Sat 17 Sep 2022
Wallingford welcomed newly promoted Bletchley to the Hithercroft on a pleasant Saturday afternoon as they looked to bounce back from the previous week’s defeat at Marlow.
In selection, Wallingford were missing a raft of regulars primarily due to holidays (!), as Rhys Arnold and Toby Bucknell (debut) came into a makeshift backline, whilst in the pack Tom Diment and Will Fox came back into the side. The bench was just about filled with last minute help from Silas Allum, a sick Jacob Knight and Dave Baxter, making a much-welcomed return to the set up.
The first minute of the game saw a nasty clash of heads between Tom Diment and the Bletchley centre, which saw the former taken to hospital, and set the theme for the rest of the game as injuries were to play a big part in the game.
The opening quarter was all Bletchley, as Wallingford were at sixes and sevens defensively, not dealing with the visitors’ big runners, and leaving gaping holes in the defence, especially out wide.
Through a combination of excellent scramble defence and profligate finishing, somehow Bletchley came away with nothing during this period, as Wallingford slowly began to find their feet.
Another injury, this time Nick Wiltshire, saw Jacob Knight come on at 10, allowing makeshift 10 Ralph Smith to push out to his more accustomed position of outside centre.
Straight away Knight’s class brought more composure to proceedings, as Wallingford tightened up their defence and began to punch holes in the visitor’ defence.
The second quarter saw Wallingford create several gilt-edged chances, including a correctly disallowed JJ Brown try for a double movement and a couple of chances held up, but they did eventually cross the whitewash, as James Norris touched down following a well-executed catch and drive. Arnold converting.
Half Time – Wallingford 7 – 0 Bletchley
The second half saw Wallingford again make a slow start in defence, as Bletchley took play into the Wallingford twenty-two before moving the ball left for an unconverted try.
Bletchley continued to press, but couldn’t quite get the crucial second score, for which they were made to pay as Wallingford scored next.
After a long range break from Max Suttner, despite not giving the scoring pass to James Norris, Norris was quick to rip the ball off him on the floor and score his second of the match.
By this point, Bletchley were starting to struggle with injuries, having already lost a centre and a wing to injuries, and they soon lost their fly-half and a prop, meaning that they had to play the last 20 minutes with 14 men.
Wallingford used this to their advantage as the forwards, through the likes of Will Fox, Carl Tappin and Silas Allum, began to make telling breaks in the Bletchley defence. And a powerful break by Fox ended with him selflessly feeding Conner Murphy for a one yard finish. Arnold converted.
With the game seemingly lasting an eternity, both sets of players were visibly tiring, but there was still time for a stunning, one could say signature score, from centre JJ Brown. Receiving the ball just outside his own twenty two, he managed to shrug off tackle after tackle, before opening his legs to race in from half way, to finish off the scoring.
Credit to Bletchley, they never gave up, and led by their abrasive number 8, who was excellent all day, they still tested Wallingford right up until the end.
But the game eventually finished 24-5 to Wallingford.
This was an excellent performance from a team deprived of so many regulars, especially in the back line. Going into Friday night not knowing what your final team is is far from ideal, but the commitment shown by Silas, Jacob, Toby and Dave Baxter in making themselves available when they could easily not done ultimately made the difference in a game where strength in depth was crucial.
Toby had an excellent debut especially in defence, and Silas had a blinder after coming on in the first minute, but man of the match again went to Conner Murphy, whose defensive game was impeccable throughout when others were tiring around him.
Quick mention to the referee, who was excellent throughout - consistent in his application of the laws, communicated well and even had time for some banter when the time was right.
Finally, I should also make mention of the tragic passing of former 1st XV player Paul ‘Louie’ Lewis. Louie sadly succumbed to a short illness in the week, to the shock of everyone at the club.
Louie was a pivotal part of the most successful period in the club’s history, forming some truly fearsome second row partnerships with the likes of Mike Turner and Dorian Jenkins, providing much needed physicality and aggression to a talented pack.
After Louie retired in the early 2010s, Louie was a regular on the side line, which isn’t always the case when old boys retire, and I always enjoyed coming off the pitch to have a chat and listen to him tell me everything I did wrong on the pitch.
Whether you knew Louie or not, early forties is far too young to lose a loyal member of our club, and the minutes silence at the start, although in theory partially meant for the Queen, was very much in honour of Louie for all those from the club.
