HRFU

15th September 2012   Newbury 2  Away    Merit Table   W 49 - 46

A warm sunny day with a gentle breeze greeted the team as we arrived at Newbury RFC for what was going to be an interesting afternoon of Rugby!

Trojans won the toss and elected to receive the kick-off and were to concede an early penalty for offside which the Newbury kicker slotted from just outside the 22 for a 3-0 lead after 3 mins. From the resulting Kick Off, Newbury turned over the ball to Trojans rampant pack and after five phases of play in the tight, Dylan Sanders crashed over out wide on the left wing for the first try of the day after 5 minutes. 5-3 to Trojans. Trojans extended their lead after 12 minutes with Will Purkiss kicking a penalty from in front of the posts after the Newbury centre being pinged for offside in from of the sticks from the 22. 8-3 to Trojans.

Newbury scored their first try of the game in the 16th minute when their inside centre picked a great line and cut inside to score out on our left wing. 8-8 Draw. After total domination in the scrum, the game took a twist when Dave O’Callahan ‘broke his opposite number’ and as Newbury had no front row replacement available the game was to be finished with uncontested scrums even though only a quarter of the match had been played. The first uncontested scrum led to Trojans again scoring out wide after a strong run from an No 8 pickup blind, who offloaded to Dave Kilcoyne to fishing, scoring his second try of the season on the 19 minute mark. 13-8 Trojans.

10 minutes later, Dan Corbett (Bear to his buddies!) finished with a good try under the posts from 10 metres after a period of forward dominance where the Trojans pack really rucked and mauled well. Converted by Will Purkiss. 20-8 Trojans. WIll Purkiss scored a well worked try at 33 minutes after a strong run from Dan Corbett who ran half the length of the pitch before being stopped by the Newbury full-back. 25-8 Trojans. The ref blew for half time and gave Newbury the opportunity to regroup.

A change of tactic by the Newbury team resembling “7’s” style Rugby with 15 players on the pitch was effective and led to them scoring the first try of the second half after taking a quick penalty on the half way line on the 45 minute mark before Trojans could get organised defensively with their outside centre finishing from the our 22 which was converted. 25-15 Trojans. Trojans were to score the next try on 53 minutes with Dylan Sanders once again crashing over from close range after a stable base to attack was provided by the Trojans pack. Converted by George Thorpy. 32-15 Trojans. Newbury were really positive in the open play and once again scored a converted try  on  57 minutes to bring the game back to within 10 points, once again benefiting from quick ball generated in the middle of the park. 32-22. When Will Purkiss scored his 2nd try of the game on the 60 minute mark for a 37-22 lead, you would have thought that the game was effectively over and Trojans would be leaving with all the points but fair play to Newbury, they had other ideas as the next 8 minutes was to prove.

Rather than closing the game out and playing controlled Rugby, Trojans hit the ‘self-destruct’ button and were to concede 17 points, consisting of 2 converted tries and a penalty. Newbury really took the game to Trojans, running everything that was available, forcing errors and poor decision making. To be honest, they could have and should have scored another try under the posts but the ball was spilled. Newbury has now taken the lead in the game and with the momentum were looking that they would go on win the game at this stage. 37-39 Newbury. A massive and deciding moment in the game came in the 72nd minute when the Newbury No7 was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle, meaning his team would finish with only 14 players. This seemed to take the sting out of the Newbury team who had been dominating the play, but had now Trojans back into the game. From the resulting penalty the ball found its way Will Purkiss on the Newbury 22 who made a strong run, cutting back towards the left wing and finishing to put Trojans noses back in front. 42-39 Trojans.

An excellent rolling maul started by Trojans on their own 22 moved all the way up the pitch and would gone all the way had Newbury not dropped it illegally on their own 22. WIth 3 minutes left in the game, Trojans elected to take the scrum rather than a shot at the posts and were rewarded by their 8 try of the match when Dylan Sanders completed his ‘hat trick’ of tries, handing at least 3 Newbury players before scoring in his man of the match performance before he departs to University in Newcastle. Converted by George Thorpy. 49-39 Trojans

With the referee looking at his watch, Newbury scored their 7th Try of the game under the posts, which was converted for a final match score of 49-46 to TROJANS.

