|
Stags v Marlow A: 24 – 0
It was a game of two
halves for the Stags squad against Marlow A at Braywick. Although
by half time Maids could be proud of the fact they had conceded nothing
playing against a strong wind and had in fact spent considerable time
in the Marlow half, in truth the side played to nothing like their
potential in the first period, despite a sparkling performance by
scrum half Luke Thomas. Once again the backs spread themselves too
wide making handling difficult, and a bizarre desire to kick the ball
appeared to afflict virtually all of the players. The forwards, meanwhile,
seemed to be playing a half-hearted spectators’ role. Happily, a stern
half-time talk, or perhaps the passage of enough time to offset the
hour lost overnight with the switch to British Summer Time, led to
far better things in the second half. From the 2nd half restart the
forwards got some real momentum, and great “go-forward” was demonstrated
by props Michael Trevena and Blake Nicol before Sam Balfour emerged
from the bottom of a rolling maul to set Maids on their way. Sam Maguire
converted. Astute use of the wind by William Thompson and Fraser Brooks
saw Maids dominate territory, and a fine solo break by centre Leo
Smith set wing Thomas Eckles free to add a second try. Markus Olivier
burst through for a fine solo third try before open side Chris Dow
snatched up some loose ball to run in from almost half way, scoring
under the posts to make the conversion by William Thompson a formality.
At the end of the day, a comfortable 24-0 win, which could have shown
the margin the difference in class deserved if only Maids had been
awake in the first half.
Tries: Sam Balfour (conversion:
Sam Maguire); Tom Eckles; Markus Olivier; Chris Dow (conversion: Will
Thompson)
Squad:
Edward Kaye, Blake Nicol, Michael Trevena, Calum O'Flaherty, Nick
Jones, Alex McCulloch, Jacob Sanders, Sam Balfour, Duncan Jones (C),
Dominik Bart, Chris Dow, Fred Reid, Luke Thomas, William Thompson,
Fraser Brooks, Leo Smith, Daniel Andrews-Jones, Markus Olivier, Thomas
Eckles, Max O'Connor, Sam Maguire, LD Basson
Bulls v Marlow B: 14 – 0
Inspired by the good
win by the Maidenhead Stags, the Bulls started impressively against
a fairly well matched Marlow B side. Forwards and backs competed well
in all phases and when a great team effort led to a ruck 3m off the
Marlow line, loose-head prop Jason Bates picked up well-presented
ball to crash over for the opening score, Iain Whiteford making a
good conversion to set up a 7 nil lead. Both sides continued to compete
well with the Maids pack just winning the battle to secure more ball
for their backs. Shiv Khindria, Dhruv Surya and in particular, winger
Niall Collins always looked dangerous with ball in hand and 5 minutes
from the end of the half Niall took quick ball from the half way line,
outpaced the defence and eventually cut back inside to score a great
try under the posts, easily converted by Iain. Marlow found it difficult
to make ground through the Maidenhead defence and long kicks were
always covered well by full-back Steve Carn. The half ended with Maids
in a thoroughly well deserved 14 nil lead.
Bulls v Marlow A
The second half saw
a complete reversal of fortune as Maidenhead, already fielding 3 players
in their first ever taste of club rugby (Nathan Lewin, George Lewis
and Tim Crombach) made a series of changes intended to give as much
rugby as possible to their complete B squad. Unfortunately, Marlow,
desperate for a win on the day, responded by strengthening their line
up, already bolstered by two A Team players, with a further 3 from
their top squad and although the Maids boys continued to compete well
in the forwards, the additional Marlow strength proved too much. Powerful
runs through the centre by the Marlow subs led to two relatively easy
tries. Continued pressure by the strengthened Marlow side finally
led to the decisive 3rd try for the visitors. Final score Maids 14
Marlow 19.
Tries: Jason Bates, Niall Collins.
Conversions: Iain Whiteford: 2
Squad:
Jason Bates, Daniel Keir,
Josh Edney, Daniel Williams, Nathan Lewis, Adam Callaway, Tim Crombach,
Jake Dawson, Bryn Evans, James Balmer, Ben Scolari, George Thomas,
George Lewis, Shiv Khindria, Iain Whiteford, Max Ring, Sam McCarthy,
Dhruv Surya, Niall Collins, Gareth Orwin, Ross Brown, Steve Carn,
Jack Adcock
|