After a lengthy journey down to Bath, Bletchley failed to do themselves proud by losing to Walcot, a match which should have been winnable but which the visitors failed to capitalise on due to a lethargic performance.
The kick off was 3.00pm and with no disrespect to Walcot, Bletchley felt this was a game where they could take the two points and get back onto a winning streak. Although losing to Cheltenham last week, Bletchley had played reasonably well and had they taken that level of performance into the Walcot game, the result may have been different but perhaps they were too confident.
Bletchley kicked off and chased after the ball forcing the Walcot player to drop the ball and allow Bletchley to recover possession and drive on down the pitch. However, Bletchley infringed in the process and Walcot kicked to touch to relieve the pressure. From the lineout, Bletchley gave away another penalty and Walcot kicked the three points to take the lead which at that point was against the run of play.
This stirred Walcot and they pressured the Bletchley side, with Bletchley again showing some poor tackling. A good kick by Walcot was chased through and the home side scored a try which was converted. Walcot were now ahead by 10pts to nil. This had obviously shaken Bletchley as shortly afterwards from a scrummage the Walcot No 8 broke through the tackles to score and again the conversion was good, giving the home side a 17pts lead.
Bletchley came back and pushed into the Walcot 22 metres area. The Bletchley forwards were starting to get some decent possession which forced Walcot to concede the penalty. George Harman stepped up to convert for 3 points and shortly afterwards the whistle blew for half time with Walcot 17pts to 3pts ahead.
The second half saw Bletchley come back more into the game and although Walcot ran well the pressure caused them to make some errors such as throwing into touch. The Bletchley forwards were gaining more possession, although one or two players received injuries with No 8 Dougie Webster receiving a neck injury and having to be replaced by Dagan Probert. Lock Adam Dempsey had a knock around the eye which required him to leave the field temporarily to receive treatment and prop Dean Woods receiving a leg injury.
With some good ball at last coming out to the Bletchley backs, more was being achieved and centre Tim Stobbs collected the ball and made an excellent 30 metre run through the Walcot defence before being brought down just short of the try line. Bletchley pressured on the Walcot line but then a mistake saw Walcot gather for a runaway unconverted try to take their points tally to 22pts.
Bletchley kept up the pressure however but the game was very scrappy and the visitors were making some silly decisions and mistakes which were letting Walcot off the hook. However, the pressure finally told when prop Tom Hannell dived over the line for the try but unfortunately the conversion failed. It was following this Bletchley try that the Bletchley player was yellow carded and Walcot took full advantage by scoring another two unconverted tries to lift their score to 32 points. Bletchley did not give up and with a full complement of players took the game back to Walcot, probably a little late to do so but they hammered away at them and following a good ruck the ball came out to inside centre, Adam Griffiths, who on the burst managed to weave through three Walcott defenders to score not far from the posts. George Harman stroked the ball between the posts to give Bletchley 15 points. No further score by either side was threatened after this and shortly afterwards, the whistle blew for full time with Walcot winning by 32pts to 15pts. Walcot had played well but from watchers’ comments Bletchley had been the authors of their own undoing and coach Pat Jerram will no doubt have plenty to say at training this week before the side meets Marlow at Manor Fields on Saturday.
Report by Don Griffiths |
After 6 consecutive wins, Bletchley were feeling very confident at hosting the league leaders Cheltenham at Manor Fields last Saturday. In spite of a heavy loss away before Christmas, Bletchley felt that with a stronger and more consistent team, it had a very good chance of making an impression on a side who look to be runaway winners of this league, having lost only two matches all season.
In fact, for the first 15 minutes, Bletchley took the game to Cheltenham and put pressure on them with flyhalf Phil Harman just missing with a drop goal attempt. From the 22 metres drop out kick by Cheltenham, the ball was collected by scrum half Kevin Turnbull who ran back at the visitors and offloaded on the tackle to prop Ian Cope who took it on and passed to winger Matt Nobes who weaved through to score. Unfortunately the conversion failed but Bletchley were ahead by 5 points.
The obvious quality of Cheltenham then showed as they stormed right back from the kick off and following some great passing and handling scored in the corner. The conversion was missed but the sides were now on equal terms again at 5pts each.
Cheltenham are a very good running side and give each other excellent support. They do not hold on to the ball too long and as coaches far and wide have always said they let the ball do the work and in turn make the opposition work even harder. Cheltenham were pushing hard and Bletchley did defend well but finally they conceded a penalty which the visitors converted to put them in the lead.
