Sun 12 Feb 2023
Wallingford travelled to unbeaten Maidenhead as they looked to bounce back from their defeat to Chinnor two weeks prior. In selection, a number of regulars were unavailable due to half term holidays, but Wallingford were still able to field a strong 19 man squad.
Playing on the artificial 4G pitch, Wallingford started the brighter of the two sides as they applied some early pressure on the hosts. And it took little more than 5 minutes before Wallingford opened the scoring. After Maidenhead kicked away their knock on advantage in their own twenty-two, full back Peter Clayton-Chance gathered the ball on the left, before feeding Arthur Carlucci. Forty meters out with plenty to do, Carlucci showed his class by beating four would-be tacklers as he danced down the touchline to score. Conversion drifted left of the posts.
The visitors continued their fast start, and soon doubled their lead. After a turnover penalty won by Max Seyfollahi was kicked to the corner, several attacking phases culminated in Lukas Yendole bundling over on the left for his second try of the season. This time Clayton-Chance converted well from the 15m line.
With Wallingford in the ascendancy at scrum time, and Maidenhead falling foul of the referee on multiple occasions, Wallingford continued to dominate the first quarter, and they deservedly scored their third before the quarter was over. After winning a penalty on the Maidenhead 5m line, a tap and go from the impressive Samuel MacMillan saw the back row drive over from short range. Clayton-Chance converting. And barely 4 minutes later, Wallingford secured the try bonus point in almost identical fashion, as MacMillan again showed great body position in burrowing over from a 5m tap penalty. Conversion missed.
Wallingford’s near perfect half continued, as they again scored from a close penalty. After a forward drive took the ball to the line, Seyfollahi found Clayton-Chance on the right who beat his man to dot down. Conversion missed.
As the half neared an end, Maidenhead finally got into the game, as inevitably Wallingford’s intensity slipped away. As Wallingford began to fall off tackles, the hosts worked their way into the Wallingford half, and after several shot range drives, they eventually went over in the left corner for their opening score. Maidenhead started the second half strongly as well, as their dangerous individuals broke the Wallingford line on several occasions, and after some good offloading in the Wallingford twenty-two, they eventually scored a short range try in the left corner. Conversion missed.
As nerves started to creep in, Wallingford scored the crucial next score to get their game back on track. After Carlucci turned the ball over just outside the Maidenhead twenty-two and George Thomasson took play towards the 5m line, the ball was moved left and Yendole fed his front row partner Jack Gower-Jackson who showed good footwork and power to go over on the left. Seyfollahi converting brilliantly from the left.
The remainder of the half saw defences continue to struggle as Maidenhead scored two more tries, the first a short range drive from a tap penalty, the other an excellent solo score from the host’s second row.
Wallingford continued to threaten in attack, and scored next with an excellent team try. After Clayton-Chance, now playing at 10, counter-attacked deep into the Maidenhead half, several forward drives sucked in the defence before Clayton-Chance put Felix Cotton in space and the Wallingford captain did what he does best as he raced in from 20m. Clayton-Chance converting. The visitors completed their scoring with 5 minutes to go with another team effort. Some lovely link up play from Isaac Hall, Yendole and Alfie James found Cotton on the left, and he moved the ball on to Carlucci, fresh from projectile vomiting on the side line, and the winger sprinted in from 22m. Converted.
There was still time for one more spectacular Maidenhead score, as the ball went through seven pairs of hands as they ran the last play from their try line to score a brilliant try. The missed conversion was the last act of the game, as Wallingford came out winners 50 points to 27.
A hugely entertaining game of rugby that saw some excellent scores, ultimately it was Wallingford’s strong start that determined the result. Its fair to say that some of the tackling on show left a bit to be desired, but some of the attacking play on show was truly impressive. Special mention to the referee, who was excellent and consistent throughout, and enabled the game to flow as it should do.
There were strong performances throughout the Wallingford team, with the likes Jack, Lukas, Alfie, Euan and Samuel having excellent games in the pack, whilst in the backs Ali Marsden, Max and Arthur had strong games, but Man of the Match went to Peter Clayton-Chance, whose passing and kicking game was on point and his defence was also much improved.
Match Photos
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CPAURLbkQDH2TTCh8
