2007/08 Match ReportsBerkshire Shire Hall 36 Saturday 7th September With new sponsors, a new shirt deal, six new players and a more structured coaching setup, things were looking pretty rosy for Didcot.
A prop on the flank and a hooker in the centre alongside a flanker didn’t bring that much joy until Shire Hall started with 14 players including a 54-year old scrum half. After a cagey opening, all hell suddenly broke lose with some impressive handling and running lines which resulted in John crossing for the opening score – luckily remembering to ground the ball.
Again a few minutes later, similar impressive back play with great hands by Dave Strets (he’d just been kidding the defence until that point) saw Jamie squeeze over. Followed by a clinical finish from our impressive new debutant Phil. 20-nil after twenty minutes, some serious restart catches and tackling from our ever-green Chairman and some devastating interplay from Matt and Greg – Shire Hall were talking about respectability and just getting on the score board.
Didcot started the second half in the much the same fashion as they had the first, with two impressive scores by Kev and Greg, 32-17 and Didcot were beginning to celebrate. However, with thirty minutes still to play, Shire Hall asked their older pack to work the ball through the tight and again came back into the game.
With 23 seconds left on the referee’s watch, Didcot had a scrum near their own line. Get the ball out, maul it forward and kick it dead, game done. Until a Shire Hall forward walked round the side of the maul, pulled it out the back and fell over the line. Conversion followed and disbelief all round as Shire Hall squeaked home.
Man of the match: pushed close by Sam’s scintillating attacking runs, Andy’s long periods of controlled silence under some real provocation, and almost spoiled by a day to forget with the boot plus a tap-and-go to almost push Kev hard (see below) – Matt, strong distribution and a game-breaking display on the run. Mare of the match: Kev, ball on his own line, 32-22 up, wind at his back, a large maul about twenty feet away, “Hey, kick it gently in front of you to a few guys you know”. Mike Patterson back to fixtures 2007/08 Oxford Harlequins III 30 Saturday 29th September Following a disappointing start to the season and 2 out of three coaches away, one in New Zealand and the other in the equally exotic Lancaster, Didcot travelled to Harlequins with a feeling of trepidation in the squad. With a further defection from the squad, more injuries and several players unavailable, Didcot fielded a brand new team including a seventeen year old debutant, Andrew Clelland, on the wing and the regular touch judge, Paul Costello, at scrum half. The pre game team talk added to the team’s confidence, ‘Don’t worry if we lose, just focus on your technique and have fun!’ and when Oxford Harlequins scored in the first five minutes it appeared that it could be a long afternoon. However this seemed to galvanise Didcot into action and they attacked Harlequins back line with Greg and Billy regularly breaking tackles and getting over the gain line. With some better passing the wingers could have easily have been put in for a couple of scores. The passes didn’t go to hand though and Didcot had to settle for a penalty, with Andy Taylor scoring his first points for the club. Didcot had spent the week working on rucking technique and it was paying dividends. The pack and centres were recycling the ball effortlessly, making the scrum half’s job much easier. Those players that had not been at training were at a disadvantage, highlighted when Greg reminded Sam of the need to ruck in pairs and take another man in with you. From the look on Sam’s face, Greg may as well have been speaking in Mongolian! The success that Didcot had in the rucks and mauls, seemed to give the pack confidence and the tight five scrummaged fantastically all day. Following Andy’s penalty Didcot continued to attack through the backs and Jamie distributed the ball well with the centres running hard and the back three supporting with pace. The back row of Andy Cleevely, Chris and especially John, playing in yet another position at open side, supported well, made some big hits and generally made nuisances of themselves when Harlequins tried to ruck and maul. The second half was drawing to a close and Harlequins had not looked threatening when their fly half hacked the ball forward into Didcot’s 22. Kev ran to gather the ball, juggled it and then just stopped and looked up at everybody. As the Harlequins players bore down on him he proceeded to continue to stand still. It finally dawned on him that the whistle he had heard had not come from our referee but from the neighbouring pitch and with 14 other Didcot players screaming at him to do something, he proceeded to kick it 10 yards forward straight into the arms a Harlequin player who walked in to score Harlequin’s second try. The score at half time was 10-3 to Harlequins. Didcot started the second half as they had ended the first, picking and driving by the forwards and then using the