Sat 28 Jan 2023
Wallingford welcomed Swindon College Old Boys (SCOB) to the Hithercroft on what felt like the first mild day in months. SCOB had upset a weakened Wallingford side in the reverse fixture in October, so Wallingford were determined to set the record straight as they fielded a strong squad.
With Sam Botting away, James Springer came into the centres to partner Murray Bellis, whilst Connor Morrison made his long-awaited debut on the wing, and in the pack Max Suttner returned to the back row.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to break the deadlock, with a well taken try. From a SCOB clearance kick, the ball was moved left on halfway to JJ Brown, who carried strongly before finding Jacob Knight, who in turn fed the marauding Nathan Chapman who powered over. Ollie Corbett converted well from the left.
But a strong start was quickly undone by some sloppy play. After fumbling the restart, a series of penalties gave the visitors a sustained spell of pressure, which eventually culminated in the powerful SCOB fly-half reaching over for a converted score.
Unphased by this setback, Wallingford quickly returned to the ascendancy, as they worked their way back in to the SCOB half, courtesy of some additional 10 yards for SCOB back chat. And patient build up play by the forwards laid the platform for Jack Thurston to barge over from 5 yards for his first try of the season (and more importantly, level with fellow prop Lawson Dallimore). Corbett converting.
As the first quarter neared an end, a trademark electric break from Chapman took play deep into the SCOB twenty two, then the supporting James Norris found Knight who was again on hand to provide the scoring pass to the left wing for the impressive Ed Searle to crash over in the corner for his third try of the season.
Despite losing JJ Brown to a yellow card for retaliating to some abrasive SCOB tackling, the hosts secured a first half bonus point with their fourth try. More powerful play from the Wallingford pack earned them a penalty advantage, and they quickly moved the ball to the right with Springer putting in his centre partner Murray Bellis for his third try in four games. The half ended 24-7 to the hosts.
The start of the second half was a disjointed affair, as Wallingford were guilty of forcing the pass at key moments as they wasted some good opportunities and the half remained scoreless for the first 10 minutes.
Eventually, they overcame the malaise to score their fifth try. This time, the increasingly prominent JJ Brown going over in the left corner after being put in by Chapman, before Knight picked up his third assist as he put Brown through a hole in midfield as Brown bagged a double.
Credit to SCOB, they never gave in despite picking up two yellow cards, (one for when their Romanian (?) full-back gave everyone an education in Romanian profanities after being marmalised in midfield) and they got their second try as they bundled over from a line-out on left. But Wallingford were not done there, and added two more scored before the game was up.
First, the ever dangerous Chapman broke through in midfield before rounding the last man for an excellent individual score. Then, with the ball moved right, veteran Ralph Smith found space down the wing before executing his “trademark” skyhook pass infield to replacement Felix Harris who beat two men before going over for his maiden 1st XV try.
The game ended 46-12 for the hosts.
This was a solid display by Wallingford against a spirited SCOB side that posed plenty of questions early on. Wallingford played some decent rugby at times, and defensively dealt with the powerful runners that SCOB possessed in the backs much better than in the return fixture.
The only real blot on the display was the nasty looking injury sustained by Connor Morrison on debut, hopefully the prognosis isn’t as bad as first thought.
Man of the match was a tough call, with Chapman exceptional in attack and Knight always involved in attack and defence, but it went to Ed Searle, who carried and tackled hard all day.
