Sat 10 Mar 2018
After three victories in a row, High Wycombe welcomed second placed Buckingham to Kingsmead hoping to keep their impressive run going. Wycombe were forced to make several changes to the team that beat Reading Abbey and then lost Joff Forber in the warm up meaning a reshuffle in the backline.
The game started with both sides on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle and from a Wycombe infringement Buckingham kicked to touch to set up a lineout just short of the line. The home team initially did well, sacked the maul forcing Buckingham to use their backs but after a couple of phases and some good continuity their fly half saw a gap in the defence dummied and scored, with the kick good 0-7. From the kick-off the home team upped the tempo and a fantastic kick from Joe Openshaw took play into the opposition twenty-two. Buckingham were then penalised twice in quick succession, with Wycombe five metres from the line they decided to tap the penalty and although they put together at least nine phases Buckingham defended stoutly and cleared their lines. Wycombe continued to press and from an overthrown lineout James Porter made a break and carried the ball up to the ten-metre line, he then offloaded to Osin Lewis and then to Harry Tanner and Wycombe found themselves in the opposition twenty-two. From the ruck prop Henry Wyse made a great break but was just held up over the line. From the scrum which was solid all afternoon Wycombe went through the phases, the ball then found its way out to Joe Openshaw who offloaded back inside to Stephen Philpot who went over to score, with the kick missed 5-7. Buckingham hit back immediately, from a couple of wayward kicks the opposition flyhalf gathered the ball on the ten-metre line, seeing the defence closing him down he put in a neat chip which he was able to regather. Initially the home team did excellently to scramble back and stop him just short of the line but with no time to reorganise Buckingham had the numbers to score, with the kick made 5-14 and it stayed this way until half time.
The second half started with Wycombe competing well and they were assisted by Buckingham’s ill-discipline. Then an opportunist interception by Harry Tanner took play into the opposition twenty-two, Buckingham were once again penalised and their number 7 received a yellow card. Wycombe kicked to touch, and an excellent lineout move just short of the line saw James Porter shift the ball to Aryton Hooker who powered over, with Joe making the kick 12-14. Wycombe continued to press and with Buckingham continuing to concede penalties they were fortunate not to receive another yellow card, but Wycombe couldn’t turn their possession into points. At a lineout inside the Wycombe twenty-out a slightly under thrown ball fell fortuitously to a Buckingham player who went over to score with the kick made 12-21. Buckingham were now on top and from a penalty took a quick tap, with an overlap on the right-hand side they looked to exploit space but a great tackle from Sibu Zulu stopped a certain try. Buckingham were able obtain quick ball and spun the ball out to the left where they had the numbers to score in the corner 12-26. This soon became 12-29 when a drop goal attempt went over. Wycombe continued to battle hard and thought they had scored under the posts, but the referee penalised the home team for crossing. Not to be deterred, from a lineout Wycombe secured the ball and then some good hands in midfield put Sibu Zulu away and he had the pace to score in the corner 17-26. With minutes left Wycombe were looking for the bonus point and from the kick off they took the ball into the twenty-two with some excellent offloading unfortunately the attack was halted by a knock-on and the referee’s whistle sounded for full time.
Man of the Match – Harry Evans
fantastic in the loose and an excellent all-round performance in just his second game, well done.
