“Oopsy daisy” to “smashed it” in under 40 minutes – fab Blues win!
Back home again after the Christmas break and a terrific win over Old Centralians just beforehand, the Blues hosted Thornbury RFC. With the Blues just a place above Thornbury in the middle of the league table, it might not have been totally clear who would have the upper hand but, reflecting recent successes, the Blues were likely confident.
So it was a bit of a surprise that Thornbury’s Flanker Hayden Johnson whacked in an excellent try at speed after just 4 minutes (ably converted by Fly Half Jack Pickles) and two minutes later Outside Centre Tom Stolliday popped in another, practically from nowhere; also, converted. Just a few minutes in, then, the score stood at 14:0 in Thornbury’s favour.
At 15 minutes, the Blues transacted one of the worst “b_g ups” ever to grace Monks Lane. A player broke free of the pack and a try was certain, he fumbled the ball in the final yards but it was scooped up by another Blue, he too fell over but, lo!, yet again the ball was retrieved… inches off the try line the scenario repeated not once but twice until the ball fell dead. The first half was looking like one of oopsy daisys. Come on you Blues!
Not long after, the Blues got themselves organised for a good try by upcoming star player Wing Dan Sanders, with a conversion by Captain Dan Thorne. A man in the sin bin didn’t seem to make much of a difference, one way or another, but if it was looking more positive for the Blues, Thornbury replied at 26 minutes with a second try by their Flanker and secured its conversion. Still, the Blues, too, had a response, properly gathering up another oopsy (as a team with some big team changes found its feet), scoring a second super Sanders try. The sides went in after the first half a 12:21 in favour of the visitors.
With the temperature in our chilly winter spell about to drop – and part of the pitch nearest the west stand never quite thawed out – it was hard to know what to expect. Well, the second half. It was owned by the Blues. Try after try, mostly converted by the Captain (celebrating his 301st cap for the Blues), which switched the score in favour of the Blues after just 9 minutes of the second half and simply nailed in the victory until the end. The Blues won their try bonus point along the way, the visitors – who truly competed well until the final whistle – didn’t score in the second half. It ended 34:21.
The game celebrated the club-first milestone of 300 Blues caps for Dan Thorne (along with an actual cap, he now has a stunning Blues blazer) and a 100th cap (achieved at today’s match) for Harry Waye-Branch, who like his Captain had a great match today.
The Newbury Blues are away at Trowbridge next week and home again on 31st January to host Chippenham. Come on you Blues!
Photos by kind permission of Redwater Images
