Sat 4 Jan 2020
On a mild January day, Wallingford made the short journey to Didcot for their first fixture of 2020. In selection, Wallingford were able to welcome back several players from injury as they neared the end of their injury crisis, as Carl Tappin, Max Suttner, Pete McKinley, plus students Conor Graney and Matt Millard, came into the side.
Wallingford started the brighter of the two sides, as they tested the Didcot defence, before earning a penalty forty meters out. Unfortunately Jackson Sayce's penalty drifted wide with the cross wind.
Though Wallingford dominated posession early on, Didcot looked dangerous on the counter attack, as they looked to play a fast paced game. Wallingford soon opened the scoring, as Sayce adjusted for the wind to convert another penalty.
For all their possession and territory, Wallingford were struggling to break down an organised Didcot defensive line, with only another Sayce penalty to show for their efforts. And Didcot soon made them pay, as they broke out from their half to score a superb try as several players offloaded in the tackle, to score to the right of the posts. The conversion was successful.
Half time : Didcot 7 Wallingford 6
Wallingford started the second half well, as they found greater parity in the scrum and line-out. This allowed Sage and Swainston plenty of ball to pull the strings in the backs, as they began to stretch the Didcot defence. With Didcot tiring, they began to fall foul of the referee, as Wallingford worked their way deep into Didcot territory. From a catch drive on the left, Sage spotted a gap on the blindside which Craig Irwin showed a good turn of pace to sprint in from 15 meters. Sayce converted well.
With the likes of Sayce, Jeffreys and Tappin starting to punch holes in the home side's defences, Wallingford continued to press, and were rewarded with a fine team try. After the forwards had taken play to the edge of the Didcot twenty two, the backs put the ball through the hands, with Sayce providing the scoring pass for Charles Campbell to score in the right hand corner, despite the best efforts of an overly excitable Jack Payne running the line.
As Didcot continued to tire, they struggled to clear their lines to great effect, often getting themselves into trouble in their own twenty two, as Wallingford scored the next, decisive try. With the forwards again sucking in the Didcot defence, Tom Swainston put in a cross field kick, which bounced kindly for Campbell to score his second try of the game.
The last five minutes of the game saw Didcot enjoy some attacking sucess, as Jeffreys and Jack Greenway, in his last game before emigrating to Australia, going to the bin, and they ended the game with a consolation try, which took the score to 25-14.
This was a solid display from Wallingford. Didcot were a decent defensive outfit and looked dangerous in attack at times, but Wallingford showed patience and decent post-Christmas fitness to wear the home side down.
There were decent performances across the park, with good return performances from Tappin and McKinley, but man of the match went to Ed Searle, who was excellent in attack and defence.
