Trys: Jack D- 1, Martin - 2, Alex -, Jack M - 1
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| Congratulations to all the boys for a great victory against Tadley on Sunday in the second league fixture
of the season. Let’s hope we can build on this form in the remaining fixtures, particularly the league matches where
we know we have some very tough opposition ahead of us. |
| The game was evenly contested from the beginning, with both teams getting some possession, but Reading
dominating in the line-out. Reading scored the first try following a strong run by Mike, who then offloaded nicely to Jack
D for the score. A second Reading try followed shortly afterwards after Tom D had run the ball strongly out of defence,
and quick passing down the backs led to space on the outside for Martin to run the ball in the corner. At this stage
Reading were 10 – 0 ahead, and starting to dominate upfront, with strong rucking and driving in the forwards, particularly
from Ketan and Jamie. |
| However, Tadley showed strong spirit, and soon pulled back a try and conversion to make the score 10 – 7,
with Reading guilty of kicking away possession and missing some tackles. Reading then attacked again through the backs,
but strong defending from Tadley put Martin into touch in the corner. Reading started to dominate in the forwards, and
Mike attacked the line after picking up from the scrum, but was likewise denied a try in the corner by good defending from
Tadley. |
| We reached half time with the score-line remaining at 10 – 7 to Reading, and the boys all knew that this match
was not going to be as easy as the matches against Tadley had been last season. Following the usual half time team talk
from Cookie, some replacements were brought on (Sam, Alex and Johnnie) and it was back into battle. |
| Tadley started the second half strongly and were soon attacking in our half. Tom D managed to clear our lines
with a good clearance kick, and the forwards and backs worked well together to run the ball out of defence. However,
Tadley continued to attack and soon scored their second try with good driving from the scrum. The score was now 14 – 10
to Tadley and Reading were under pressure. Tadley repeatedly put up some long high kicks, but these were well dealt with
by Tom E at full back. |
| Adam then made a superb break out of defence, running the ball well into the Tadley half, and from the ensuing
ruck Tadley conceded a penalty for playing the ball on the ground. Reading took a quick tap, and quick passing through the
backs allowed Martin to use his pace to score his second try in the corner, and restore Reading with a narrow lead
15 – 14. From this point onwards Reading really began to string the phases of play together, with the forwards dominating
in the loose, and offloading well out of the tackles. Adam made another great run from the base of the scrum, and Reading
had quick ball from the ruck for Mike to break through the middle. Good support play from Alex meant he was on Mike’s
shoulder at the crucial time to receive a good offload from Mike, for Reading’s 4th try. Tom D slotted an excellent
conversion from a wide angle to put Reading 22 – 14 in front, and allow some of us on the touchline to start to breathe
a bit more easily. |
| For the last 15 minutes of the game it was all Reading, with Alex getting his second try following great work
from a drive by Charlie and support from a number of our forwards, who drove him over for Reading’s 5th try of the day.
This was shortly followed by another great Reading try, where Josh made a good break to the blind side, and timed the
perfect pass in front of Jack M, allowing him to take the ball at pace and show good strength to run in Reading’s 6th
and final try. |
| The final score was 32 – 14 to Reading, following an excellent second half performance, where the whole team
lifted their game and dominated most aspects of the play. Ketan was given the man of the match award for his all-round
good game, but particularly his outstanding driving forward in the loose. It ‘s great to see him back in a green jersey! |
| This was however a great team performance, with all of the boys giving it a 100%, and they can be justly
proud of their efforts. Well done to all of you for a most enjoyable game, and also many thanks to Josh Norris and
Josh Starkes, who were an important part of the squad, but unfortunately did not get to play this time.
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