Swindon 12 - Witney 29
Witney had already tasted defeat at Swindon this season and they knew they
would have to perform very well to avoid another loss as Swindon were in a
rich vein of form after racking up 96 points the previous week. Witney were
not on the top of the League for nothing though and were showing decent form
too and so on a fine afternoon for rugby, the healthy crowd were hopeful of a
thrilling encounter. While it was never a classic (due to a lot of whistle
blowing) it was a very physical match and Witney showed better discipline
than the home side and made their pressure tell so thoroughly deserved the
two points.
The match started with Swindon in confident mood and they pressed Witneys
line early on but the defence was excellent and crucially when Swindon had
their first lineout deep in Witneys 22 the throw went astray and this was a
regular pattern to the match as their experienced hooker was €œoff radar€
nearly the whole of the match. Witney€™s lineout was functioning well though
with Sam Collins picking out Jez Hicks, Charlie Bennett and Carl Campbell
with regularity and the ascendancy in this area was crucial.
The early Swindon pressure counted for nothing but Witneys first dip into the
opposition €œkilling zone€ saw a penalty given away and Ed Mitchem stepped up
from full back and slotted the three points. This was soon to be increased as
Witney crossed the line soon after. A storming run from James Monks almost
saw a score but Swindon held on but not for long. Skipper James Lamb made a
telling break through the middle and he linked to the returning Aaron Tustin
who scampered over for a fine score, Mitchem converting. While Henry Lamb was
kicking intelligently and gaining ground, Swindon seemed intent to run
everything and found that the Witney defence was a tad more miserly than
Bicesters had been the week before. Witney almost scored again when gppd
hands from Gareth Campbell set up a great break down the blind side for
skipper James Lamb who ran 50 metres before being tackled, he passed inside
to James Monks who was set for a run when they had to come back for a Witney
penalty, the advantage would have been nice!
Big Joe Rowles was having a fine match with some hard yards being made as
well as some solid tackles and the bulky Swindon pack started to blow harder
as the half went on. The match started to get a bit stop-start as the whistle
was sounded regularly for a variety of offences, some of which left players
on both sides a little puzzled. Witney seemed the more likely to score next
and it came from a searing break from Henry Lamb who showed his old wingers
pace to jink past the Swindon defence and scorch over for a superb individual
try, Mitchem again converting from wide out.
Swindon had time for one last attack as the half came to an end and as their
forwards drove into Witneys 22, flanker Jez Hicks was penalised in the maul
and was yellow carded (a bit unfairly to be honest). From the last play of
the half Swindon managed to cross the line and this gave them the lifeline
they needed, the match was certainly far from over.
The opening ten minutes of the second half were going to be crucial and so it
proved. Not only did Swindon fail to score any further points with their
numerical advantage, they also gave away a penalty which Mitchem slotted and
had their hooker sin binned for a high tackle (also a bit unfair) on Gareth
Campbell. Witneys pack also put in one monumental scrum to demolish the
Swindon forwards and psychologically this was a big moment too. Swindon came
back well when both sin binned players returned and their impressive centre
sliced through Witneys defence to score a fine try. Instead of bringing
Swindon up a level, their match drifted away for the remaining 25 minutes and
their discipline began to creek with some high tackles and over zelous
rucking becoming more of a feature as their frustrations with some of the
decisions started to show.
The rest of the half followed a similar pattern with Witney showing more
control and using their possession well while Swindon became more ragged and
chose a few wrong options at crucial times. Mitchem added a couple more
penalties to make the match safe and when Swindon lost a player to the bin
after some old style all black €œrucking€, the result was inevitable and
another Mitchem penalty sealed a fine two points for Witney and kept up their
battle with Amersham and Chiltern at the top of the table.
Next week its back to Cup Action with the County Semi Final against
Wallingford at the Hailey Road Ground on Sunday.
1st XV
Mitchem, Monks, *Lamb(J), Tustin, Collins(L), Lamb(H), Campbell(G) : Burke,
Collins(S), Richens, Fowler, Bennett(C), Hicks(J), Campbell(C), Rowles
Repl: Serle, MacBurnie(Rowles-55), Taafe
VIEW FROM THE TOUCHLINE
This was a banana skin waiting to be slipped on with Swindon in great form
and having already knocked Witney out of the Intermediate Cup, they were
confident of doing likewise in the League. The boys had other ideas though
and showed great control and were very committed around the park. Big units
like Joe, Buckie and Owen worked their socks off and the Campbell boys
tackled everything that moved. The lineouts were crucial and Swindons
headache in that area saw them run some penalties they should have been
punting down the line. The scrummage was also very solid for Witney and that
one shunt in the second half was a joy to watch and lifted the visiting
supporters. Nice to see Aaron score on his return and a fine individual try
from Henry too. Not a classic match in terms of open rugby but there was some
good moments from both sides and nobody could question the physicality of the
encounter. A good workout then and while the lads will still need to raise
the bar for the weeks ahead, two points over at Swindon is always very
welcome and always hard earned.
