Neighbours

Newbury Colts 27 - 15 Andover Colts - 29th March 2015

On Sunday, Newbury's young Colts returned to Monk's Lane to take on Andover. The side showed a significant number of changes from last time out. As both sides warmed up ready to play on Pitch 4 it was apparent that the howling westerly gale was going to be a significant factor in the afternoon's fixture. To try and seek some shelter from the breeze the match was moved down to Pitch 1.

Newbury played the first half with the wind and were hopeful of building up a useful advantage. As often happens, hopes and reality do not often coincide and Newbury got a rude awaking when Andover controlled their possession well and scored the first try. Newbury chose to play much of the first half with the ball in hand rather than kicking for position and were thwarted by a strong Andover defence and the elements making handling difficult.

An Andover handling error in midfield resulted in the ball falling to Cameron Golby-Barr, who kicked ahead only to be brought down whilst in pursuit, which the referee decided was foul play, Andover recieve a yellow. The resultant penalty on the Andover 22, was driven forward by Louis Rawlings before being spun wide for Ollie Cooper to run in. Shortly after the re-start a similar mistake led to Cameron again gathering the loose ball before getting behind the defence on over the line. Newbury were next to cough up possession and Andover took advantage to score their second. With the half drawing to a close, Newbury attacked into Blue's corner and their third try was neatly finished off by Christian Brucciani, making his first appearance of the season. At half time Newbury led 17-10.

The second half started well for Newbury, due in significant part to an increased intensity in their game. They were soon rewarded, when Ollie Cooper scored his second try of the afternoon. Next came tries for the respective sides that had a degree of the unexpected about them. The first scored by Newbury's Adam Foster, when he timed the interception of the opposing 9's pass to perfection and scooted away to score. Newbury were now looking a bit more controlled but what could have been a try scoring pass for Newbury turned into an intercept. Andover gratefully received the ball and ran in 60m to score.

That match ended with Newbury the victors 27-15. The match marked the appearance of a number of new faces and gave plenty of experience to next year's players. A final note of thanks and farewell goes to Jordan Ruddock, who having played up through the Newbury age groups is now off to The Army