| Reading Colts - Sunday 2nd September 2007 Reading Colts took on two teams today as they opened the new season at Holme Park |
| Reading 10 Vs Wallingford 29 |
| The first game was a match for our development side against Wallingford. Unfortunately Wallingford didn’t realise this and turned up with their main side. Fortunately they were good sports and agreed to play a development game of four 20mins. |
| The game was very evenly balanced with some spirited play from both sides. Reading lacked some stature but made up in aggression and determination. Despite this the tackling was a little under par and this allowed Wallingford to edge ahead as they broke through to score tries. There were one or two notable exceptions, particularly Joe Prince who clattered in to some crunching encounters. Although they had the edge, Wallingford never managed to scamper away and a number of tries were held up by a gutsy defence. |
| What was very apparent was that the development side kept it’s discipline and took advantage of repeated minor infringements by Wallingford. By doing so the maintained territory and pressure that ultimately kept them in the game. |
| This was an excellent start to the season and a good way to begin to cement the good work done over the summer to unify the two age groups and produce one Colts Squad. Indeed a number of the players actually played in both games. |
| Development Squad | ||
| 1 Tim Hannah 2 Jon Riach 3 Josh Nicol (Capt) 4 Kennedy Nettey 5 Dan Edwards 6 Tom Kitteridge 7 Joe Lester 8 Rob Douglas 9 Will Stockdale 10 Will Cocks 11 Seb D'Cruz 12 Jamie Amos 13 Ed Jeffrey 14 Joe Prince 15 Gareth Redding |
Subs Will Wood Ben Mitchell Adam Milne-Smith |
Tries Seb D' Cruz Will Cocks |
| Reading 27 Vs Windsor 14 |
| Reading Colts opened their campaign with a friendly game against Windsor. Some Colts players had already taken to the field in support of the development team. Numbers were also depleted by some injuries which most notably included Josh Nicol who appears to have broken his nose. ( Late information suggests that he is OK and looking forward to some plastic surgery!). |
| A new season in Colts always brings the unknown as squads shift about and different age groups merge. This game was no exception and it was all of 3mins before Reading realised that this game was theirs. Powerful rucking and mauling shredded the Windsor pack who were immediately put on the back foot. Speed, support, tackling and driving through all emerged in abundance. It wasn’t long before the score began to tick over as 4 tries were scored in the first half to no answer. |
| The second half was much more hit and miss and some of the energy present earlier seemed to evaporate. This allowed Windsor to come back into the game when indeed they should have been contained. Reading ill discipline gave away possession and ultimately points. A yellow card to Rob Cunningham sobered everyone but perhaps too late. In fairness some players must have been tired from a lot of game time. In any event the old spirit re-emerged and control was re-gained but not before Windsor were able to score twice. |
| Relative of the Match | Some of you may be new to this award but it one given usually arbitrarily by me to the parent of someone who has often played well. Sometimes it is given to a parent because of their obvious pride even if little Johnny hasn’t played well. Sometimes it is just because I feel like doing so! This week’s award is very difficult; two games, mixed teams, a number of fine performances. I have considered:- |
| Myself as the proud father of Reading Colts new captain, Callum. Paul Choules for a dominant performance by son Alex. Tim Cocks for a consummate performance by son Will Rod Wontner-Smith for some excellent play by son Ben and Jon Riach’ parents for some excellent scrummaging. |
| But as you all know this award is in my gift and today it goes to Toni-Anne Fairhurst for her son’s performance at flanker. Liam was a disruptive and dominant feature around the park and an essential part of much of the play. Well done Toni-Anne! |
| Colts Squad | ||
| 1 Alex Choules 2 Phil Pryor 3 Tim Hannah 4 David Watson 5 Rob Cunningham 6 Richard Prince 7 Liam Fairhurst 8 Callum Healey 9 Ben Wontner-Smith 10 Lee Hempton 11 Peter C2Z 12 Rob Maddison 13 Gareth Redding 14 Ben Needham 15 Jamie Belam |
Subs Seb D’Cruz Jo Lester Kennedy Nettey Will Cocks |
Tries
Ben Wontner-Smith 2 Alex Choules 1 Richard Prince 1 Tim Hannah 1 Conversion Gareth Redding |
| Best Wishes Matt Healey |