Newbury Vets Win County Cup!

A large home crowd gather expectantly but Newbury were cheered on by a small band of travelling support, who were to get more vocal as the game wore on and the beer flowed! Conditions were perfect, though some of the over-35s on show may have wished temperatures were not quite so hot….

Kicking off, with the sun on their backs it was clear from the off that these were two teams with very different game plans. Reading certainly had the size advantage in the pack and were looking to dominate set piece and breakdowns, whilst Newbury’s advantage lay out-wide and they sought to keep the ball in play at every opportunity.

Newbury started off brightly and were perhaps disappointed not to have had any affect on the scoreboard, given their territorial advantage. However Reading started to squeeze the Newbury pack at scrum time and a series of penalties allowed them to edge their way up field. Two of the penalties led to two very kickable penalties for Reading, which were surprisingly missed – these would come back to haunt Reading by the end of the game. He did finally found his range however and was able to convert a penalty, to give Reading a 3-0 lead after 30 minutes.

It was now Newbury’s turn to up the tempo, as they turned down a very kickable penalty and opted to kick for the corner instead. The Ned James – James Bull combination was working well in the lineout and following a catch and drive, scrumhalf and captain Nick Mason, broke cleverly down the touch line and over the whitewash. However as the small Newbury crowd started to celebrate, Mason tried to dummy and get closer to the posts and the referee ruled he failed to ground the ball and bought play back. However a few phases later James Bull was found free on the touchline and dotted down – half time score Reading 3 – 5 Newbury and all to play for.

Playing into the sun, Newbury knew their ability to move the ball to the wings and play an up tempo game was key but it was Reading who started the second-half the stronger. Pressure upfront told, as Newbury conceded a string of scrum and breakdown penalties – two of which were converted to give Reading a 9 – 5 lead. Mention at this point should be made of the very professional team of the Referee and his Assistants from Berkshire RFU. Many remarked on the touchline that players were retreating as fast as they could, as more penalties were given for “not 10m” but in reality the consistency and high standard of the refereeing added to this cup final.

Trailing by 4 points going into the last 20minutes, Newbury continued to attack Reading and began to make real gains, however despite enjoying the majority of possession and territory, they could not get over the line. When the ref disallowed a Newbury try for a forward pass (correct decision), many thought it would not be Newbury’s day. However with 5 mins left, Newbury kicked a penalty to touch 10metres from the Reading line. James Bull soared high yet again and this time the pack started to drive towards the line – Reading could not halt the Newbury surge and after what seemed like an eternity, the Referee rose his hand and Nigel Cripps emerged from the pile-up with ball in hand. Jamie Wallace was able to convert brilliantly and gave Newbury a 3 point buffer with 4 mins to play.

Newbury held on and as the ball was knocked on the Referee blew his whistle for the final time and Newbury were crowned Berkshire Vets County Cup Champions for 2012/2013!

Report coursesy of Mike "Paddy" Byrne