Sat 10 Sep 2022
A much-changed Wallingford side travelled to Marlow for their first away game of the season.
In selection, with Sam Botting, Tom Diment, Tyler Harvey, Joe Mason, Dan Sadler and Luke Tremayne unavailable, back in came Carl Tappin, Ed Searle, Ralph Smith and Billy McDermott, whilst there were debuts for Ollie Newell ad Tom Bradfield off the bench.
With the sun and the slope in their favour, Marlow dominated the opening twenty minutes as their chunky forwards battered the Walingford defence. Despite having most of the possession, Wallingford’s ability to turn them over at the breakdown meant that they struggled to break their visitors down.
They did eventually cross the whitewash, albeit somewhat fortuitously. As they attacked into the Wallingford twenty-two, they moved the ball left, where a loose pass bounced kindly for the hosts and a couple of good offloads saw them score in the corner for an unconverted try.
Though Wallingford’s breakdown work was causing issues for the hosts, the referee was incredibly strict with his interpretation of the breakdown as Wallingford began to transgress more regularly and give their hosts the platform to continue to attack.
Their second score came after several short drives, before their shapely prop reached out to just about touch down under the posts.
Shortly after this Wallingford lost the influential Ollie Corbett to a nasty shoulder injury after a cheap shot after the whistle.
Wallingford were still in the game, and, with the aid of Charles Campbell’s boot, were able to work their way into the Marlow twenty-two, which gave the visitor’s forwards the chance to show what they had to offer. The pack’s short-range attack was relentless, culminating in Jack Payne burrowing his was over for his second try in as many games. Campbell converted.
The closing minutes of the half saw Marlow extend their lead, as good offloading on the left saw their winger run in unopposed for a converted score.
The second half was largely played in midfield, as the referee’s whistle, along with Marlow’s powerful defence, dominated play. Wallingford’s discipline soon earned Marlow two converted penalties, before they rounded off the scoring with a score on the left after a hopeful cross-field kick bounced kindly for the chase.
Wallingford had their moments, with JJ Brown nearly going over from a well-executed backs move, and James Norris stopped short after a quick tap when the tackler had never retreated 10 meters, but these moments were few and far between, as Marlow finished off deserved winners.
A young Wallingford side were left disappointed after the game, but this was far from a disappointing display from a team still finding its feet this season. Marlow at home are always a strong outfit, and Wallingford have taken much worse beatings here over the years .
The defence was excellent throughout on the most part, and although we struggled at times with the referee’s interpretation of the breakdown, we did also put Marlow under a lot of pressure in that area when allowed.
Attack was where Wallingford struggled, as they failed to string together enough phases to really put the hosts under pressure, but that is somewhat inevitable with a young team with new combinations.
Man of the Match went to Conner Murphy, who was excellent in defence, including several full stretch tackles on their dangerous full back.
