By Matt Lewis

With fifteen players unavailable High Wycombe travelled with a weakened team (especially in the forwards) to Reading Abbey. This game took on a similar theme to the first encounter with Wycombe taking an early lead and Abbey hitting back in the second half to win the game.

The game started with Abbey on the front foot and as they did earlier in the season using their big forwards to carry through the middle. Wycombe were competing well, and a break from Anthony Farthing took play into the Abbey half. With space out wide the ball was put threw the hands of the back, but the final pass didn’t go to hand and the ball was knocked on. Abbey were penalised at the scrum and Joff Forber took the penalty quickly. A great line by Tom Boardman saw him go over under the posts to score, Freddie Roddick made the kick 0-7. Wycombe got on the scoresheet again when Abbey knocked on, this gave the away team a scrum on the ten metre line. A solid scrum was fed to the backs and some quick hands in midfield put fullback Toby Lane in behind the defence. He drew the last defender and fed the ball out to Greg Butters who ran down the touchline to score, kick missed 0-12. Abbey gathered the restart and with their big forwards were quickly camped on the Wycombe line. Solid defence forced Abbey to knock on over the line and Jake Banton kicked the ball clear. With the help of the wind the ball bounced into the Abbey twenty-two and a good Wycombe chase forced the home team into kicking. The ball was gathered on the halfway line by Jamie Vowles who carried powerfully into the Abbey half. The ball was recycled quickly, and Toby Lane found himself in space and went over to score, kick missed 0-17. Again, Wycombe couldn’t take the restart and invited pressure from the big Abbey forwards. After winning a scrum against the head, Abbey set up camp on the Wycombe line, but some heroic defending held the ball up over the line three times. Each time Abbey opted for a scrum and eventually the pressure told with the home team scoring at the base of the posts 7-17.

Half Time 7-17

The second half was a much more one sided affair with Wycombe seeing very little of the ball and being forced to defend for most of the half.  The first Abbey try came from a penalty for pulling the maul down. This was kicked to touch and set up a lineout on the five metre line. With the lineout won the Abbey forwards went over to score 14-17. Minutes later both teams were down to 14 men, Abbey for a late tackle and Nick Allso for his reaction. Abbey took the lead when Wycombe were penalised, and this set up a lineout on the halfway line. Some strong carries from the Abbey forwards put Wycombe on the back foot and a gap in the defence was exploited by the Abbey scrumhalf who went over to score 21-17. Abbey extended their lead further, when several strong carries from a scrum created space for their backs to score 28-17. More Abbey pressure resulted in Wycombe conceding two penalties, both times the points were taken 34-17. Not to be deterred Wycombe upped the tempo and two quick penalties (one of which resulted in an Abbey yellow card) put the away team on the front foot. Wycombe tapped the penalty again and a powerful run from Jake Banton took play up to the Abbey twenty-two. The ball was fed out to Freddie Roddick who went through a gap but was just hauled down metres from the line. With quick ball Captain Tom Boardman stretched out for his second try of the match, Freddie made the kick 34-24.

Full Time 34-24

Congratulations to Reading Abbey who deserved their victory, Wycombe will be pleased to come away with a point after Abbey dominated large periods of the game. Hopefully Wycombe will be able to field a more settled team next week against Slough.

Man of the Match

Jamie Vowles

An excellent performance from the young back row forward. In attack he carried hard and was always in support. In defence he tackled well often knocking bigger forwards back.