We entertained Wheatley last Sunday who unfortunately turned up with only four players! With the help of some of our squad they were able to get a side together so we could have some competitive games. Thanks to all those who volunteered to play for the opposition. 

We fielded three mixed ability teams and each team had a chance to play against Wheatley. 

Our first team up got off to a slow start and despite putting in a much better second half performance, was beaten by the visitors. 

Our next team to play Wheatley faired a lot better. The team put in a very good performance showing some good handling skills and some great support play which earned them a well deserved victory. 

The final game against Wheatley was the closest game of the morning with Abingdon running out eventual winners by just one try. 

Once again all the boys performed very well and were a credit to the club. The coaches have been very pleased with the progress the team have made over the past couple of months and look forward to the rest of the season with great optimism. 

Here are the results for the morning’s games, 

Abingdon     4 - 9     Wheatley

Abingdon     6 - 4     Wheatley 

Abingdon     6 - 5     Wheatley

It was a good start to the season at Grove, despite some difficult conditions. Abingdon A was first up and got off to a flying start with a convincing win against Wheatley.

Their next game was against a well drilled Wallingford side and was a lot tougher than their first match. The boys put in a good performance but were outgunned by Wallingford, who took advantage of our boys having to play two games on the trot.

Next up were Bicester who got off to a very good start and were three tries up very early on. Despite a strong comeback the boys left themselves too much to do and went down by 8 tries to 5.

Unfortunately due to a few teams dropping out on the day Abingdon A only had three games in their pool and the one win was not enough for them to go through to the semi finals.

Abingdon B started their tournament with a narrow win against Oxford Harlequins followed by another close game, which they also won, against Wallingford.

Their next game saw a very convincing win against Witney which finished early because the lead was greater than 6 tries.

Next up was against our friends from Oxford which, despite some typical antics from them, was won by Abingdon.

This left one final game in the group against Grove, which was stopped early because Abingdon had a lead of more than 6 tries, again.

Winning all games in their group meant they would meet Wallingford in the Final, who they had beaten earlier in the group stage. As in that game, it was very close but on this occasion Wallingford beat them.

Here are the results for both teams.

             Abingdon A                                           Abingdon B

Abingdon 5 - 1 Wheatley                    Abingdon 6 - 5 Oxford H                    

Abingdon 2 - 4 Wallingford                Abingdon 7 - 5 Wallingford  

Abingdon 5 - 8 Bicester                      Abingdon 6 - 0 Witney

                                                             Abingdon 5 - 2 Oxford

                                                             Abingdon 7 - 1 Grove     

                                             FINAL – Abingdon 4 - 5 Wallingford

Once again, we would like to thank everyone who turned up for what turned out to be a very enjoyable and successful day. Even the weather wasn’t able to dampen the spirits of both parents and players. Also, we would like to congratulate all the new players in the squad, who after only a few weeks coaching showed real promise in a game situation. Well done.

Special thanks also to Sally Beer and Donna Peck for keeping the scores for us and taking some great photos which will be downloaded onto Teamer soon.

On a personal note, some of you may have witnessed a slight difference of opinion that I had with one of the Oxford coaches. It’s not what the game is about and is something that I regret happening, especially in full view of the boys. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again and let other coaches conduct themselves in a manner they see fit, however much I may disagree.

See you all Sunday and please, if you can spare some time, we still need some volunteers to help out in the kitchen.

Thanks

Nigel, Ant, Colin, Gary & Dan