|
Pendulum Swings for U16Bs at Newbury Newbury U16B 26 v Maidenhead U16B 24 Sunday 14th March 2010 |
|||
|
The next time these two teams meet, you would be well advised to hold your colour and fasten your seatbelt. Still grey with the tension of the narrow home win for Maidenhead the previous week, spectators of both sides were put though the loop once again. This time was different and Newbury had the better of the showdown for which the previous encounter had been only a prelude. Out here on the other side of Berkshire it has sometimes seemed another planet, but this Newbury Sunday for once started bright and crisp, and stayed that way. True, the wind blew strongly as always but nowhere near the tempest of some visits. (One of the most welcoming clubhouses in Berkshire rugby offers no plasticworld, but proper coffee in china cups, and perhaps the best bacon rolls to be had anywhere, but the pitch at the top of the hill can feel 9,000 miles away on a cold day). Having fought out a tough contest just a week before, the two teams resumed at a similar hectic pace. Maidenhead opened the scoring 5 minutes in when a poor clearance kick was caught acrobatically above his head by Josh Edney at the 22, spun quickly through hands for Greg McHugh to race in on the left wing. Edney had a tremendous game, full of running and aggression, typified by a diving tackle on a speeding centre with a minute to go. Scott Atherton, an ex-Newbury player who shrugged off some unpleasant barracking on the day, missed narrowly with this difficult conversion. Newbury came straight back with some great running and passing, getting over the try line but adjudged held up. Atherton cleared long with the wind. Back came the Blues again, stretching Maids to the limit out to the right and then coming back left, only a poor pass preventing a certain try for a three man overlap. Still the danger was not over, an 8 to 9 move from the base of a scrum giving the Newbury winger just one man to beat. McHugh dropped him, slam, crash, like a whisky bottle through a split shopping bag. Finally, the ball was cleared long by lock Bryn Evans and the pressure was released. Maids began to put some phases together and worked their way into the home 22. Chris Dow pounced on a loose ball with most of both packs still head down in a maul and danced past the cover to score and put Maids 10-0 ahead. Stung again, Newbury fought back with spirit and camped on the Maidenhead tryline. Despite heroic defence, the Newbury No.8 Ean Kershaw scored the first of his four tries from a quick tap 5 metres out after a free kick against the Maids' front row. Kershaw, a regular A squad member who played in the A fixture the previous week, had a fantastic game and was the principal difference between the sides, just as the scoresheet suggests. The easy conversion made it 7-10. Just before half time, Kershaw made it 12-10 from short range after superb back play had taken the Blues the length of the field from a turnover on a promising Maidenhead attack. Newbury were to maintain that two point winning margin at the end of the game, but not before a great deal more excitement. Maids opened the second half with some magnificent forward play. Lineout and scrum were strong and a 30 metre driving maul led by Cal Hull and Blake Nicol looked a certain 5 points until an agonising knock on. Newbury now had the strong wind behind them and every clearance kick was driving the visitors miles backwards. Sure enough, the territorial advantage took its toll and, for once driven back in the scrum, Maidenhead’s back row could not make their tackles stick as Kershaw ran through to complete his hat trick. This try converted made it 19-10, surely Maidenhead must be beaten now? Not a bit of it. Back they came with strong running now in the backs as well as forwards. Worked up to a few metres short, Newbury were penalised twice in succession for killing the ball and Ed Kaye tapped and ran with the second, barging through to touch down and Atherton’s extra two went over off the inside of the post. 19-17 and the momentum was with Maidenhead; would Newbury crumble? Oh no, straight back they came again, spreading the ball wide and running straight and hard. Their massive tighthead prop scattered tacklers right and left but was held up. Simple No.8 pickup, bonus point try, conversion, 26-17. By now no-one thought that would be the end of it. Newbury tried a penalty kick with 10 minutes to go but the wind pushed it wide. With 6 minutes left, Shiv Khindria dropped a shoulder and broke clear through to 15m. His offload found Will O’Callen-Smith on the charge and he twisted and bullied his way close enough to reach out and score under the posts. 26-24 and the game was back on. In the last minute, Newbury won a kickable penalty and tried to wrap it up but the ball fell short and was kept alive and run back by Maids, knowing by now it was last play. Through hands and phases up to the 22 then scrappy back to 15 then strongly up to the 10m then Jacob Sanders raced away through the defence and clear until he was hauled down 10m short. He managed to get the ball away to Dhruv Surya who just could not pierce the cover to provide the fairy tale ending. This was a magnificent game of rugby between two well-matched sides, both sets of players a credit to their clubs. Despite no reduction in intensity, the ill-discipline and controversy of the first game was largely absent, and the only backchat came from the touchline. Both sides retain a hypothetical chance of taking the Division 2 title but, as this would involve both beating runaway leaders Bracknell (A) by a hatful, it is more likely they will contest second place. In which case the extra bonus point Maids have taken out of the two games might turn out to be crucial. Combination Style. Squad: |