Away day Blues

Newbury were forced into several changes due to injury and unavailability, Tom Sanders making his first appearance this season, Jack Steffen making his first team debut, Will Osbourne coming off the bench for his first team debut and also young Colt George Anderson coming off the bench for his second appearance, Tom Catchpole and Chris Gladwin also making rare starts

Newbury kick off and manage to regain the ball but are penalised, Witney kick to touch on half way, lineout won they make good progress into Newbury’s 22 before they are held up but win another penalty, Witney slot the ball into touch and from the lineout their forwards roll over the line to score, conversion successful 7-0, 3 min’s
Newbury restart Witney take and kick up field and into touch, Witney steal the lineout and put pressure on the Blues defence after several phases the ref takes play back for another strange Witney penalty which they kick 10-0, 8 min’s
Newbury restart and again Witney are awarded a strange penalty; Witney kick to touch but a not straight throw gives the Blues a scrum. Newbury win the scrum and then a penalty, which Richard West kicks to touch, Newbury win the lineout but a knock on hands Witney possession, Witney play the advantage and a good kick rolls into touch well in Newbury’s half lineout won the Witney forwards pick and drive making good ground before the ball is stolen and kicked up field. Witney run the ball at Newbury but concede a scrum, Newbury win the scrum then a penalty, the kick doesn’t find touch allowing Witney to clear into touch. Witney again pinch the lineout and feed the ball back but their clearing kick is charged down and re-gathered by Richard West who makes good ground and draws the last defender before releasing Aaron McDowell to skate over under the posts, Richard West converting
10-7, 17 min’s
Witney have the better of the next few minutes and their uncompromising style of play puts the Newbury defence under pressure but Witney mistakes and Newbury’s defence means the score stays the same. A big tackle on Witney’s 7 by Rob Drysdale gives Newbury a scrum and a few minutes break with the physio on the pitch, possession is soon back with Witney when Newbury knock on from their scrum, Witney repay the favour, but so do Newbury, play is again held up for a couple of minutes while the captains are spoken to after a niggling bit of play. The game is now start stop and littered with penalties, the ref working overtime with his whistle.
Aaron McDowell off injured Will Osbourne comes on for his first team debut.
Witney make the break through on half time scoring wide out the conversion just sails wide bringing the half time whistle and the chance for the coaches to do their work, Half time score 15-7

Witney kick off the second half, Newbury take and run at the Witney defence but are held up, Tom Sanders off injured George Robinson-Slater on. Witney get possession and kick to touch. Chris Gladwin off George Anderson on for his second appearance from the bench.
From the lineout Newbury win a penalty which doesn’t make touch allowing Witney to kick back into Newbury’s half, Newbury run the ball back but are held up in the tackle giving Witney the scrum. Witney run the ball from their scrum but knock on then give away a penalty allowing Newbury to kick to touch in Witney’s half. Witney steal the lineout and good running gets them into Blues half before they lose possession, Newbury’s clearing kick is charged down allowing Witney to claim possession and the ball is quickly spread through their backs to score a good try wide out, 20-7, 48 min’s
From the restart Newbury win a penalty which again fails to make touch allowing Witney to kick up field and into touch, Witney again steal the lineout and launch another attack but a mistake halts their progress. Over the next 5 minutes both teams make errors which halts their progress and coughs up possession, Witney are the first to change this and manage to breakthrough the Newbury defence to score their fourth try 25-7, 56 min’s
Richard West off injured Aaron McDowell back on
Newbury restart and soon have possession back and win a penalty which Dan Thorne kicks to touch, from the lineout Newbury get into Witney’s 22 and win a penalty scrum, then a penalty. Witney steal the lineout and kick out of defence and into touch, the next 10 minutes are spent in midfield with play being stopped on a regular basis due to mistakes and neither team managing to put any phases together. Newbury manage to change this and from a lineout in Witney territory their forwards make good ground and get over the line but are held up, they keep the ball from their scrum and eventually roll over allowing Josh Winfield to touch down 25-14, 75 min’s Dan Thorne kicks the conversion
Witney win the ball from their restart and test the Newbury defence before a mistake gives possession to Newbury who kick into Witney’s half, the Witney attack ends when they knock on allowing Newbury to play the advantage. Newbury spend several phases of play camped in the Witney 22, they manage to rumble over the line with Graham Stewart holding the ball but the ref gives held up and blows the final whistle. Witney players excitedly celebrate the win!!

Witney deserved the win, the game never really getting into gear with both teams making plenty of mistakes and the ref regularly blowing the whistle

Need to get back to a settled squad and the results will soon be back to the winning type

Next game is a home Berkshire derby against Reading on Jan 3rd who have turned their fortunes around and after a bad start to the season are winning games and climbing up the league table. Lets hope we start off the New Year with a derby win

Squad
Ben Hicks, Tom Sanders, Graham Stewart, Josh Winfield, Henry (Maka) Veikune,
Jack Steffen, Rob Drysdale, Chris Gladwin, Joe Binfield, Richard West,
Tom Catchpole, Aaron McDowell, Dan Thorne, Jamie Futcher, Toby Thorne
George Robinson-Slater, George Anderson, Will Osbourne