The ball was mainly played in the middle of the pitch with neither side gaining an advantage and with kicks being put up field by both sides but one excellent kick by Bletchley did not find touch and was collected by the Cheltenham left winger, who with pace, decided to accelerate down his wing. Surprisingly, after Bletchley’s excellent defence up to that point, a number of tackles were missed allowing the winger to reach the Bletchley 22 metres area before being pulled down. However, the winger offloaded well and Cheltenham players in support moved the ball out wide to score a further try which was converted to put Cheltenham 15pts to 5pts ahead.
Bletchley did not cave in and moved back into Cheltenham territory forcing a penalty which Phil Harman converted for the 3 pts to reduce the arrears.
At half time the score was 15pts to 8pts with Bletchley in with a good chance of closing the gap. However from the restart Cheltenham had shrugged off Bletchley’s early pressure and were now applying their own with some good running in spite of Bletchley defending hard. The visitors moved to the Bletchley line but could not score. However, Cheltenham were awarded a scrummage on the Bletchley line which they won to go over for the try. With the conversion, the visitors were 22pts to 8pts ahead and looking comfortable. Bletchley kept driving forward but were making too many little mistakes and knocking the ball on in the tackle. Bletchley were then awarded two consecutive kickable penalties which the excellent Harman was just unable to convert and it would be fair to say that had these gone over, Bletchley might have been more in sniffing distance of the visitors’ score. It was also noticeable that some off the ball infringements went unnoticed by the referee but this merely showed Cheltenham’s street wise approach which says you play to the referee. Bletchley kept going and briefly camped on the Cheltenham line with a scrummage awarded to the home side but they could not convert this period of possession to points and good chances were lost. A penalty was given to Cheltenham who cleared to the Bletchley 22metres line and from the ensuing lineout, Cheltenham took the ball and burst through for an unconverted try. Cheltenham were now in control and despite good tackling at this late stage by Bletchley, a scrum won by the visitors saw some excellent handling and passing for Cheltenham to score their final try and convert to leave Manor Fields 34pts to 8pts winners.
Bletchley coach Pat Jerram said to the team afterwards, in spite of the score line, they had played well against an excellent side who showed why they were top of the league. Bletchley will have learnt from this match which showed they had improved as a side but that there was still further work to be done.
Bletchley remain fifth in the league and it is hoped that the side can now return to the training pitch and prepare to get back to winning ways for their away match this Saturday against Walcott.
Report Don Griffiths |
 Bletchley took the long haul by coach down to Wiltshire to play the rearranged game with Salisbury. After the previous week’s win away to Buckingham, Bletchley were on a high and looking for another away win to keep their streak going. The concern was still the weather and whether or not the pitches might be unplayable due to wet sodden conditions but Salisbury assured Bletchley before the journey that all was well.
The teams played on Salisbury’s 1st pitch although there were one or two very small puddles but as the game carried on with bright skies these seemed to disappear.
Salisbury kicked off and with the ball ricocheting off a Bletchley prop’s leg, the home side immediately regained possession and drove forward but the visitors defended well.
For a while the play hung around the middle of the park, with both sides trying to get the edge. Salisbury were working well in the lineout whilst Bletchley defended and worked hard in open play to get a number of turnovers of ball. A good clearance kick by scrum half Kevin Turnbull saw winger Chris Martin make an excellent chase to force Salisbury to make touch for a Bletchley lineout. Surpisingly Bletchley lost the throw in and Salisbury took the ball on but Bletchley were tackling well and recovered the ball which was moved out to fly half George Harman who made an excellent break before offloading to flanker and captain Carl Miller who dived over the line for an unconverted try. Bletchley were in the lead.
Salisbury came straight back and pressured the visitors well and close to the line before scoring out wide. The conversion failed and it was now 5points each. Bletchley came back into the game and some nice chip overs by Turnbull at scrum half with chases by both wingers put Salisbury under pressure but Bletchley could not convert to points.
Bletchley won a scrum and advanced into the home 22 metres area and were close to scoring but were penalised for holding the ball in the tackle. Bletchley kept up the pressure in the Salisbury 22 metres and following a ruck where a Salisbury flanker stole the ball well but allowed it to bobble free, Bletchley No 8 Dougie Webster – again having another good game – picked up the ball and sprinted to the line for a try near the posts. Flyhalf George Harman converted to give Bletchley a lead of 12pts to 5pts. Salisbury kept going hard and took the game back to the Bletchley try line at last forcing the visitors to concede a penalty for holding in the ball. An easy conversion for 3 points saw the half time score as 12pts to 8pts to Bletchley.
From the second half kick off by Bletchley, Salisbury attacked well and a beautiful line of running by a Salisbury player saw the home side split the visitors’ defence before off loading to another player for the try. The conversion succeeded and Salisbury were ahead 15pts to 12pts.
