Amersham & CHiltern 1st XV 38 - 19 Newbury Blues
AMERSHAM & CHILTERN BOUNCE BACK IN STYLE WITH A 38 – 19 BONUS POINT VICTORY OVER NEWBURY BLUES
After their heavy defeat at the hands of Bournemouth last week and no win to date, Amersham & Chiltern needed to prove that they can compete at this level and succeeded with a well deserved, six try, bonus point win over Newbury Blues at Weedon Lane last Saturday. Strengthened by the return of two of the key players from last season, flanker Wayne Wilson and tight head prop, Jaques Naude, Chiltern dominated in the forwards for long periods, with the scrums, especially, providing good quick possession that enabled the backs to show what they are capable of.
The game kicked off and Chiltern immediately camped in the visitor’s half. However, it was Newbury who scored first after only 7 minutes, when a break by their mercurial scrum half was well supported and, completely against the run of play, they scored a try, which was converted, to give them a 7 – 0 lead. Such was Chiltern’s dominance in the set piece, however, that there was no sense of panic and, following a ten minute period of sustained pressure, the home side won a lineout on the visitor’s ten metre line. The ball was moved quickly right and a short pass found second row, Cameron Gentles, angling his run smoothly to score under the posts, converted by Dan Kinsey, levelling the score at 7 – 7. Five minutes later, Chiltern annihilated the Newbury scrum near their own line and scrum half, Dwayne Polataivao, nipped in for a well taken try, again converted by Kinsey, for a 14 – 7 lead. After around 30 minutes gone, a break in the centre by Craig Webb and quick hands found winger Jerry Rice outpacing the defence to score in the corner. Superbly converted by Kinsey, Chiltern extended their lead to 21 – 7. Then, with five minutes remaining in the half, great pressure by Chiltern’s forwards again won quick ball on the right of the pitch and swift handling saw the ball travel along the line for left winger, Pete Johnson, to score in the corner, this time unconverted, but for a half-time score of 26 – 10 to the home side.
Four minutes into the second half, a superb driving run by Wayne Wilson forced a scrum on the visitor’s 5 metre line. A driving scrum, a pick up by the No.8 and quick passing saw a try for centre, Craig Webb, once more converted, to increase the lead to 31 – 7. Then, after 48 minutes, a superb lineout take by Cameron Gentles led to an outstanding break and run by scrum half, Dwayne Polataivao, who found none other than Gentles on his inside for a scoring pass and Cameron’s second try. This was again converted by Kinsey and Chiltern were nearly home and dry at 38 – 7. At this juncture Chiltern seemed to go completely off the boil and allowed Newbury back into the game. Sloppy play led to a loose ball around half way which was hacked on by Newbury for a soft try, although unconverted, bringing the score back to 38 – 12. Then on 75 minutes, a poor clearance by the home side went straight to a Newbury player. With Chiltern already seemingly ‘resting on their laurels, Newbury ran the ball back at them hard and a quick ruck, saw their scrum half dive over for a try, this time converted, to bring the score back to 38 – 19. This was a wake-up call and Chiltern closed the game down so that, even with 9 minutes of injury time played, the final score remained 38 – 19.
This was a fine win for Amersham & Chiltern and the bonus point takes them to 10th place in the table, with four teams below them. With the 3rd team winning 99 – 0 at Gosford and the 4ths, 52 – 12 at home to Hatfield, it was a good day for the club.