Trojans picked up their first win of the season but much credit must be given to our hosts at Newbury who really did give it a real ‘go’ and could have quite easily snatched the game away from Trojans with some excellent running Rugby in the second half of the game. Next week, our visitors are Oxford who I am sure will not be making the long trip down the A34 with the intention of not returning with the 3 points on offer. As long as we continue to play, train and develop as a squad, learn by our mistakes, stick to our game plans and provide squad depth to support the 1st XV in their campaign in London Division 1 South I am sure we are going to have a great season!.....

Man Of The Match - Dylan Sanders

Tries  Dylan Sanders x 3   Will Purkiss x 3   Dave Kilcoyne x 1  Dan Corbett x 1

Conversions  George Thorpy x 2   Will Purkiss x 1 

Penalties  Will Purkiss x 1 

1st September 2012   Millbrook 1  Away    Friendly   L 7 - 47

A tough first fixture of the season was awaiting for the second team as we made the short trip down the M27 to Millbrook RFC, a team that had finished 3rd in Hampshire Division 1, narrowly missing out on promotion to the London Leagues last season.

As agreed, the game would be played in a traditional training game format of 4 x 20 minute to allow both teams the opportunity to experiment with players in different positions and make sure all players in both squads played as much Rugby as possible.

1st Quarter = 21 - 0

Millbrook really took control for the first 20 minutes and took the game to us right from the kick-off and not allowing Trojans to settle scoring their first try on the left wing after some good play in the centre of the park at about the 5 minute mark. As the quarter was drawing to an end, Millbrook scored their second try from a line out in our 22 which they secured at the front and drove to our 5 metres before setting up a back row to crash over from short range. Try number 3 was scored under the posts after missed tackles in the middle of the pitch and was the last action of the quarter. All tries were converted.

2nd Quarter = 21 - 7

Trojans regrouped and then produced their best quarter of the game and looked dangerous in open play whenever good ball was secured. Our try was scored by James Pennington on the left wing following an excellent kick and chase by Elliott Culley expertly converted by Bobby Owen from the touch line. Millbrook were lucky that on a couple of occasions the Trojans final pass did not "stick in hand" or we could have easily had another couple of tries before the Referee blew for the half-way stage of the match.

In a league match, I would of hoped that we would have elected to "have a go at the sticks" with a couple of very kick able penalties but decided to run instead.
 

3rd Quarter = 35 - 7

Millbrook once again 'tighten up' and ensured the Trojans backs only had slow ball to work with after we had really take the game to them in the 2nd quarter. They used their very good inside centre who was constant threat all day, to punch holes in our defence with great effect who was supported well by a well drilled forwards pack ensuring their backs had good quality ball to play with led to a further 2 converted tries. Trojans kept "plugging away" but unfortunately did not score any points and Injuries and fatigue were really beginning to set in.

4th Quarter = 47 - 7

Very similar to the third quarter with a lot of spirit and hard graft but again no points as a reward. Millbrook scored 2 more tries with one converted making the final score 47 - 7 to Millbrook.

Men of the Match

Millbrook - Inside Centre   Trojans - Gary Payne

We always knew this was going to be a testing fixture for 2's and acted as a good bench mark for the level of Rugby this squad MUST be playing at this season in order to add depth to the squad that is required for playing for the 1st Team in London Division 1 South.
 

Although very disappointed by the score line, we must not loose sight the majority of the Millbrook team have been playing together along time, including rugby league through the summer and had a simple but very effective game plan. They were the best team on the park and deserved to win the match.
 

But that is no excuse and hopefully has served as the wake up call that we all needed.
 

Now the game is over we must regroup, get to training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, learn from our mistakes and keep working together and build as a unit ready for our first league game on Saturday 15th September away to Newbury, a game I know we are capable of winning if we really want too!......
 

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This page last updated:  14 January, 2013