 m to score 13-12, 63 mins

Grove now have the upper hand and are putting the Blues under pressure for long periods but a mixture of good Blues defence and mistakes by Grove means there is no adding to the score until Grove win a penalty at a scrum right in front of the posts, 13-15, 75 mins

Two minutes later Grove have gathered the ball in their own 22 and make the length of the pitch breaking several Newbury tackles to score wide out, 13-20, 77 mins

Grove run the ball from Newbury’s restart but don’t get to far before they lose it when they give away a penalty, Newbury win the lineout and attack making good ground before the ball reaches Dan Thorne who dodges and breaks through several tackles making the 30m to score close to the posts, (a captains try), Will Clarke adding the conversion, 20-20, 80 mins

Injury time left only, Grove restart Newbury take and put a long kick back into Groves 22, Grove run the ball and make good ground before they try chipping the Blues defence, Toby Thorne takes and sets off, Josh Bartlett is on his shoulder to take the pass and get nearly to Groves 22 before he is tackled, the Newbury supporting players are right there and the Grove tackler is lying the wrong side penalty to the Blues and a yellow card for Grove, Will Clarke lines up the long kick and calmly slots it between the posts, the final whistle is blown, the Blues have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and done to Grove what they did to the Blues last season won with the last kick of the game, 23-20 Full Time

Newbury had enough possession to have won this game before half time but Grove don’t give away points easily so the Blues had to keep the big crowd nervously guessing until the final kick of the game before getting the win they deserved

Thanks to the great support on the Blues last home game this year, hope none of you left early and missed the grand finale
Thanks to the ever-present H20 officer Ben Davies

Newbury have two away games before Xmas to teams just below them in the league,
Sat 13th away at Leighton Buzzard
Sat 20th away at Witney
Hope lots of you will make the journeys to support the Blues

Squad
Ben HICKS, Rob DRYSDALE, Graham STEWART, Josh WINFIELD, Tom McNAMARA,
Jack WALSH, Josh LOVE, Eddie FAREBROTHER, Joe BINFIELD, Richard WEST,
Josh BARTLETT, Dan THORNE, Iain HERRIOTT, Jamie FUTCHER, Toby THORNE
George ROBINSON SLATER, Will CLARKE, Jack STEFFEN

Match details

Match date

Sat 06 Dec 2014

Kickoff

15:00

Meet time

13:00

Competition

South West 1 East
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Player Sponsor - Prianto
Player Sponsor - VOS
Team Sponsor - T  Mather Tree Services
Team Sponsor - Kress
Club Sponsor - Precision Fabrication
Club Sponsor - Dave Shields
Player Sponsor - Kept Assets Limited
Player Sponsor - Swindon Sports Therapy
Player Sponsor - WMJ Consulting
Player Sponsor - MJP THERAPY
Player Sponsor - Vets4Pets