quick ball to spin it wide and attack through the backs. Andy Taylor moved to full back at the break and looked dangerous with ball in hand, especially in broken play. The pack continued to dominate in the scrum and the line out was functioning well. With Jim jumping in the middle and winning his ball, it gave a viable alternative to Andy for Sam to throw to. Didcot switched off for 5 minutes allowing Harlequins to score another try to take the score to 15-3. Didcot came back strongly and the pack stole Harlequin’s ball from yet another scrum. Jamie capitalised on this turn over, exploiting a gap in the Harlequin’s back line before kicking the ball ahead and beating the full back to the ball to score a superb individual try, 15-8 to Harlequins. Unfortunately Didcot knocked on from the restart and from the resulting scrum, Harlequins peeled round the blind side and scored to make it 20-8. Didcot came straight back and attacked again. They continued to make progress down the pitch ending up with a scrum in the middle of the pitch, just outside of Harlequins 22. A set move was called, although with Andy and Paul as the stand in 8 & 9 only having been told about the move 2 minutes before kick off no one was overly optimistic of the outcome. However it worked as planned with Greg showing his usual strength and power to break through one tackle and then a surprising turn of speed to out pace the cover and score in the corner. The score was now 20-13 to Harlequins. Harlequins came back strongly and camped in the Didcot half. However Didcot’s defence stood firm and they continued to pressure Harlequin’s own ball. At a scrum on Didcot’s 22, Didcot forced 4 successive scrums by forcing the ball to keep coming out of the tunnel. Unfortunately when Harlequins finally got the scrum right, their fly half found a gap in Didcot’s defence and ran in without being touched, 25-13 to Harlequins. Didcot attacked from the restart and worked their way down the pitch and into Harlequin’s 22. A period of sustained pressure from Didcot and several penalties given away by Harlequin’s inside their own 5 metre line had every body thinking about a penalty try. However from another penalty 5 metres out, Sam burrowed his way over to bring the score to within a converted try at 25-18. With Didcot tiring and only a few minutes left, a mix up in the defence with three players trying to tackle one man created an overlap and an easy try scoring opportunity which the Harlequin’s winger did not squander. Final Score 30-18 to Harlequins. All in all, the Didcot players were very happy with the way they played and there was a huge improvement on the performance of recent weeks. Next week’s game at home to Slough is one that they hope to win and start to turn around their season. Man of the Match There were several contenders this week but the award went to Andrew Clelland. He had a fantastic debut with several good runs and made some excellent tackles. He also proved that he has hips made of steel as I’m sure the player that tried to tackle him (who out weighed him by at least 5 stone) and managed to head butt his hip will vouch for. Mare of the Match Sorry Kev but you win the award again. There was a whistle but unfortunately it wasn’t on our pitch! back to fixtures 2007/08 IT’S NOT JUST ANDY’S HIPS THAT ARE MADE OF STEEL BUT HIS SHOULDERS AS WELL!! Didcot 29 Saturday 6th October After last week’s good performance against Oxford Harlequins and a well attended training session where Didcot continued to work on basic rucking and getting quick ball, the team went into this game in a confident mood. With a few injuries from last week, there were several changes to the team with 2 players making their club debuts, Ben in the centres (almost in the back row but Wadey turned up with 5 minutes to go) and Andy L on the wing. Griff provided much amusement to the crowd by running out with number 7 on his back with most of the spectators assuming he couldn’t focus properly and had mistaken it for the number 1 shirt. With 2 props on the flank, we were ready to start. The 12 O’clock kick off had proved troublesome for Slough, with most of the team turning up with less than half an hour to kick off and their 15th man not making it until 25 minutes into the second half! With both sides anxious to watch the England vs. Australia game which was due to kick off at 2pm, it was decided to cut the halves down to 35 minutes each. Didcot started the game in their customary manner, asleep, and Slough scored a try under the posts within the first 5 minutes. It was duly converted to leave the score 0-7. Didcot’s cause was helped a few minutes later when Slough attempted to pin Didcot back inside their half, only for their fly half to miss touch. The ball was picked up and returned by Andy Clelland only to be met by a crunching hit from the Slough full back. Last week at Oxford one of the opposition players attempted to tackle Andy, only to collide with his hip and end up in hospital. Word had obviously not filtered through from Harlequins of Andy’s bionic nature and following the hit Andy sprang