Sat 5 Oct 2019
After a tough afternoon at High Wycombe last time out, Wallingford had a great opportunity to make a statement as they welcomed table-topping Marlow to the Hithercroft on a perfect day for rugby.
In selection, Wallingford were without Tom Swainston and Ralph Smith in the backs, so Dan Sadler stepped into the breach at scrum-half, whilst James Royle made his 1st XV debut on the wing.
In the pack, Ed Searle, Ian Jeffreys and debutant Jay Green came in to add some extra ballast to the scrum.
Wallingford started slowly and allowed the visitors to capitalise on their early possession, Marlow scored and then converted to take an early lead. Wallingford didn’t panic and hit back quickly as Sam Botting scythed through the High Wycombe defence to score under the posts, for a simple conversion. Wallingford then took the lead through a Ryan Wenban try, as he seized on a bounce pass and finished well – Sayce converted to take the score to 14-7. Marlow then had a spell of territory and were able to narrow the deficit to 4 points through a penalty.
Wallingford continued to starve Marlow of possession, asserting their dominance in the set piece to drive the Marlow pack over their own try line from 5 metres out allowing Ian Jeffreys to dot the ball down. Marlow once again looked to establish a foothold in the game, converting a penalty to take the score to 19-13 at half time. Knowing the next score would be crucial, Wallingford continued to pressurise Marlow and Jeffreys scored his second try of the day – picking and going from a ruck to run through unopposed, to secure a try bonus point.
Marlow continued to try and work their way into the game, scoring their second and final try of the day. This was the most testing period of the game for Wallingford, who had also lost Craig Irwin to the sin bin for an apparent infringement at the scrum. However, Wallingford’s defence held firm meeting Marlow at the gain line and stopped them from getting any real momentum.
With time running out Marlow were beginning to get rattled – Wallingford continued to make inroads into the visitors 22 and after a period of pressure Marlow coughed up the ball and Dan Sadler was able to run in Wallingford’s fifth try of the day. With little time left on the clock, Wallingford were awarded a penalty and opted to kick for the corner, Wallingford’s forwards collected the ball from their lineout and drove over for the last try of the day, scored by James Norris – as stipulated by new directives the backs all ran in to celebrate the try with the forwards, McKinley and Botting shared a particularly tender moment, and Sayce then added the final points of the day.
There were strong performances all around the park - with all players fronting up, though Jay Green & James Royle both had particularly strong showings. This was an excellent game for Wallingford who ran in six tries in front of a crowd of around 35 spectators.
Match photos
http://wallingfordrfc.rfu.club/gallery/firsts-win-over-marlow-5th-october-2019
