1st XV Match Reports 2011/2012

Firsts Lose Narrowly At Tadley

Details

Monday, 09 January 2012

Tadley 14 Wallingford 12

For the forth week in a row, Wallingford lost by less than one score in another close match which they feel they could (and should) have won. There were a number of changes into selection with Mike Ward and Dan Sadler made their debuts, playing lock and wing respectively. Frazer Hunt, Angus Brettel, James Norris and Phil Dawes all started in place of a number of absent or injured colleagues.

On a large pitch it was Tadley who started brightest and it didn’t take too long for them to get onto the score sheet. A chip over the Wallingford defence from their fly half was almost dealt with by Luke Best but he lost his footing and a chasing Tadley player had the easiest of scores. The game quickly evened up as Tadley, despite the width of their pitch, continued to rely heavily on their fly-halves boot who, to be fair, used it with good effect. Amongst this, the referee was having a hard time controlling the scrums, consistently pinging one team or the other for early pushing. The result was a pretty ugly game to play and watch. Things progressed and Wallingford had a spell of pressure on the Tadley line, spurred by a couple of quick Rich Bowers breaks, but the final pass was often missing and Tadley twice cleared their lines from deep in their own territory. Wallingford seemed comfortable defending Tadley, especially when their fly half was out of position, and it was from such an occasion the scores were levelled as a Tadley back threw a predictable pass from the ten channel which Hunt intercepted and sprinted 60 meters to score under the posts. Smith converted to leave the score a 7-7. Despite having Bowers sent to the bin for two infringements in a row, the score stayed the same until half time.

Wallingford started the second half with much more intensity and, despite playing into a slight wind and up a slight hill, looked to have the legs over an older Tadley side. Monk made a wonderful break from a neat line out move before Ian Jeffreys showed his power in the loose. Despite this it was Tadley who scored first. After conceding a couple of needless penalties in their own twenty-two, Tadley opted for a scrum 5 meters out. It seemed to rotate 90 degrees and should maybe have been re-set. Either way, their No.8 was left with a simple finish, as was their fly half with the conversion. Next up came Wallingford’s best attacking passage of play. A turnover in their own twenty two saw Dawes feed Captain Pete Holton who broke to the half way line before feeding hooker Tom Hill. He found Best who was hauled down well into the Tadley half. A quick ruck saw the ball go through Smith and Holton, before finding Jefffreys in mid-field who beat his man for the try. Smith missed the conversion, leaving the score at 14-12. With 15 minutes to go and on the front foot, the game looked Wallingford’s to win. However, two decisions ultimately cost them another score, and it was not to be. The first saw Jeffreys in a near identical position to where he scored his first try, only for him to slip whilst side-stepping and be pinged for not releasing the ball. It was a strange call from the Berkshire referee, given his position at the time of the incident. The second saw Bowers collect a loose line out and break deep into the Tadley half. Even though Tadley did not compete at the breakdown, the referee blew for Wallingford going straight to ground at the ruck. Wallingford did not get a third chance and the game finished 14-12.

It was hugely disappointing to lose by such a small margin yet again and the two decisions at the end only added to the frustration. Credit to those who stepped up into the team and focus is now on getting a win at home against Grove next weekend.

Wallingford: Brettell; Best, Holton, Hunt, Sadler; Dawes, Smith; Marris, Hill, Blaszko; Ward, Bailey; Norris, Bowers, Jeffreys.