Sat 28 Oct 2017
After last week’s victory against Wallingford, Wycombe were looking to back this up with another positive performance against Reading Abbey. Unfortunately due to injury and unavailability Wycombe were forced to make a number of changes to the team that played last week.
The game started ominously when at the first scrum Wycombe were pushed off their own ball which presented Abbey with possession but some stout defence ensured it came to nothing. Abbey continued to dominant both territory and possession and although Wycombe defended well they found themselves at the wrong end of the referee’s whistle and from a penalty for being offside Abbey kicked to touch and set up a lineout eight metres from the line. Some more solid defending forced Abbey to abandon the rolling maul and use their backs but a forward pass in midfield presented Wycombe with a scrum. The scrum did well and won the ball but in trying to clear his line Joff’s kick was charged down and fell straight in to the path of an Abbey player who fell on the ball to score, 5-0 with the kick made 7-0. From the kick off the home side continued to press but a combination of robust tackling and Abbey infringements kept the score to 7-0. A penalty set up a Wycombe lineout on the ten metre line and a fantastic rolling maul took play into the twenty-two but as they edged nearer the line the maul was held up and from the scrum Abbey cleared their lines. Wycombe’s lineout was pinched by Abbey who carried the ball up to the halfway line but then a wayward pass fell to prop Rob Johnson who scooped up the ball and showed tremendous pace to outstrip the defense and score under the post. Jubilation turned into concern when a late tackle (which the referee decided to ignore) left Rob needing lengthy treatment; fortunately he was able to continue, with the kick made 7-7 after 25 minutes. The away side buoyed by the try were forcing Abbey into giving away penalties and at a scrum on the twenty-two Wycombe were awarded a free kick which they took quickly. The forwards carried the ball well and set up a ruck close to the line, the ball was spun out to the backs where winger Harry Tanner was stopped just short of the line but some good support from Charlie Edwards enabled him to pick up the ball and dive over the line to score, kick missed 7-12. With no further score Wycombe went into half time with a five-point lead after a fantastic first half performance.
Wycombe needed a solid start to the second half, but it was Abbey who came out the strongest and from a scrum they worked a slick move down the blindside which allowed their number 13 to score, kick good 14-12. Abbey continued to press and pinned Wycombe deep into their own twenty-two, some good defence held Abbey up over the line, but the referee deemed Wycombe had done this illegally and they were reduced to 14 men. At the scrum the Abbey number eight picked up from the base and scored in the corner 19-12. Both teams seemed to be tiring but it was Wycombe who were dropping off tackles and this allowed Abbey to add a further two tries one from their backs and then straight from the kick off a number of missed tackles allowed a long range try to take the score out to 29-12. Wycombe regained their composure and some excellent offloading from forwards and backs took them within five metres of the line, but a forward pass stopped the move going any further and enabled Abbey to clear. Wycombe continued to play attractive rugby and a great strip from Kieran presented them with the ball just inside their own half. The ball was passed to Rob Johnson who made another great break; he offloaded to Eddie Roche who was striding into the Abbey twenty-two, another excellent offload to Henry Wyse saw Wycombe close in on the line. The ball found its way out wide to full back Andy Easton who cut back inside to score another incredible team try under the post, kick made 29-19. With ten minutes to go Wycombe were now pressing for their fourth try and a bonus point but couldn’t make an impression on the home team’s line. In the dying minutes Abbey were awarded a penalty and instead of going for the corner decided to run the clock down and take the three points 32-19. A few minutes later the whistle sounded for full time.Although a defeat an extremely positive performance, after being under pressure for the first 15 minutes to being leading at half time is testament to the player’s character. Ultimately the start of the second half was when the game was lost but once again Wycombe hit back with another excellent team try and shows that the offloading game that is being worked on in training is being transferred into a match.
Well done to all of the players in what was a committed performance. A particular mention to Charlie Edwards and Eddie Roche in the forwards who lead by example and to Joff Forber normally a flanker was playing in the centre and performed exceptionally well.
Next week a home match against Aylesbury
