Sat 8 Apr 2017
In the last home game of the season High Wycombe entertained Buckingham, having narrowly lost away Wycombe were looking to turn the tables this time out. On a warm sunny day, ideal for running rugby a youthful Wycombe team looked to build on their win against Bletchley. It didn’t start well for Wycombe as they were penalised for being in front of the kicker giving Buckingham good field position. From a scrum, Wycombe exerted enormous pressure on the Buckingham pack, but they somehow managed to keep hold of the ball and passed it out to the backs. A wayward pass saw the ball go to ground and Wycombe were penalised for not letting the man to his feet and Buckingham took the three points 0-3. A good high restart from Matt Wardle forced Buckingham to obstruct the Wycombe chasers and the home side were awarded a penalty twenty-eight metre’s out and the ever-reliable Cam Baker slotted the three points, 3-3. Both teams were struggling for continuity and the game was being dominated by the referee’s whistle making it a stop start affair.
Wycombe regained possession from a Buckingham overthrown lineout and were able to build pressure close to the Buckingham line, Buckingham were then penalised at the ruck and Cam Baker took the three points 6-3. Although both teams were finding it hard to obtain any rhythm Wycombe were on top in the scrums and after twenty-five minutes Buckingham were forced into making a change in their front row. This didn’t deter the home sides pack and at the next scrum Buckingham were again penalised for not driving straight and Cam kicked the penalty from the ten-metre line, 9-3. The rest of the half was scrappy and ill-jointed, Wycombe were still enjoying success at the scrum but were struggling at the lineout and both teams were on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle. Every time one team gained good field position it was undone by an unforced error or the referee’s whistle and the score remained 9-3 at half time.
The second half started with Buckingham on top and they set up a lineout inside the Wycombe twenty-two. The ball was thrown accurately to the back of the lineout, spotting that Wycombe’s defence was short on the blindside Buckingham exploited the overlap to score in the corner 9-8. From the kick-off missed tackles allowed Buckingham good field position but as they entered the Wycombe twenty-two they were pulled back because of a knock on. From the scrum the ball bounced loose and was snaffled up by the Buckingham scrum half who went in untouched under the post to score 9-15. Wycombe were still being hampered by unforced errors but were quick to pounce on a mistake from Buckingham, when a knock on was gathered by Aryton Hooker and the ball was passed out to Ollie Fennell-Wells who had the pace to beat the covering defence to score in the corner. Cam missed a tough kick 14-15. From the restart a booming clearing kick from Cam Baker pinned Buckingham back in their twenty-two and some great work at the lineout saw Wycombe steal the ball. Buckingham were then penalised for a high tackle and Wycombe took a quick tap which came to nothing but Wycombe were awarded another penalty for Buckingham not being ten metres. Wycombe decided to go for goal and Cam took the three points, 17-15. It was then Buckingham’s turn to exert some pressure on the Wycombe line initially the defence held firm but then from a lineout Buckingham scored from a strong rolling maul 17-22. Wycombe hit back when Cam Baker added a further three points, 20-22 and this set up a tense finale. With three minutes to go Wycombe were inside their own twenty-two when they were awarded a free kick and decided to run the ball. After making ten metres Wycombe were awarded a penalty and a good kick from Matt Wardle gave Wycombe a lineout on the Buckingham ten metre line. A great take by Ian Burnham at the tail of the lineout set up a rolling maul which took Wycombe into the twenty-two. The ball was eventually fed out to the backs where fly half Matt Wardle made a great break and with only the full back to beat passed the ball to Tom Catchpole who scored under the post, Cam made kick 27-22. With only seconds remaining Wycombe were able to gather the restart and used their forwards to run the clock down to record a win in their final home game.
Overall a hard-fought victory, although the game was scrappy at times Wycombe held their nerve to come away with the victory. Their final game of the season is in two weeks away at Gosford All Blacks.
