High Wycombe Rugby Club

On a damp afternoon fellow Bucks side Aylesbury were the visitors to Kingsmead where Wycombe were hoping to build upon their encouraging performance against Reading Abbey. The conditions were going to make running rugby difficult with Wycombe often choosing to kick for territory. From a long-range boot Aylesbury ran the ball back and built phases but in the act of scoring knocked the ball on and Wycombe were able to clear their lines. Aylesbury were dominating territory and it wasn’t long before Wycombe were penalised at a ruck in front of their post and the Aylesbury ten took the three points on offer 0-3. It was now the home teams turn to exert some pressure when a sliced clearance presented a lineout on the Aylesbury ten metre line. With the lineout secured the ball was fed out to the backline where prop Aryton Hooker burst through a tackle and carried the ball deep into the twenty-two. Aylesbury slowed the ball down illegally and the home side were awarded a penalty in front of the post, a quick tap took the defense by surprise and a strong carry by Charlie Edwards took play just short of the line. The ball was recycled quickly and fly half Matt Wardle went through a gap in the defense to score, Joe Openshaw made the kick 7-3. With the help of the referee’s whistle Aylesbury hit back and set up a lineout just short of the Wycombe line but some great defense by the forwards ensured the rolling maul came to nothing. With a greasy ball both teams were struggling for continuity and the game was a stop start affair with a lot of scrums. Close to the end of the half an Aylesbury lineout on the Wycombe twenty-two presented their backs with the ball and a well worked move saw them score in the corner, their ten who kicked well all afternoon made the conversion 7-10. This seemed to re-ignite the home team and from a penalty and a fine kick to touch Wycombe found themselves in a good position. From the lineout Aryton Hooker carried the ball into the twenty-two and offloaded to the supporting Harry Tanner but Wycombe lost the ball in contact. Seeing an overlap Aylesbury decided to put in a cross field kick close to their own line which was well gathered by winger Osian who distributed the ball out to Henry but he was stopped short of the line and Wycombe couldn’t make anything of their field position. With no further meaningful action the score remained 7-10 at half time.

Wycombe started the second half well and were awarded a couple of penalties but a combination of good Aylesbury defense and unforced errors at the lineout meant the home team couldn’t capitalise. It was now Wycombe’s turn to be at the wrong end of the referee’s whistle which presented Aylesbury with good field position, and Wycombe were once again penalised for not rolling away. At this point the referee appeared to stop the game and put his hand in his pocket seemingly to give a Wycombe player a yellow card but behind his back Aylesbury took a quick tap, play was allowed to continue, and a try was scored in the corner and no yellow card was given 7-17. This seemed to deflate the home team and a few minutes later another try was conceded when Wycombe lost possession close to their own line and Aylesbury made them pay, 7-24. For the last 15 minutes Wycombe never really threatened the Aylesbury line and the game finished 7-24.

Overall a frustrating game and another game that at half time we were leading or well in contention, but a combination of not taking our chances and running out of steam meant no points from the game.