Bletchley were tackling well with the forwards covering a lot of ground. Flanker Jason Buckley, locks Dempsey and Cushley and the inevitable hooker Brett Staniford, who has been a tower of strength this season, all worked hard. The pressure finally told on Salisbury when they conceded a penalty and George Harman stepped up to take the three points to make it 15 pts each.
The remaining part of the half saw both sides trying to make territory and conceding penalties without further score. Then with three minutes remaining, Bletchley got the penalty about 15 metres out from the try line and elected to kick the penalty. George Harman in his usual cool way stepped up and slotted over a beautiful kick between the posts to make it 18 pts to 13pts to Bletchley. Salisbury tried to come back but Bletchley held onto possession to ride out the final minutes and at the whistle, Bletchley had notched up its sixth successive win, its first win at Salisbury and risen to 5th position in the league. A happy day.
This Saturday is the big one where Cheltenham, the league leaders visit Bletchley at Manor Fields. This will be a very tough game but with a stronger and more consistent side at present, Bletchley are hoping to give Cheltenham a surprise.
Report by Don Griffiths
Other Results
- Cheltenham 38-19 Buckingham
- Marlow 14-24 High Wycombe
- Oakmeadians 54-25 Trowbridge
- Salisbury 15-18 Bletchley
- Walcot 6-0 Reading Abbey
South West 1 East
| Team |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
Adjust |
| Cheltenham |
21 |
19 |
0 |
2 |
857 |
221 |
636 |
36 |
-2 |
| High Wycombe |
19 |
14 |
0 |
5 |
392 |
232 |
160 |
28 |
0 |
| Marlow |
19 |
13 |
0 |
6 |
363 |
300 |
63 |
26 |
0 |
| Swanage & Wareham |
21 |
11 |
2 |
8 |
423 |
374 |
49 |
24 |
0 |
| Bletchley |
20 |
11 |
1 |
10 |
343 |
397 |
-54 |
22 |
0 |
| Buckingham |
20 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
474 |
350 |
124 |
20 |
0 |
| Walcot |
20 |
11 |
0 |
9 |
412 |
318 |
94 |
20 |
-2 |
| Wallingford |
21 |
11 |
0 |
10 |
404 |
491 |
-87 |
20 |
-2 |
| Oakmeadians |
20 |
9 |
0 |
11 |
509 |
540 |
-31 |
18 |
0 |
| Olney |
19 |
6 |
3 |
10 |
443 |
403 |
40 |
15 |
0 |
| Salisbury |
21 |
8 |
0 |
13 |
393 |
462 |
-69 |
15 |
0 |
| Trowbridge |
20 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
385 |
495 |
-110 |
15 |
0 |
| Reading Abbey |
20 |
7 |
1 |
12 |
323 |
528 |
-205 |
15 |
0 |
| Wootton Bassett |
19 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
144 |
754 |
-610 |
0 |
0 |
|
Bletchley travelled to Buckingham last Saturday expecting a hard game bearing in mind Buckingham’s recent successes and Bletchley’s winning streak. It is always a tough game between these two old rivals and Buckingham were coming into the game off of two consecutive wins against mutual rivals Olney.
With some snow over night which had melted, the pitch was very soft and would obviously influence the style of play of both sides. Bletchley kicked off and Buckingham took the ball on but the visitors defended well although giving away silly penalties due to infringements. Within a matter of 10 minutes, Bletchley conceded 2 penalties, the second of which the home side converted to take the lead with 3 points. Bletchley came back hard particularly in the forwards with flanker Jason Buckley and locks Andy Cushley and Adam Dempsey having fine games but again Bletchley were too easily conceding penalties which allowed Buckingham to advance through good clearance kicks into the Bletchley half and 22 metres areas. Following one penalty, Buckingham kicked to touch and won the lineout just outside the Bletchley 22 metres area. The home side drove on and then whisked the ball out to their backs who accelerated through the middle and following a missed tackle by Bletchley scored under the posts. With the conversion Buckingham were 10pts to nil in the lead and the numerous Bletchley supporters were wondering if the winning streak had come to an end. Some scrappy play ensued from both sides but the Bletchley forwards were starting to play the conditions better than their hosts with No 8 Dougie Webster, Bletchley’s eventual man of the match, everywhere cleaning up loose ball and tackling everything. This led to a period of pressure by Bletchley which after 20 minutes forced Buckingham to concede a penalty and Bletchley flyhalf George Harman coolly slotted over for the three points.
