Sat 24 Mar 2012
Wallingford 29 Alchester 14
On a beautiful day for rugby, Wallingford ended their home campaign with a strong 29-14 victory over Alchester on Saturday. The Wallingford squad welcomed back Kris Blaszko, Tom Hill, Ian Jeffreys, Derek Viljoen, Ralph Smith, Angus Brettell and Captain Pete Holton, all of whom were missing on a stag do the week before.
In front of a large crowd due to the VP lunch Wallingford kicked off hoping for a bright start. Indeed they got that, soon finding themselves in the Alchester half only for Holton’s pass to be intercepted by an Alchester back who galloped in from 60 meters. Within minutes Wallingford were 14-0 down when a lively break from a visiting back rower exposed some flat-footed defence at a ruck. Despite their lead Alchester’s discipline was letting them down. It allowed Wallingford to dominate territory and the deficit was reduced when Brettell spotted a gap in the visiting twenty-two. Ben Selwood converted. With fire in their bellies Wallingford were straight back on the attack. A chip over the defence by Hill was not cleared up and let to a scrum 5 meters from the line. A solid foundation was pounced upon by Johnny Collett who cut a fine line back towards the forwards for an impressive try.
12-14. Alchester’s discipline continued to let them down and they were soon reduced to 14 men for persistent offences. Wallingford took advantage by scoring the try of the day. Hill broke from a rolling maul and made 30 meters, just into the Alchester half, before offloading to supporting flanker James Norris. He fed fellow back rower Luke Best who chipped through the scrambling defence where Brettell was first to claim the ball, blasting over the Alchester full back and the line at the same time. 17-15 at half time.
Alchester started the second half much livelier and it was now Wallingford conceding the penalties. Norris was sin binned after a couple in short succession and Wallingford endured a period of persistent pressure on their line. Resolute defence seemed to be the turning point of the game and back to a full compliment of players Wallingford soon started to dominate proceedings. A score finally came as Brettell grabbed his hat-trick after some nifty hands by Tom Rowberry. An Alchester flanker hit Brettell late when he scored, resulting in a yellow card and a penalty restart. It was not going to be Alchester’s day. Full of confidence and with the fresh legs of Viljoen, Blaszko and Rich Bower, Wallingford continued to pressure the visitors with Holton and Jeffreys making some telling inroads in the Alchester defence. Frazer Hunt came close after Wallingford’s pack turned over a scrum and Brettell was held up over the line after a big Blaszko run. However, there was time for the fly-half to get his forth try after Collett switched play and linked with Viljoen to put him in space out wide. With minutes to go there was still time for Alchester to have one last attack, their no.8 finding space and sprinting two thirds of the pitch only for Jeffreys to make up the ground and stop the move. The final action of the day came via a yellow card for Holton after a Tuilagi-esque hit on their centre.
After a tough and frustrating season it was a well earned victory for the boys. There were strong performances all over the park, particularly from Brettell and his four try haul, but it was a solid team performance and a pleasant way to end their home campaign.
Wallingford: Smith; Selwood, Collett, Holton, Hunt; Dawes (Viljoen), Brettell; Marris (Blaszko), Hill,
Welch; Gillies, Rowberry; Norris, Best (Bowers), Jeffreys