to his feet, leaving the Slough player clutching his dislocated shoulder. With no substitutes, Slough was left to play the rest of the game with 13 players. Didcot continued to pressure Slough and was now starting to obtain good quick ruck ball. From a scrum, half way between the Slough ’22 and 10 metre line, a set move was called in the backs. However one of the Slough defenders shot out of the line, leaving a gaping hole which Jamie exploited to score another superb solo try. This was converted by Andy T to bring Didcot to within 3 points at 7-10 at half time. At half time the obvious was pointed out to Didcot by our watching coach. ‘As Slough only has 13 players, why are you picking and driving all the time. Spin it wide, exploit the over laps and use the pace you have to score in the corners.’ This seemed to actually sink in with the team and Didcot started the second half well. The ruck ball was quick and it was moved wide as soon as possible. It paid dividends within the first 5 minutes of the second half when Andy T finished off a slick handling move to score his first try for the club. Unfortunately he could not convert his own try from the touchline but Didcot had now taken the lead 12-10. An Andy T penalty extended this lead to 15-10, 5 minutes later. Didcot continued to pressure Slough and kept them pinned in their own half. However from a Slough scrum deep in their own half, which the Didcot pack had disrupted again, the Slough blind side flanker who had caused problems all day, picked up the loose ball and attacked down the blind side. He hacked it forward but Didcot managed to cover across and get the ball in touch but Slough had gained 50 yards and relieved the pressure. It was Slough’s turn to pressure Didcot and Didcot eventually gave away a penalty which was kicked to take the score to 15-13. The referee also warned Didcot that there had been too many infringements and too much talking back and if it happened again in the same area he would award a penalty try. Didcot continued to play expansive rugby, moving the ball away from Slough’s big but decidedly immobile pack and attacking through the power in the centres and pace in the back three. Following another excellent break in the centres by debutant Ben, he found Jamie in support who ran in under the posts for his second try of the afternoon. Andy T converted and the score was 22-13. Slough came back, but with no way through Didcot’s spirited defence, had to settle for another drop goal to close the gap to 6 points, 22-16. However with 10 minutes to go Slough managed to get the ball back into Didcot’s 22 and again put the Didcot line under pressure. However after managing to repel several waves of Slough attacks, Didcot conceded a penalty. Much to the team’s surprise the referee went straight under the posts and awarded a penalty try. To be fair he had warned Didcot before, but it still seemed a very harsh decision. The try was converted and with about 7 minutes until full time Slough were ahead by one point, 22-23. Didcot attacked from the kick off, and forced Slough back into their own half. With only 4 minutes left, Slough had a line out on their 10 metre line. Andy Cleevely managed to get up in front of the Slough jumper and steal it, Didcot were in with a chance! Didcot moved the ball quickly and recycled the ball well. A break was made, the ball was off loaded to Paul C, who managed to stay on his feet in the initial contact and off load to Sam. Sam saw a gap and took it, beat the defence and scored under the posts. Andy T converted and Didcot took the lead 29-23. The decision to shorten the halves came back to haunt Slough and Didcot held on for the last 2 minutes to secure their first victory of the season. Man of the Match This could have gone to several players, Ben made some excellent runs in the centre, Paul C controlled the game well from scrum half and Jamie scored 2 excellent tries. However the award went to Wadey for his bullocking runs and excellent work in the loose. As Dave said ‘All he has to do now is learn to pass!!’ back to fixtures 2007/08 IT WAS KICK OFF AT THREE O’CLOCK WADEY, NOT MEET AT 3! Tadley II 36 Saturday 20th October Didcot travelled to Tadley feeling confident that they could get a result against another team struggling towards the bottom of the table. Unfortunately the Tadley team they came up against was not the same one that been playing the rest of the season as they were bolstered by first team players at Flanker, Wing and Scrum Half. The tone for the afternoon was set right at the start when Greg was all set to kick off, only for the referee to point out that there were only 14 Didcot players on the pitch! Wadey had made his usual dramatic late entrance and was still getting changed, whilst Griff, who everybody thought was going to start, was helping him! The referee forced Didcot to kick off, only for the ball to not travel 10 metres. Scrum down and no Front Row! With the only other choice to go to uncontested scrums and forfeit the game, Dave was forced to strip off his track suit and step in as prop. This was