By Matt Lewis

Wycombe travelled to the picturesque ground of Stow on the Wold for their first away game of the season. After a solid victory last week, it was hoped the team would kick on and put in another strong performance. Unfortunately, due to unavailability there were several enforced changes particularly in the forwards.

What transpired was a very lacklustre performance from Wycombe in which they struggled to impose themselves on the game. It was Stow who troubled the scorers first when the away team were penalised for being offside. With the penalty in front of the posts the home team took the points 3-0. Wycombe were soon defending again when a Matt Wardle kick found its way into Stow hands and a neat kick over the top was well defused by Zibu Sulu. This gave Stow a five metre scrum, but Wycombe’s inexperienced front row scrummaged well forcing Stow to pick up at the base. Wycombe were once again penalised, and Stow took the easy kick at goal 6-0. Wycombe were finally able to get some possession and territory when Stow were penalised after a strong Joff Forber carry. Initially the move broke down when the ball was knocked on, but Stow’s clearance was sliced. An accurate lineout enabled the ball to be fed out to Laurence Webster who carried well through the middle. With Wycombe on the front foot Matt Wardle found a hole in the defence and ghosted through the gap he sidestepped the last defender to score, kick missed 6-5. Wycombe gathered the restart but lost the ball in contact and then were penalised again. Stow made a good touch and with the ball secured used their forwards to make inroads into the twenty two. Wycombe defended heroically making tackle after tackle and were unlucky not be awarded a penalty when Ollie Fennel-Wells seemed to have turned over the ball. Eventually the pressure told, and Wycombe were penalised, but the relatively easy kick was missed. Wycombe were soon defending their line again when they lost their own scrum and then were penalised for a high tackle. More excellent defence enabled Ollie Fennel-Wells to get over the ball and this time he was rewarded for his efforts as Stow were penalised for holding on. For all Stow’s pressure Wycombe’s defence looked solid and more good work turned over the ball and scrum half Lewis Davenport made a half break and passed the ball out to Matt Wardle. Some deft hands from the backs put Sibu Zulu into space in his own half. He showed great pace to outstrip his opposite number and then fast feet to leave two Stow defenders on the ground to score a fantastic solo try under the posts, Matt Wardle made the kick 6-12.

Half Time 6-12

The second half followed the same pattern as the first with Wycombe having to withstand Stow pressure and a penalty for offside allowed Stow to set up camp in the twenty two. Once more Wycombe defended manfully upfront and forced Stow to use their backs, with the ball going wide Matt Wardle shot out of the line and got his fingertips to the ball and somehow managed to hold onto it. He then realised with no defence at home he had the length of the pitch at his mercy and showed good pace to beat the covering defence to score in the corner 6-17. If the travelling Wycombe support thought this would change the nature of the game, they were wrong as immediately from the kick-off Wycombe were down to 14 men when Liam Dudley was yellow carded for hands in the ruck. This invited more pressure from Stow and after numerous phases of play the Stow winger broke the line and only a strong tackle from fullback Tom Bosley stopped him inches from the line. With the forwards supporting well Stow managed to pick up and score, kick missed 11-17. Wycombe knocked on the restart and from the resulting scrum Stow made a break, to make matters worse Wycombe were reduced to 13 men when Matt Wardle deliberately knocked on the ball. More pressure was repelled when a fantastic turnover enabled the away team to clear their lines. With Wycombe just back to 15 men, they were on the end of another yellow card this time to Ollie Fennel-Wells although even he wasn’t sure what the referee’s reason was for issuing it. Again, Wycombe held out with 14 men and had a knack of turning over the ball at crucial times. With Ollie’s yellow card seen off with no alarms Wycombe saw out the remaining few minutes to come away with a remarkable win.

This was a lacklustre performance and one Head Coach Ty Sterry was not happy with. As they say a win is a win and good teams find a way of winning when they don’t play well. On the positive side the team defended manfully with some players making 20+ tackles and played most of the second half with 14 players. Hopefully next week with more players available Wycombe will put in a better performance.

Next week we entertain unbeaten Wallingford.

Man of the Match

Lewis Davenport

&

Ollie Wells

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