Newbury travelled to Leighton Buzzard probably the furthest trip in this league for the last game of the first half of the season

Leighton Buzzard were promoted into the league this season as Champions of Midlands 2 East South and sit just beneath the Blues in the league.
Leighton Buzzard kick off down the sloping pitch on a cold but sunny afternoon, the Blue hack forward and chase forcing Leighton Buzzard into touch, from the lineout the Blues drive forward and are awarded a penalty which Will Clarke kicks to touch well in Buzzards 22. From the attacking lineout the Blues maul forwards getting up to the try line but get make the final push to score, Newbury win the penalty which again is slotted to touch. The Blues win the lineout and again the forwards marshalled by Graham Stewart maul up to the line, this time they have enough momentum and Josh Winfield is at the back and drops over the line to score, the long conversion just wide, 0-5, 5 min’s

Leighton Buzzard restart, the Blues take and kick back into Buzzards territory, they catch and run back at the Blues, a big Rob Drysdale tackle halts their progress and the ball is in touch, from the lineout the Blues run the ball and make good progress getting well into Leighton Buzzard’s half winning a penalty. Will Clarke kicks to touch giving the Blues an attacking lineout, from the lineout the forwards Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale and Graham Stewart keep the ball tight and maul up to the line but again are held up, Newbury concede a penalty at the scrum allowing Leighton Buzzard to kick to touch and relieve the pressure.
The Blues steal the lineout and after a couple of phases the ball is kicked over the defence, Leighton Buzzards defence win the race and touch down for the 22-drop out. Jack Walsh disrupts the 22-drop out by getting his hands to the ball and the Blues attack running the ball through Rob Drysdale, Josh Bartlett and Toby Thorne, Newbury are awarded the scrum but lose the ball the Leighton Buzzard pack are now dominant in the scrum. Leighton Buzzard run at the Blues spreading the ball wide Jamie Futcher tackling and halting their progress, Newbury steal the ball but give away a penalty scrum, Buzzards win their scrum and spread the ball through the backs across the field but knock on. Leighton Buzzard now have the upper hand and keep up the pressure on the Blues and are rewarded with a penalty in the Blues 22, which they kick, 3-5, 27 min’s

For the next ten minutes the Buzzards keep up the pressure on the Newbury defence and a mixture of good defence and mistakes mean the score stays the same until just before half time. On 39 minutes Leighton Buzzard make the break through after spending several phases camped in the Newbury 22, they win their lineout and the forwards roll over the line to score, the conversion just wide, 8-5, 39 min’s

Injury time of the first half is spent in midfield with neither team making much ground before possession is lost, half time whistle and time for the coaches to get to work
Josh Bartlett off after getting a heavy knock in the first half, Richard West comes on

The Blues kick off the second half with the slope now in their favour, Leighton Buzzard take and send a long kick back up field, this is returned with a high kick by Will Clarke, a good Newbury chase is rewarded when Leighton Buzzard cough up the ball allowing the Blues to put their defence under pressure the forwards maul through, Ben Hicks, Henry (Maka) Veikune, Tom McNamara and Jack Walsh, but again the ball is lost allowing Leighton Buzzard to play out of defence and up to half way. Newbury manage to steal the ball and win a penalty just in Buzzards half, the long attempt is just short giving Buzzards a 22 drop out, Blues take and run the ball across field trying to find the opening, eventually Will Clarke sends a grubber kick through and into touch in Buzzards 22.
Leighton Buzzard win the lineout and run out of defence making good ground as they get through several weak Blues tackles taking play into the Blues half where they win a scrum, their forwards still have the upper hand at scrums and they make more ground when they spread the ball through the backs getting into Newbury’s 22, a knock on halts their progress and gives Newbury a defensive scrum 8m out. The Buzzard forwards rob the scrum and the ball is fed out to their backs, luckily a long pass goes to ground and is hacked on by Jamie Futcher, the Blues chase is there quickly but are deemed to have offended giving Leighton Buzzard a scrum
Henry (Maka) Veikune off George Robinson-Slater on 50 min’s
Leighton Buzzard win the scrum and attack the Blues defence, a good Toby Thorne tackle and a quick response from the Blues forwards turns the ball over, Blues run the ball and when it finds Josh Love out on the wing he chips the Buzzard defence and wins the chase to touch down scoring a great try, the long conversion is just wide, 8-12 51 min’s

Buzzards restart and immediately concede a penalty; this results in a bit of handbag swinging, the ref talking to the Buzzards captain. Will Clarke kicks long and into touch, Newbury win the lineout but quickly concede a scrum, Leighton Buzzard win the scrum and kick into Newbury’s half, Richard West returns the kick, Leighton Buzzard elect to run and are rewarded with a penalty which is kicked to touch. From the lineout the Buzzards forwards pick and drive before the ball is released to their backs, Leighton Buzzard are awarded a strange penalty scrum, their forwards maintain their dominance at the scrum and release their backs to score wide out 13-12, 62 min’s

Both sides have chances to increase their scores over the next 10 minutes but either good defence or mistakes means the attacks are halted and possession changes hands, from a Newbury scrum on halfway the ref rules a forward pass from the Blues giving Leighton Buzzard a scrum, again the Leighton Buzzard forwards give good clean ball allowing the ball to quickly get to their backs who break the Blues defence with some quick passing to score wide out on the right, 18-12, 74 min’s

Newbury try to get the final score to win the game but Leighton Buzzard hold out for the 4 pt league win, overall they just deserved the win, their forwards playing a dominant part in an evenly matched and fairly contested game, Newbury coming away with a losing bonus point knowing they didn’t quite get into their game

It shows how far this young squad have come this season as all were dejected after the loss, and as the first half of the season ends they have won 43 league points having just stayed up last season with 46, a successful end to 2014 lets hope for the same success in 2015

Newbury travelled to Leighton Buzzard on the bad luck bus!!! as head coach Lee said after the game Blues have only won twice out of eleven games he has been involved with when they have travelled by coach, ban the bus boys!!!

Sat 20th December Blues are away at Witney, the first game of the second half of the season and the final game of 2014

Hope lots of you will make the journey to support the Blues

Squad
Ben Hicks, Rob Drysdale, Graham Stewart, Tom McNamara, Henry (Maka) Veikune,
Jack Walsh, Josh Love, Josh Winfield, Joe Binfield, Will Clarke,
Josh Bartlett, Iain Herriott, Dan Thorne Jamie Futcher, Toby Thorne
George Robinson-Slater, Chris Gladwin, Richard West