Emphatically, a win – Blues triumph 43:07!
The Newbury Blues came up against Chobham at Monks Lane on Saturday. The visitors couldn’t expect to be a push-over, sitting two places above The Blues at 7th in the league but, perhaps even more crucially, a dozen points ahead at 40 to 28.
And, as play got underway, Chobham made plain their apparent superiority, forcing but missing a penalty in the first minute, and commanding the play and pegging the Blues into their own half for pretty much all of the first half of the first half as they pushed hard towards the try line.
But the Blues dug in and made their first foray into the other half pay-off handsomely, as Scrum Half Harry Johnson delivered a try after 20 minutes, superbly converted from the widest possible angle by Captain Dan Thorne.
A brighter, obviously confident Blues side set off from the re-start to enjoy a scoring spree. Three further first half tries (two converted) followed, a couple by Flanker Will Osborne and another by Inside Centre Tom Cole, who also took over as kicker after Dan Thorne was forced out of the game by injury. The teams went in 26:0 at the half-time whistle.
The Blues kept up the momentum into the second half, with two superb tries by Hooker Harry Waye-Branch. Chobham reminded us that they weren’t completely finished with a deserved try at the 19th minute, beautifully converted from a difficult angle.
The Blues weren’t finished either, with a richly deserved try with 10 minutes or so to go by Prop George Robinson-Slater, who had an outstanding game, which was converted by Tom Cole.
By this time, conditions were dreadful. It was a challenge for the teams to stay on their feet or see through the heavy drizzle mist and, playing a bit in one half and then the other, not much happened after that. At the final whistle, the scoreboard stood 43:07. A gritty, well-earned triumph for the Blues.
Just a brief mention of the often-overlooked participants that are vital to the rugby game. First, the referee Matt Edwards, who oversaw a challenging match, made difficult by horrible conditions (with more than a few injuries) and the strength of the challenge of the two sides on each other. He achieved the excellent balance of keeping the play going but calling out the errors. But also, too, Newbury’s Charlie Hamblin, a unsung non-playing hero, who helps with set-up and game flow (simple but vital jobs like getting a clean ball to players during the match) week after week. Our enjoyment rests a lot of them.
The Newbury Blues are away on 15th February at Winchester and are at home again to face Tottonians on 1st March. Come on you Blues!
Photos by kind permission of Red Water Images
