Sat 12 Nov 2022
Wallingford travelled to Thatcham on an abnormally warm afternoon looking to build on their narrow victory the week before.
In selection, with 36 players unavailable across the club, including the late withdrawal of influential prop Jack Thurston due to Covid (again!), Wallingford had to call upon some students in Jack Earl and Silas Allum, and some members of the 200 Club in Ian Jeffreys and Pete Holton to ensure that we got a full squad out.
The first act of the game pretty much set the tone for the opening quarter, as no one went to claim the Thatcham kick off and the hosts seized possession straight away. After some early pressure from the hosts, they earned a penalty which they elected to kick at goal, but the attempt drifted wide.
With the visitors lacking intensity, Thatcham continued their early purple patch, and soon opened the scoring. As they attacked left in the Wallingford twenty two, a half break and a blatant forward pass that went unnoticed resulted in a score to the left of the posts. Conversion made.
In the absence of the bulk of Thurston and Ed Searle, Wallingford struggled in the scrum as Thatcham applied massive pressure in this area, as Wallingford struggled early on.
And Thatcham soon score again, as a mix up on a Wallingford exit resulted in an attacking 5 meter scrum to Thatcham, which they marched Wallingford back over the line for a second converted score.
14 points down having hardly touched the ball, Wallingford began to work their way back into the game, and their backs showed their attacking threat when a backs move put Jacob Knight in space out wide, but unfortunately Charles Campbell couldn’t hold on to the scoring pass and the chance was wasted.
With Thatcham being allowed to get away with murder at the breakdown, Wallingford struggled to get good quick ball for their attack, as they grew increasingly frustrated.
After several wasted opportunities, the visitors finally got on the board with the final play of the half. Sustained pressure from the forwards eventually saw Nathan Chapman burrow over from short range for his first try of the season. Conversion missed.
The second half was a disjointed affair, as the referee’s whistle limited any flow to the game.
With Wallingford’s defence now up to speed, Thatcham’s attack focused primarily on set-piece and the kicking game, whilst Wallingford looked dangerous when they got the ball to the backs, but with the set-piece under pressure these opportunities did not come often enough for the visitors.
Thatcham extended their lead with a simple penalty, before Wallingford finally sprung into life in the last 10 minutes. With a Thatcham player in the bin for terrible chat, Wallingford won several penalties in the Thatcham twenty-two, but poor decision making wasted these opportunities.
With minutes left, a cynical Thatcham slap down with a try begging only resulted in a penalty, but from the line-out, the ball was moved wide to the backs and Campbell put JJ Brown in for a score in the corner which Campbell converted brilliantly.
With a minute left, a Wallingford knock on effectively ended the game as Thatcham kicked the ball out from the ensuing scrum, bringing to an end an unspectacular game of rugby.
Thatcham stuck to a simple gameplan, namely keeping the ball in the forwards and kicking well to exploit the small pitch.
After a slow start, Wallingford struggled to adapt to what the hosts were allowed to get away with at the breakdown and set-piece, and the frustration got the better of them as they lost their composure at key moments, allowing a committed Thatcham side to hold on for the win.
An infuriating afternoon for Wallingford and a disappointing end to the latest run of five matches (thanks RFU), but a week off next week then we host High Wycombe at home as we look to put a few wrongs right.