Dave’s only contribution to the game as he was quickly replaced by Wadey. As he pointed out, he was involved in the only scrum taken off Tadley all afternoon, definitely worthy of man of the match consideration! Didcot started in their usual slow manner, whilst Tadley were straight out of the blocks and pressurising Didcot. Didcot were not helped by the referee who was left unsighted of such a blatant forward pass that even the Tadley front row were getting ready for a scrum. Following quick ruck ball, Tadley utilised an overlap to score out wide. The conversion was missed and Didcot were behind 5-0. Tadley continued to dominate Didcot in most aspects and were causing real problems against Didcot’s lineout. A period of sustained pressure brought another try for Tadley, this time one of the back row scoring from the base of a driving maul. The try was converted, 12-0 to Tadley. Didcot’s backs were causing problems on the occasions that the ball was moved wide, with Billy, Phil and Andy Clelland all having excellent runs. Unfortunately Didcot could not manage to support these players well enough and often the ball was turned over in the tackle, just through sheer numbers. Didcot were also hampered by the fact that fly-half Keith had pulled his groin during the warm up but gamely carried on. However this seriously limited his mobility and made it difficult to get the back line moving forward. Tadley scored another contentious try, this time the Tadley first team scrum half intercepting a ball from Paul to Keith off the base of an under pressure scrum(nobody, apart from the referee, could quite work out how Tadley’s scrum half could be stood next to Keith without being off side). This was converted and Didcot were trailing 19-0. Andy T had another excellent game attacking from full back. Every time Tadley kicked the ball to him, he returned it with interest. One of his mazy runs gave Didcot their best chance of the half to score. Andy received the ball deep inside his own half, jinked his way past several players and almost reached Tadley’s 22 when the full back got across to cover but the pass from Andy to Andy Clelland, did not quite go to hand and the danger was cleared. Tadley continued to pile on the pressure and towards the end of the first half the Tadley centre scored under the posts, following a lovely delayed pass from the fly half. Score at half time was Tadley 24, Didcot 0. Following some stern words from Greg, Paul P and Dave, Didcot started the second half much better. The rucking and mauling was much improved and Didcot managed to keep better control of the ball, giving more chances for the dangerous backs to attack. However Tadley continued to trouble Didcot and from a 5 metre scrum, the number 8 managed to get over the line to score. The conversion was taken and Tadley’s lead was increased to 31 points. A few minutes later the number 8 managed to score again, this time on the end of a good move which was started by their full back deep in his own half. Conversion missed 36-0. With 20 minutes still to go, Didcot could have easily let their heads drop and give up as they would have done a couple of seasons ago. However this team was not going to give up without a fight and really took it to Tadley. Didcot played the better rugby in the last quarter and really pressurised Tadley. From a line out on the opposition 22, Didcot called a set move which resulted in Sam running in all the way to score. Didcot had finally got on the score sheet 36-5. Didcot continued to attack Tadley and set up camp in their 22. With time almost over, Didcot got a penalty 5 metres out. Sam took the ball and battered through the opposition and over the line. However he managed to lose the ball which went backwards into the arms of Andy Cleevely who gratefully received the gift wrapped present to score under the posts. Andy T converted and the game was over. 36-12 to Tadley but 12-12 in the second half. Didcot host Wallingford next week and will be looking to record their 2nd win of the season. Man of the Match This was a much easier decision for Dave to make this week, the outstanding player on the pitch and also the most generous in trying to share the try scoring with Andy, the man of the match was Sam. back to fixtures 2007/08 Saturday 1st December Didcot entertained the team that had knocked them out of the EDF Junior Vase earlier in the season with revenge on their mind. The conditions were difficult to say the least, 15 minutes before kick off the heavens opened and the wind picked up and both teams were faced with the prospect of playing in torrential rain and hail storms. Thatcham won the toss and had no hesitation in choosing to play with the strong wind at their backs for the first half. The conditions did not help either side with both teams attempting to play expansive rugby and struggling to keep the slippery ball in hand. However it was Thatcham that dominated much of the first half, using the wind well to kick over the heads of Didcot and pin them back in their half. Didcot’s defence held firm and the backs, Andy Taylor and Kev Wort