Sat 17 Dec 2011
Firsts Suffer Last-Minute Agony Again
Wallingford 19 Beaconsfield 25
Another week, another game decided in the final few minutes. This time, leading by one point with 2 minutes to go, it was top of the league Beaconsfield who snatched victory from the claws of Wallingford. In selection the injured Angus Brettel and Glenn Dearlove were replaced by Tom Wemyss and Henry Venners, whilst Luke Best was drafted into the back row for the injured Matt Ebbs.
On a fine rugby playing day, with a mild cross wind, Beaconsfield kicked off a game which Wallingford immediately looked to take control of, with Derek Viljoen sniping blind from the first ruck, only to be chaperoned into touch well. Set pieces looked solid early on from both sides and the referee seemed to be controlling the game well. The first chance fell to Wallingford, after they looked to exploit the Beaconsfield fringe defence through which Anthony Marris and Ian Jeffreys had already made several inroads.
However, 10 meters out and Viljoen’s pass to the onrushing Tom Hill was deflected and Hill couldn’t recover. Beaconsfield then launched a clinical counter attack which went the length of the pitch for the first score of the game. The try was converted but Wallingford, undeterred, headed straight back into opposition territory. After several incisive breaks, Luke Best darted through before being hauled down just short. He was able to off-load to the supporting Holton to showed deft hands to feed the onrushing Smith who dotted down easily under the posts to bring Wallingford straight back into the game. Try converted.
The home side did not stop there, and they soon re-secured possession, as Beaconsfield’s discipline began to slip, giving away 10 yards for backchat on several occasions as the referee clamped down.
Wallingford worked their way into the visitors twenty-two, and proceeded to exert constant pressure on the try line, and this was eventually rewarded, as Jack drove to the line before Monk was able to touch down for another converted try.
Top of the league Beaconsfield were clearly shell-shocked by the Wallingford assault, and struggled to get on the front foot, as the home side’s ferocious defence, especially around the breakdown, refused them any real advantage.
The visitors cause was not helped by the wayward kicking of their centre who missed two straight-forward penalties during the half. The half closed 14-5 to the home side.
Wary of a Beaconsfield backlash, Wallingford looked to carry on their first half form, and they promptly did so, as they immediately put the visitors under pressure. After Luke Best made yet another incisive break from a ruck, Wallingford stayed on the front foot, and with the visitor’s defence at sixes and sevens, good hands put in Monk who charged in from 40 meters to touch down, despite a valiant attempt by the cover defence. With the conversion missed, it left Wallingford 19-5 up with 25 minutes to go.
Wallingford had several more half chances, as the likes of Blaszko, Wemyss and Viljoen were all so close to breaking through the visitors defence.
Then came to inevitable Beaconsfield fight-back, as Wallingford’s previously excellent discipline began to slip and the big Beaconsfield runners began to make yards for the first time in the match.
Their comeback was started by a score in the far right corner after some weak tackling gave their nippy winger the chance to set up an unconverted try. Their kicker finally landed one shortly afterwards via a simple penalty to reduce the deficit to six.
Wallingford came back strongly and were rewarded with a penalty just outside the visitor’ twenty-two, but Smith’s kick drifted agonisingly onto the left-hand post, with the rebound bouncing kindly for the visitors.
With Beaconsfield’s superior fitness beginning to show, they soon worked their way to the Wallingford line again, and despite some heroic defence on their line, the visitors were able to find space on the blindside for another unconverted try, to reduce arrears to just one point.
With a horrible sense of déjà vu developing from the Windsor game, Wallingford were determined to resist the Beaconsfield onslaught, but with just two minutes left, a Beaconsfield runner cut a great line to slice through the tired home defence to touch down under the posts for the decisive score.
The remaining moments saw the visitors kick long, deep into Wallingford territory, and the game was soon over, ending 25-19 to the visitors.
This was another heartbreaking game for Wallingford, who from all accounts dominated for three-quarters of the game, and came so close to scoring a probably decisive fourth try. But Beaconsfield showed great commitment and fitness in coming back as they did, and were also gracious in victory, unlike Windsor two weeks earlier.
It was a tremendous effort from Wallingford, who again showed that their league position is in no way a reflection of their ability, with notable performances from Luke Best, Tom Wemyss and Tom Hill.
1.Blaszko 2.Hill 3.Marris 4.Greenway (Bower) 5.Bailey 6.Best 7.Norris 8.Jeffreys 9.Viljoen (M.Dawes)
10.Smith 11.Ballon 12.Holton 13.Kelly 14.Wemyss 15.Venners
