Sat 18 Jan 2020, 14:00
High Wycombe RUFC 31 – 36 Witney RUFC
High Wycombe and Witney were involved in a pulsating game of rugby when the two sides met at Kingsmead. With Witney qualifying as the Oxford Champions and Wycombe the Bucks Champions this was played as a double header for league points and the semi final of the Intermediate Cup. In selection, with Ayrton injured and Chits back at University into the forwards came Sean Tolhurst and Jamie Vowles and with Tom Bosley fit again he replaced Alex Barnard. Unfortunately, just before the kick-off the home team suffered a big blow when Lewey Newton tweaked his hamstring. This meant Mitch Green had to come off the bench to start on the wing and because it was so close to kick off Wycombe couldn’t call on a replacement and had to play the game with 17 players and no backs replacement.
The action started from the first whistle, Witney gathered the kick-off and put up a high hanging kick which was knocked back by the Witney second row. This bounced into the shins of another player in blue and fell at the feet of Jake Banton. He hacked the ball forward over the try line and won the foot race to score, with the kick missed 5-0. It got better for the home team, with Joff Forber taking the kick-off Wycombe kept the ball using both forwards and backs. Captain Tom Boardman made a break up to the halfway line and with quick ball Matt Wardle spotted a small gap and offloaded to Ollie Fennell-Wells to put him away. With the defence scrambling back he spotted Joff Forber on his inside and a well timed pass put Joff one on one with the full back who he side-stepped to score under the posts, Billy Bickford made the kick 12-0. More excellent continuity put Wycombe on the front foot and Witney were forced into conceding several penalties. From one of those Billy Bickford stepped up and took the three points, 15-0. Witney upped their game and hit back when an accurate kick forced Matt Wardle to field the ball close to the line and with his kick sliced gave the away team field position. With Witney winning the line out Wycombe defended well but the referee gave a penalty for offside. Witney opted for a scrum and pushed Wycombe over their own line to score, 15-5. Not to be deterred the home team continued to play a high tempo game and another break from Joff Forber put Wycombe in control Witney were forced into conceding another penalty for which their number eight received a yellow card and Billy Bickford stepped up to extend the lead to 18-5. A sliced kick from Witney which went out on the full gave the home team an attacking lineout, another penalty allowed Wycombe to tap and go quickly making inroads into the Witney twenty-two and a second penalty for coming into the side allowed Billy Bickford to take another three points 21-5. A precise kick from the Witney fly half pinned Wycombe deep into their twenty-two but an excellent clearing kick took play close to the halfway line. Imperious work at the lineout from Dan Kier stole the ball but the Wycombe backs were penalised for not being ten metres. Witney opted for a scrum but knocked on at the base, Wycombe gained possession from the scrum and again looked dangerous in the backs. Witney were once again penalised for playing the scrum half and their number ten received a yellow card, this allowed Billy Bickford to kick the three points 24-5. With only minutes until half time Wycombe received a yellow card of their own to Mike Fradgley for holding a player down off the ball. A further penalty for offside pushed Wycombe deep into their half defending a lineout. Although the lineout didn’t look straight the referee played on and Witney’s rolling maul went over the line to score 24-12.
HALF TIME 24-12
Wycombe were dealt a blow at the start of the second half when Jake Banton was yellow carded for a high tackle and Wycombe had to play for five minutes with 13 players. From the penalty a solid lineout was fed out to the backs where the Witney inside centre cut a great line to go over and score, 24-17. The rest of the yellow card period was survived but Wycombe received another blow when Liam Dudley was forced off the pitch with an injury. The game was restarted with a scrum and a fantastic backs move put Jake Banton away, he rounded the last defender to score a try under the posts 31-17. It was the home teams turn to be on the wrong side of the referee’s whistle and this set up a scrum five metres from the line. Once again Witney showed their power at the scrum to score a push over try 31-24. With twelve minutes to go Wycombe were dealt a pivotal blow when Ollie Fennell-Wells was injured in a ruck (we wish him a speedy recovery). As Wycombe had lost Lewey in the warm-up and Mitch Green and Liam Dudley already off the pitch injured the home team were forced to play the rest of the game with 14 players. An inaccurate line out gave Witney a scrum and with only six backs in defence Witney went out wide but good covering defence forced the winger into a speculative cross field kick. With no right winger to cover across and deal with the kick the ball bounced over the try line and Witney won the foot race to score 31-31. With their tails up Witney gathered the restart and put some good phases together to score in the corner, 31-36. A soaring restart was well taken by Billy Bickford just outside the twenty-two, Witney were penalised and when Wycombe tried to go quickly were stopped from doing so with the flanker receiving a yellow card. With two minutes to go the home were deep inside the opposition twenty-two but resolute defending saw out the rest of the game.
FULL TIME 31-36
Firstly, congratulations to Witney on their victory and good luck in the next round of the cup, you can see why they are unbeaten in the league. As for Wycombe this was an excellent performance from all seventeen players unfortunately the injuries mounted up and we couldn’t hang on in the end.
MoM – This was once again given to Jake Banton (3rd week in a row) by the opposition coach, but Wycombe’s coaches thought that Billy Bickford just pipped him. For someone so young he played with poise and control and his kicking was excellent.
Next Match – A rest week and then a trip to Aylesbury - 1st February