especially, put in some big hits and kept Thatcham at bay. Didcot had few attacking opportunities in the first half, and whenever they managed to get into the opposition ’22, handling errors caused by the conditions continued to let them down. The only score was an opportunistic try from Thatcham following a kick that was failed to be dealt with by the Didcot back three. The conversion was missed, making the score 0-5 at the half. Didcot were hoping to capitalise on the conditions in the second half but unfortunately the wind and rain disappeared and the benefit that Thatcham had used in the first half was denied to Didcot. However Didcot dominated much of the play in the second period and spent large amounts of time camped in the opposition half. A brief foray into Didcot territory from Thatcham resulted in a penalty which the Thatcham fly half kicked to make the score 0-8. With 5 minutes to go Didcot strung several good phases of play together which, following some deft inter play amongst the forwards, resulted in the ball being moved wide and John Stephens crashed over the line from 5 yards out. Unfortunately the referee adjudged that John had dropped the ball in the act of grounding it and the try was not awarded. Despite the loss, Didcot were happy with the much improved performance and hope to build on this to start to return to winning ways in the second half of the season. Man of the Match This was a difficult decision with Kevin Wort, Paul Parlett and Aaron Wade all having excellent games but in the end the award went to Andy Taylor for his ferocious tackling. back to fixtures 2007/08 Sunday 9th December. Oxfordshire Shield Preliminary Round Didcot were drawn against Blue Boar for the fourth year running in the preliminary round of the Oxfordshire Shield. Due to the wet conditions the game was not allowed to be played at Edmond’s Park so was held instead at Hagbourne Triangle although the conditions were not much better there. Didcot had no hesitation in choosing to play with the wind at their backs for the first half and in fact were the team that started more brightly. The backs were running hard and straight, the forwards recycled the ball well and the scrummaging was solid. Blue Boar were giving away a huge number of penalties, mainly for handling on the floor, and were punished when they infringed inside their own 22. Phil Dawes kicked the penalty and Didcot took a 3-0 lead. Blue Boar attacked from the kick off and were causing problems through their veteran pack and young quick backs. However Didcot’s defence held firm and at one stage managed to stop a Blue Boar drive which was already over the Didcot try line and drive Blue Boar back almost to the 22. Eventually the defence cracked and Blue Boar scored in the corner which the fly half failed to convert. 3-5 to Blue Boar. Didcot came straight back at Blue Boar and 2 strong runs from Dan McGeary and Sam Lacy got Didcot back into Blue Boar’s 22. The visiting side gave away another penalty and Didcot had the chance to take the lead, half way through the first half. Unfortunately the wind pushed the kick wide and Blue Boar maintained their lead. With less than 10 minutes to go in the half, Blue Boar scored two quick tries to go into half time with the score at 3-19. The second half showed Blue Boar exert their dominance. Their fly half, who had orchestrated the back line well all day, utilised his massive boot and the wind to keep Didcot penned back in their own 22 for most of the half. The Blue Boar pack seemed to have woken up and started to cause problems for Didcot in the scrum and the quick wingers were proving very difficult to tackle. Didcot continued to defend well but the pressure proved too much and Blue Boar scored 25 unanswered points in the second half. The final score was Didcot 3, Blue Boar 44 Man of the Match The award went to 2 players this week, Sam Lacy and Mike King for the excellent work they did in the loose, securing our own ball and disrupting Blue Boar’s. back to fixtures 2007/08
|
However by the morning of the first home game, injuries (look, my little finger can do this!), holidays, defections and work commitments meant that Didcot needed one more player for a full complement – or for Ian or Mike to bring in that extra spice, which comes with maturity.
A few minutes later Sam decided to do what he used to regularly do a few years ago and tore through a number of opposition players for a 50-odd yard touchdown.
Suddenly Shire Hall decided to stop playing rugby and just got a load of big guys to slowly plough a few furrows up and down the field. Amazingly, this brought three quick tries and half time saw a slender 20-17 lead.
Shire Hall’s full back came off the field after a solid display, so in the general good spirit of the game, Kev decided, in the middle of a sizeable ruck, to even the numbers up and just picked the ball up. This act rather surprised the referee - who felt he had to produce a yellow card – but not half as much as Kev’s rather Rooney-esque questioning of the decision.
Click here to Contact Us
Club contact No. 07783 770233