From the side lines

Abingdon came to Wheatley with one sub; luckily Wheatley had been without a couple of players from Brookes who had gone home for Christmas. Should be a close match

1^st half from the kick off within 5 minutes Abingdon had been awarded penalty kicking opportunity from about 30m excellent kick just went wide. From the 25yard drop out Abingdon was back in there faces with slow ball after slow ball edging towards the centre of the pitch in front of posts, a long pass from Jim to Vinnie TRY scored. Jew Converted.

Again Abingdon was back in there faces but 3 penalties latter Wheatley had scored.

Once again Abingdon in there half with some secured ball near the posts Jim passes to Northy quick pass to Liam straight away out to Geordie another TRY secured and converted

Abingdon again played text book rugby this time from the backs and from a punt from Wheatley to HP was able to run down the touch line with speed to score his 4^th try of the season¸ and touched the ball down on the 5m line (Should of gone to Specsavers) Wheatley awarded a scrum.

The game went on and Wheatley tried to kick for touch Webby caught the ball and with a 45m dash down kissing the touch line scored.

Half Time score 19 -5, 95% in Wheatley’s half Text book rugby good slow ball and unloading, and the back doing some of their magic.

HALF TIME SPEECH, Ollie imposed the importance of the play, Jim and Northy doing we must, Liam growling and Paul Cross reminded the team that last year we had been 18points up against a Wheatley and lost

2^nd Half Wheatley though 30m away must have heard Paul and put wave upon wave of attacking play.

First Attack near Abingdon was repelled 10m of the post by a penalty awarded to Abingdon.

2^nd Attack was crash ball between there no 8 and 10 Wheatley scored

3^rd Attack exactly the same play Wheatley scored again on the opposite side of the pitch

4^th Attack Wheatley from the ruck shipped it out backs they had overlaps and extra players for a certain try!!!! INTERECEPTED by Jim (AKA Neil) with his red socks impressive 90m run scored. Jew Converted

Abingdon back in the game and fired up.

Few moments latter some quick secured ball, out to the backs Geordie scores again. Jew dropped short the conversion by inches.

Whistle blown FULL TIME 31-15

Exceptional exciting Rugby played by Abingdon best all season

SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE

Best Player None they all did their part

Dick of the Day HPs Try

Touch Judge of the day YAMISH

Abingdon Slip To First Defeat Of Season

Henly IV 42 v Abingdon 19

Abingdon lost their 100% start to the season in comprehensive fashion, falling 42-19 in an away defeat by a strong Henley side.

From the kick off Henley started in a robust fashion, pressurising deep in the Abingdon half. For the first 10 minutes Henley kept the ball through waves of phases and it was only solid tackling across the team that prevented the home side taking an early lead.

After 10 minutes however the pressure told and as Henley moved the ball through the hands, 2 missed tackles in the middle of the park meant they were able to put their winger away to open the scoring. The conversion was slotted to make it 7-0 after 10 minutes. This seemed to spur Abingdon into action and the next 10 minutes saw the pack recycling the ball quickly to provide great ball for the backs. Henley tackled fiercely, but with the forwards providing a platform for temporary scrum-half Rob Tyreman, Abingdon were on the front foot. After a move that was kept alive through six phases, Richard Shayler broke the line in midfield and then offloaded well in the tackle to put Bennie Samuel away and bring Abingdon back to 7-5.

After more dominance, Abingdon were then unlucky to concede the next score. Henley took a scrum against the head on their own 5 metre line, and broke quickly down a large blind side. In a flowing move, Henley scored in the corner. The conversion was duly added to make it 14-5 to the home side.

For the remaining 15 minutes of the first half both sides played well, with Henley trying to increase their lead and Abingdon trying to work their way back into the game. Fierce tackling by Gareth Healy and John Scott in the forwards drove Henley back, whilst some sniping breaks by Mark Wilson and captain Jamie Lochrie were only foiled by solid defence from Henley. Just on the stoke of half time, missed tackles in the midfield again cost Abingdon dear. With the scramble defence having to cover the hole, the Henley full back gathered his own chip through and went in wide on the right to make it 19-5 as the referee blew for half time.

A nightmare 15 minutes at the start of the second half saw the home side build their lead, as Abingdon lost their shape and allowed the robust approach of Henley to put them off their game. 3 unanswered tries and a penalty in this period made it 37-5 and meant that, barring a New Zealand world cup style collapse the home side had secured the game.

