Sat 17 Sep 2022
Wallingford 2s came up short against a strong Aylesbury team, on what was a perfect day for rugby at the Hithercroft.
A Wallingford squad, made up of talented individuals but very much thrown together, fell victim to their inevitable incohesiveness as they quickly went 3 tries down in the first 10 minutes, as a well-drilled Aylesbury team used quick ball and dancing feet to create repeated overlaps out wide.
With some sharp words from Captain Pat and Coach Ed to get in a place for tighter defence and improved ball retention, the difference was immediately visible, with Gav Harmer, Elliot Thompson and Pete Holton making punches into an Aylesbury defence taken aback by the change in the tide. What followed was a match punctuated by multiple injuries, in particular for Wallingford, as the teams waited longer for Stu Mount to lace his boots pre-match than he spent on the pitch, Matt Fearn departed with a head knock, lost Benoit Preece with a broken nose after putting his face on the line with a big hit, Sam Fieldsend limped away with a twisted knee, and Tony Fixter trudged off, presumably due to old bones.
Buoyed by the youthful exuberance of MotM Jack Earl at scrum half corralling the troops, however, the Wallingford forwards provided some solid ball that Jack Hill and Ryan Darby made the most of in the backs. Going to uncontested scrums meant that Wallingford lost some of the forward dominance provided by Josh Campbell, but freed up Mark Lenane and Callum Timms to wreak havoc with ball in hand.
Aylesbury undoubtedly remained a formidable opponent but without the guaranteed possession of the first 10 minutes, the match was a far closer contest, with the final scoreline reflecting a makeshift XV and very tired legs playing against an impressive outfit.
Congratulations to Harvey Miller for scoring his first senior try, a big shout out to James Branson on what we hope to be the first of many impressive performances in black and gold, and a massive thanks to Stuart Mount and Mark Lenane for swapping dicky bow ties for boots at very short notice. A huge shift from everyone involved. Onwards and upwards.
