Fri 14 Oct 2022
On a mild Friday evening Wallingford travelled to local rivals Reading Abbey for a Friday Night Lights fixture.
In selection, with the loss of Lawson Dallimore to covid, Tom Bradfield moved forward into the front row and captain James Norris left a wedding early to fill the void at hooker, whilst on the flank there was a much-welcomed return for Nathan Chapman after his obligatory September holiday.
With the evening dew and mist setting in, handling of the greasy ball was always going to limit expansive rugby, as both sides kept it tight in the opening exchanges, as the packs sized each other up.
After an even opening five minutes, the visitors started to build momentum in attack, primarily through the forwards and the dominant scrum. They created numerous gilt-edged chances but a combination of good Abbey defence and wayward final passes meant that the opening quarter remained scoreless.
Despite their frustrations, Wallingford remained calm and eventually broke the deadlock, with Tom Bradfield going over in the right-hand corner after some prolonged pressure on the Abbey try line. Charles Campbell converted brilliantly from the right tough line.
By this stage, Abbey were struggling to break down the Wallingford defence, with the likes of Norris, Thurston and Chapman ferocious in the tight defence, whilst the back three handled the kicking game with relative ease.
And it wasn’t too long before Wallingford doubled their lead, as Max Suttner finished off a powerful attacking set by touching down in the right corner, which Campbell again converted brilliantly, much to the pleasure of the travelling support.
Wallingford closed out a dominant half with a well struck Campbell penalty to go into half-time 17-0 up.
The second half was a scrappier affair, as Abbey’s aggression and borderline legality at rucks making a mess of the breakdown, slowing the ball down.
Abbey lost a prop to the bin for flying into a minor melee from distance, but numbers were soon evened up as JJ Brown picked up a yellow for going off his feet at a ruck on halfway.
The visitors were still maintaining their intensity, as the forwards powerful running regularly got over the gain line. A third try eventually came as Max Suttner got a second from close range.
The visitors were denied a try of the season contender after Chapman made an electric break in midfield, and subsequent quick hands put James Norris in space in the corner but he was tackled just short. At the ensuing ruck Abbey cynically killed the ball and a player was sent to the bin.
With the man advantage, Wallingford battered the Abbey line, and eventually crossed from a driving maul, with Norris emerging from the pile with the ball.
The last ten minutes was a messy affair dominated by whistle, as the referee repeatedly pinged Wallingford at the breakdown. After Sam Botting picked up his maiden yellow card, the pressure eventually told as Abbey finally breached Wallingford’s defences with the last act of the game.
This was a committed and disciplined display that earned Wallingford their biggest ever win at Abbey. The pack were immense, both at set-piece and in the tight, whilst the backs played sensible, percentage rugby in slippery conditions.
The return of Nathan Chapman made a difference, and he even stayed on the pitch for the full 80 first the first time at Abbey (obviously he’s found some kind of zen-like calm during his travels to Mount Everest), whilst the front row of Bradfield, Thurston and Norris were destructive throughout, with Bradfield picking up man of the match for his shift.