Abingdon were determined to go down fighting, and over the next 20 minutes played some of their best rugby of the game. Tim Darby, making his first appearance in the first team for 18 months, came into the centre and helped the backs to impose their game on the hosts. Bennie Samuel would have been away had he not been pulled back for impersonating a high-jumper over a tackle!

A backs move involving good hands from Tim Darby, Richard Shayler and Jamie Lochrie led to Bennie Samuel again breaking and using his pace to run in next to the sticks. Pete Stimpson converted to make it 37-12 and give Abingdon a glimmer of a chance of a bonus point. This was snuffed out as Henley hit straight back and, benefitting from a lucky bounce from a hopeful kick through, scored to make it 42-12 with only 5 minutes remaining. The visitors hadn’t given up though, and in the last move of the game, forwards and backs combined well to set up a ruck 5 metres out from the Henley line. Tom Beauchamp picked up at the base and went for the line like a Scouser after a giro – driving over in fine style. Pete Stimpson converted with the last kick to make the final score 42-19.

Hats off to Henley, who thoroughly deserved their win - Abingdon know they can play a lot better, and  will want to prove that this was just a blip in the home game against 4^th placed Littlemore next Saturday.

Abingdon hold nerve to win in style

Bicester II 19 v Abingdon XV 45

A mixed Abingdon first and second team earned just reward for their hard work against an experienced Bicester side to run out 45-19 winners, in a game that was much tighter than the final scoreline suggests.

The team was a mix of players from across the club – with ages spanning from 17 to much older (I won’t embarrass you here chaps!), and with  a number of players  having to play in new positions it was no wonder that the first 5 minutes were nervy, with Bicester  applying pressure in the visitors 22. However solid defence and disciplined contesting at the breakdown rebuffed these early advances, and after this Abingdon took the lead. Running counter attack ball back when Bicester thought Abingdon would kick a flowing move put Benny Samuel away to continue his rich scoring form and give the boys in green an early 5-0 lead.

Abingdon continued to apply the pressure with great tactical kicking and chasing by the backline, and with support from the forwards – where Jordache Moore and Sam Wellstood disrupted the home team’s line out – it looked to be a case of when, not if, Abingdon would pull away. However, after much pressure the only reward Abingdon got was a penalty in front of the sticks, which Mark Roberts slotted to make it 8-0.

For the next 15 minutes Abingdon went to sleep and allowed Bicester to play their forwards dominated game, and even though the home side were down to 14 men for a stamping sin-binning, Bicester still managed to burrow over for a try from a close range maul to bring the scores back to 8-5.

With both sides playing some good rugby, and tackling on both sides being ferocious, it looked like the score would remain the same until half-time, until right on the stroke of 40 minutes another passing move along the backs put full back Mark Roberts in at the corner to give Abingdon a 13-5 half time lead.

With Roberts having to go off at half time due to an injury sustained in scoring that try, and Abingdon then losing their fly-half early doors it was not surprising that Bicester dominated the early skirmishes in the second half. The fly half missed a sitter of a penalty in front of the posts (think Gavin Hastings against England in 91!!) but Bicester soon brought the score back to 13-12. With Abingdon having to take stock and rejig their 14 men due to Sam Wellstood becoming the tallest speed bump in Oxfordshire, Bicester took advantage and again scored from a number of close range efforts to move into a 19-13 lead with only 15 minutes left.

Abingdon didn’t panic, and with skipper Everton Harris leading the charge, kept ball in hand and spent the remainder of the game deep in Bicester territory. Richard Higgs – a late call up when Awie Schroeder got injured during the warm up – went desperately close on a couple of occasions before being bundled into touch. After a quick break by scrum half Mark Wilson,  Benny Samuel recaptured the lead for Abingdon, with Liam Cook converting to make it 20-19. Almost from the restart, after some great interplay by forwards and backs, Simon North went over from 15 yards out (by the time we had reached the changing rooms it had already become 30 yards out!!). Another quick try gave Abingdon some breathing space, and then in the last play of the game the Abingdon backs worked well together to steal the ball from the Bicester wing and put Manuel Humpfer away for a try that was just rewards for his brave efforts on the wing throughout the afternoon. Liam Cook slotted the kick to make it 45-19 as the ref blew for no-side.

A good result that augurs well for this weekend’s league games against Henley IV (away) and Hungerford/Aldbourne (home).