Sat 9 Apr 2022
Wallingford welcomed Aylesbury to the Hithercroft on a sunny afternoon for the last game of the season. In selection, Wallingford made two changes to the starting XV, with Jack Payne coming in at scrum-half for the absent Ollie Corbett, and Alex Brown returned to the side after injury.
Against a big Aylesbury side, the opening exchanges were a bruising affair, with the boshing of big Ed Searle on the first carry of the game setting the tone for the match.
Both sides played some decent structured rugby in the opening quarter, but defences came out on top as the game remained scoreless.
As the game progressed, Wallingford, holding sway at scrum time, began to enter a purple patch where they were camped in the Aylesbury half for a sustained period. Unfortunately for Wallingford, a combination of excellent Aylesbury defence and the hosts coughing the ball up at key moments meant that all Wallingford had to show for their efforts was a Charles Campbell penalty.
Aylesbury soon fought back, and made Wallingford pay for their profligacy, as they scored two quick tries. First up, from an attacking maul, the ball fortuitously dropped to the ground and to the Aylesbury scrum-half, who darted over for a well taken try which was well converted.
Five minutes later, with Wallingford falling foul of the referee, sustained Aylesbury pressure culminated in the ball being moved to the right for a score in the corner for an unconverted try.
Half-time: Wallingford 3 - 12 Aylesbury
The second half was a much less eventful affair, as defences dominated. The key shift in the game saw Aylesbury begin to dominate scrum-time, which saw Wallingford penalised a number of times, gifting Aylesbury plenty of attacking platforms.
Despite this, via the boot of Charles Campbell and some immense ball carrying from Ian Jeffreys and Carl Tappin, Wallingford did create chances, the best of which went to James Norris, who was brilliantly held up to deny Wallingford again.
The only other notable act was a yellow card each for Jack Payne and the Aylesbury skipper for some gentle flirting halfway through the half.
The game petered out with a scoreless second half, as Aylesbury held on to for the win.
This was a hard fought match between two evenly matched sides, which ultimately came down to who took their chances. Wallingford were held up twice and butchered several good chances, and you don’t win games only scoring 3 points.
That said, it wasn’t a bad performance from Wallingford against a team third in the league and going up to the league above. Man of the match deservedly went to Ian Jeffreys, who was excellent in what was officially his last game before “retiring”.
Beefy has been an incredible servant of the club. Over 17 seasons, he has racked up 265 1st XV appearances, scoring 73 tries, and its no exaggeration to say he never had a bad game. His levels of commitment, determination, power and skill have driven the side year after year and is arguably the greatest ever player to represent the Cullis.
I’m sure he’ll stay involved on the coaching side next season, and no doubt he’ll help the boys out in an emergency, but if anyone deserves a rest and to go out on his own terms, its Beefy.
Final mention goes to the Aylesbury lads for hanging around afterwards for a few beers in the sun – it’s a side of rugby you don’t see that often these days, so it was nice to have a beer and a chat with the oppo to mark the end of another enjoyable season for both clubs.
Match photos can be found in the gallery section:
http://WallingfordRFC.rfu.club/gallery/firsts-vs-aylesbury-9th-april-2022
