Southern Counties North

Some superb defence from Slough late on in the match was enough to give them their first League win of the season and leave Witney with no wins at home. Witney had a poor first half and even though they had plenty of opportunities to get points on the board they only had one successful penalty out of half a dozen attempts. In the meantime Slough went over for two tries and this resulted in them holding a 3-12 interval lead which soon became 3-17 as they scored right after the break. Two sin bins from Slough gave Witney the chance to claw themselves back into the match and this they did with tries from Phil Gouldie and James Monks and a conversion and penalty from Ed Mitchem – who had taken over the kicking duties from the out of sorts Henry Lamb. Slough got a penalty to regain the lead but with time running out Witney threw everything at the visitors but their defence was excellent and they held on for a fine away win.
The first half was an odd affair with Witney enjoying the territory and possession but they were all a bit lethargic and there was no real zip to their play. Wayne Caffekey (left) had some strong runs but they never really put together any really threatening phases. That said, they did have the territorial advantage and despite an earlier miss, Henry Lamb gave the home side the advantage after 15 minutes. This kickstarted the Slough team into action and they found themselves camped on the Witney line. Witney twice held the visitors up over the line but it was third time lucky as their fly half darted over despite a good tackle from Phil Gouldie. The lineouts were going well for Witney with Simon Chatterton, Jez Hicks and Wayne Caffekey all taking good ball from some accurate throwing from young Sam Collins, so possession was good but chances were not really being created. Alan Richens almost scored but was driven back at the last minute and Carl Strutt should probably have backed himself in a sprint out wide but no scores came.
It was the next 15 minutes that probably decided Witneys fate as they missed 4 penalty chances of varying degrees of diffculty and Slough started growing in confidence as a result. They created an overlap for their pacey right winger and he showed excellent finishing skills to score under the posts. The successful conversion made it 3-12 to the good for the visitors and they sensed an away scalp was theirs for the taking. It almost looked inevitable when their forwards trundled over just after halftime after Witney made a hash of receiving the kick off.
Slough had been testing the referees patience with persistent offences and after instructing them a final warning just before halftime, their second row was a touch unlucky when he failed to roll away in the tackle and had to spend the next 10 minutes off the pitch. Slough then did themselves no favours when their scrum half took Henry Lamb out after his chip over the top and he two was given a ten minute sabbatical!
Quite often having a player or two advantage is not capitalised on but thankfully Jez Hicks’s team did make it count in their favour this time round. The forwards set up good field position and Sam Collins sniped round the side to touch down, Ed Mitchem (right) added the extras to give the home side a lifeline. Slough were under the cosh but Witney knew they needed another score but it looked unlikely until a Slough kick to touch was missed. A quick throw in saw the ball spun out wide and James Monks took it at on at pace. He found the space and broke through a couple of tackles before taking another defender over the line, Mitchem adding the two points and levelling the scores.
At this point, the visitors needed to dig deep but they showed great determination and as well as having some strong defence also passed the ball around pretty well. Witney started to up their game too with Henry Lambs great break gaining 20 metres before brother James powered on for another 30 metres but support was too slow in getting to the tackle area and the chance was gone. Louie Collins had one great break on the outside but two Slough players somehow managed to get across and bundle him into touch.
Slough kicked a penalty to give them the initiative again but the last 5 minutes was all Witney as they gave their all to give the home supporters something to cheer. Carl Strutt almost got over as did James Monks and a tap tackle felled Phil Gouldie when he had made a half break and had clear space in front of him. In the end the final whistle went and the visitors were jubilant with their first League points of the season.
1st XV
Mitchem, Collins(L), Lamb(J), Strutt, Monks, Lamb(H), Gouldie: Dore, Collins(S), Serle, Chatterton, Richens, Copperwheat(M), Caffekey, *Hicks(J)
Repl : Ashford, Rowland(J)(Chatterton 10 & 25 blood), Tustin(L.Collins-60)
VIEW FROM THE TOUCHLINE
Ouch! – another home defeat and a pretty odd match. Witney could have established a convincing lead had those first half kicks gone over but fair play to Slough I thought they played some good stuff and showed good character not to let the game slip when Witney levelled the scores. Those tackles that went in on Witney in the last ten minutes of the match must have please their coaches too. The second half was much better for Jez and the boys and they hopefully will learn that level of passion and commitment is needed from the opening whistle and not from 14 points down. The lineouts went well, the backs ran some good lines and the discipline was excellent but they have to believe in their own abilities and sometimes back themselves – and probably some work still to do on fitness too.