From the restart Bletchley came straight back at Buckingham with some great forward play and good scrummaging. Hooker Brett Staniford was winning good ball against the head in the scrum. Prop Tom Hannell showed the way at one point with an excellent 20 metre run through the centre before being brought down but the ball was recycled to inside centre Tim Stobbs who took it on before offloading to flyhalf George Harman who accelerated away . It looked as if Harman had been tackled but he squirmed through to score under the posts and with his own conversion the score was now 10pts each. From then on the ball went backwards and forwards up and down the field and the conditions did not help but Bletchley’s defence was excellent with winger Matt Nobes and lock Dempsey putting in great tackles. Buckingham were awarded a penalty and kicked to touch but Bletchley regained possession and pushed up field and the Bletchley forwards were now taking control and gaining a number of turnovers of the ball in loose play, particularly through Webster. A penalty was awarded to Bletchley which Harman just missed and at half time the score remained at 10pts each.
From the second half kick off by Buckingham Bletchley took the ball on but with their enthusiasm kept giving away silly penalties usually for off side. Then their persistence saw Bletchley awarded a penalty in the Buckingham half and Harman strode up to kick the three points and at last put Bletchley in the lead for the first time. The Bletchley forwards were now taking a grip of the game and keeping possession. At one point Bletchley made a good drive through their forwards to the Buckingham line but the home side defended superbly and Bletchley knocked on giving the scrum to Buckingham but whilst Bletchley were winning the ball they could not convert to further points or tries. An unfortunate injury to a Buckingham prop led to unopposed scrums but by now most scrums were going Bletchley’s way and with the game remaining in the Buckingham half, an eventual penalty was awarded to Bletchley with Harman again converting to take the score 16pts to 10pts to Bletchley.
For the remainder of the half, Bletchley covered well and snuffed out any possible Buckingham attacks and during the last 10 minutes retained possession by just taking the ball on in the forwards and depriving Buckingham of any possession. It may not have been the prettiest of rugby but in the conditions it was effective and the right thing to do. At the final whistle, Bletchley ran out the winners at 16pts to 10pts to make it five wins out of five and the double over their rivals and left the pitch to the applause of its supporters for a well controlled game. The win pushed Bletchley up to equal fifth place in the league with Buckingham.
This Saturday Bletchley take the long haul down to Salisbury to play the postponed match from December and are confidently looking for another win.
Report by Don Griffiths |
Four wins in a row but Bletchley were lucky last Saturday in the return match at Manor Fields against Reading Abbey. Earlier in the season, Bletchley had lost away by only three points to the Reading side and felt aggrieved that they had lost. On this occasion, Bletchley played poorly but still managed to pull the cat out of the bag thanks to the Harman brothers where flyhalf Phil kicked three drop goals and brother George, in the centre, kicked a final penalty from 25 metres out to seal the game.
Abbey kicked off and Bletchley secured the ball well and went down the park, immediately putting Abbey under pressure. The home forwards played well and provided the ball within a couple of minutes for Phil Harman to kick his first drop goal and put Bletchley three points in the lead.
Although a great start, Abbey were not put off and put pressure back on Bletchley who made some silly passing mistakes leading to a try by Abbey which was unconverted but allowing the visitors to take the lead 5pts to 3pts.
Abbey continued with some good play although the Bletchley scrummage and lineout did very well but the home side backs were not showing their usual incisive running. A silly decision by Bletchley saw Abbey kick through and collect the ball to score another unconverted try to put them 10pts to 3pts ahead. From the restart Bletchley moved back up field with the forwards doing some excellent rolling mauls and clearing the ball out and at this stage with 20 minutes of the first half gone, Phil Harman slotted over his second drop goal to reduce the arrears to four points. Bletchley continued to pressure although Abbey were defending well but again Bletchley did enough to allow Phil Harman to keep the home team’s spirits high by converting his third drop goal. Until the half time whistle, the rugby was generally messy from both sides but at the halfway point Bletchley were only one point behind.
The second half was kicked off by Bletchley and Abbey ran the ball back at the home side advancing into the Bletchley 22 metres area where Abbey dropped a goal to pull them back to four points in the lead. However, Bletchley staged a comeback with some good drives from the lineout eventually forcing Abbey to concede a penalty. It was George Harman this time who stepped up to convert the three points. For some time the ball went up and down the pitch with both sides missing kickable penalties and some dubious referreeing decisions for both sides but with around two minutes to go Bletchley were awarded a penalty 25 metres out from the Abbey line. The golden boot of George Harman saw Bletchley home with a cracking kick which saw the Bletchley supporters cheer. The Bletchley forwards stopped any further incursions by Abbey and shortly afterwards the whistle blew with a win for Bletchley.
Bletchley are away to Buckingham this coming Saturday and will have to improve their performances both collectively and individually if they hope to get a fifth consecutive win.
Report by Don Griffiths |
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