Sat 6 Apr 2019
Wallingford welcomed fourth-placed Aylesbury to the Hithercroft on a fine day for rugby, looking to build on the previous week’s promising display at Windsor.
In selection, Matt Millard came in at scrum-half in his first start of the season, Jack Thurston replaces the hungover Lawson Dallimore in the front row, and Max Suttner stepped in for Pete Holton in the centres.
Aylesbury started the brighter of the two sides, as they used their muscular second row to batter through Wallingford’s defences.
But after weathering an early storm, Wallingford worked their way back into the game, with several breaks , noticeably through the dangerous Dan Sadler.
A simple converted penalty from Ben Selwood drew first blood for Wallingford as Aylesbury began to fall foul of the ref.
The visitors were soon down to 14 men as their flanker saw yellow for a needless tip tackle on Sadler after the ball had gone, and that saw the beginning of a bizarre 20 minutes that saw three more yellow cards from the strict referee.
With the man advantage, Wallingford got the first try of the game, as Nathan Chapman, playing at no.8 in the absence of the injured Ian Jeffreys, darted over from the back of a scrum from ten meters out. The conversion drifted wide from Selwood.
Aylesbury were next on the scoreboard, with a simple penalty as it was Wallingford’s turn to fall foul of the referee.
With ten minutes left in the half, three quick fire yellows - one for Jack Thurston and two for Aylesbury players, resulted in a frantic period of play, that ultimately saw Chapman finish well from short range. This time Selwood converted well from the right.
The half ended with Wallingford 15-3 up.
The second half was a much more even affair as both sides adapted better to the referees interpretation of the laws.
With the likes of Tappin, Sadler and Greenway carrying well, Wallingford soon got the crucial next score. After camping on the Aylesbury line for several phases, the ball fortunately squirted out to Conner Murphy who took his chance well. Selwood again converted.
The last quarter saw Aylesbury finally cross the whitewash, but Wallingford, despite beginning to tire, kept the visitors at bay as the game ended 22-10 to Wallingford.
This was a decent win from Wallingford considering the ten first team regulars that were absent. Matt Millard was excellent at scrum-half, and Sadler and Chapman were a constant threat throughout the game, but Man-of-the-Match went to Max Suttner, who, playing in the unfavoured position of centre, tackled powerfully all day and ran the ball well.
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