Berks, Bucks & Oxon Prem "A"

Witney 2nds made it three on the bounce in the league, putting them joint top of Berks, Bucks & Oxon Premier A.  This was a gritty performance with tries coming from Owen Fowler (2) and Will Worrell. For the second week on the trot, we had to come from behind to take victory and in truth the visitors lived off our first half mistakes, capitalizing on some poor defense and sloppy errors for their points. When we did put some good phases together and applied pressure on the Winsor pack, we looked the better side and this resulted in a couple of short range push over tries for the fit again Fowler, one of these was converted.  A few times we did manage to break the gain line, but passes failed to go to hand and those moments were lost, which kept the sides evenly matched through the half.
As the game went on the pack began to become more dominant, lineout and scrum were now solid after an intermittent start. Youngster Ben ‘shorts’ Quayle (left) enjoyed another fine game at scrum half, as he barked and controlled his pack well. Those experienced flankers Tim Muller and Will Worrell both enjoyed fine returns to action, with the latter picking up a try in the corner after a catch and drive from our lineout. Fresh legs were introduced in the last twenty minutes with Richard Haire, Toby Perry and Chris Murray all adding to the Witney win. The Murray "monster" in particular dazzled the Windsor back line with one or two of those gliding slow motion runs of his, (those old swaying hips are still very deceiving). After the hour point the spirited visitors finally began to tire, allowing Witney to take full control, which resulted in two penalties for in form flyhalf George Bibby (right). These shots at goal took the game out of Windsor’s grasp and shortly afterwards the final whistle blew and our good start to the season continued.
2nd XV
D. Godfrey, B. Groberlar, M. Fuller, S. Copperwheat, O. Fowler, W. Worrell, T. Muller, C. Bennett : B. Quayle, G. Bibby, R. Mills, M. Dunbar, M. Hood, R. Gurney, D. Moriarty
Repl: R. Haire (Bennett), T. Perry (Copperwheat), C. Murray (Gurney)
Trys: Owen Fowler x 2, Will Worrell, Simon Copperwheat 1 x Con, George Bibby 2 x Penalties.

Aylesbury 2nds 18 - 31 Witney 3rds

Friendly

For the second week in a row Witney 2nds produced another astonishing display of rugby! When Robbie Mills took a quick tap and darted over, catching the Bracknell defense with their pants down, it completed a remarkable come back. On the side lines it was all smiles on the faces of Merriman and Godfrey, however this had not been the case an hour earlier, as we found ourselves 19 points down AND had we not picked up out game we could have been on the end of a real spanking!
From a George Bibby restart (his third in 10 minutes) we finally claim possession, which allowed us to launch our first real attack of the afternoon. Gradually we worked through the phases and brought ourselves back into the game. Dave Moriarty (left) was proving once again what an attacking force he can be, as a number of times he broke through tackles when returning loose kicks from the Bracknell back line. Our front five of Danny Godfrey, Brad Grobalar, Mark Fuller, Simon Copperwheat and Toby Perry were beginning to apply pressure on the opposing heavy weight pack. Also Charlie Bennett was jumping well at four and winning us some excellent ball in the lineout. After this sustained pressure the home team conceded a penalty, which was converted by "Copper". Straight from the restart we headed back into the Bracknell half, playing a quick ruck game and off loading in the tackle, which now seemed to be working well. From one of these off loads, Mo Dewey received the ball and the solid South African showed an excellent turn of pace to power over three tacklers and score, (very reminiscent of former South African winger Chester Williams). With the try converted, half time came and the chance of a well earned water break!! Well it was hot.
We began the second half as we had ended the first, pressuring the home team and making crucial first up tackles. With captain "Fish" away on yet another all expenses paid jolly, the new centre pairing of Matt Hood and Robbie Mills were setting a fine example in midfield. We began to feel the tide was turning our way, when inside 15 minutes we had kicked another penalty and Matt Hood had crashed over, taking two men with him, for an excellent first try in the blue and black of Witney. We also had the referee on our side as the penalties and free kicks started to come. We continued to play some excellent phases in attack and everything Bracknell tried was thwarted, even our glamorous physio Laura played her part, as she was bowled over when one of their players was hammered into touch. The introduction of backrow specialists Rory Cookson (right)and Joe Rowles brought fresh legs and in Joe's case a fresh knee. This also gave us more enthusiasm and attacking options, as the latter was playing his first game in nearly two years,( it was like you were never away Joe)! Also on a number of times Rory broke through their defense, showing again what a threat he can be. As I mentioned earlier, when Robbie Mills dived over for his try, the come back was almost complete. However a slight drop in concentration then allowed Bracknell in for an unconverted try, leading to a few more uncomfortable minutes, but finally the whistle blew for full time. Sadly there was no celebration, as half the team were unsure of the final score, despite the ref telling them the result and there was still more debate in the changing room afterwards!
There was no "Kevin the chicken" awarded this week, due to the superb performances by everyone involved in the comeback.
2nd XV
D. Godfrey, B. Grobalar, M. Fuller, S. Copperwheat, T. Perry, C. Bennett, M. Dewey, T. Davies: B. Quayle, G. Bibby, J. Taafe, R. Mills, M. Hood, R. Gurney, D. Moriarty
Repl: R. Cookson (Davies), J. Rowles (Dewey)

Banbury 3rds 42 - 12 Witney 4ths