On the 19th of November 1850, Alfred Tennyson succeeded William Wordsworth to become Poet Laureate, fast forward to this date in 2016 and the Wildboys were visiting Henwick Worthy Sports Fields to face Thatcham 2’s. In Tennyson’s ‘Charge Of The Light Brigade’ he wrote “When can their glory fade?” This question has been asked a great deal whilst discussing the Wildboys and with many of the regular team unavailable it was more pressing than ever as the team arrived at Thatcham HQ.
The Wildboys were pleased to announce the return of two players from injury, Tom White was returning after 8 months to the day since a breaking his ankle and Mark Bradburn was returning after 15 months out with a hurty leg.
With Captain George White still in the USA celebrating the victory of Donald Trump Jnr, it was Tom White who led the Wildboys out for their seventh game of the season. The game began and sat at stalemate for the first 10 minutes, then an inspired run from Jayson Abbott saw him bouncing off four attempted tackles and powering up the field, he offloaded to Adam Draper who had the easy task of running unchallenged over the line for the first score of the day. The following conversion was expertly struck by the in-form Will Jones, putting the Wildboys up 7-0.
Thatcham were undeterred by the opening try and continued to push for points, before long a brace of penalties, both in front of the posts, gave them this opportunity and their fly-half lofted the ball over both times, closing the score to 7-6. The Wildboys responded in typical fashion with a phase of play seeing the ball run through the hands and out to Mark Bradburn who was stood out on the wing. All he had to do was dive over the line for a certain try, but Old Father Time tried to gently place the ball down to avoid putting his back out and was subsequently held up. A few plays later the Wildboys were awarded a penalty not too far out and as they were setting up for a crash ball, they realised they actually now had a kicking option and opted to kick for posts. Once again Will Jones came up with the goods and extended the lead to 10-6.
The Wildboys continued to press for more points and at times the defended heroically against a determined Thatcham. After another barnstorming run from Jayson Abbott, the Wildboys were back in the driving seat and before long George Hope was diving over the line for the second try of the day. The resulting conversion was narrowly missed, but this was soon rectified as Will Jones slotted a penalty over the posts to put the score at 18-6. Thatcham responded by converting their own penalty to narrow the Wildboys lead to just 9 points (18-9).
This is how the score remained at half-time, and some strong words within the Wildboys circle saw them start the second half with some renewed vigour. An impressive solo run from Adam Draper saw him score his second try of the day, and shortly after George Hope was also scoring his second which was converted by Will Jones and extended the Wildboys lead to 30-9. Chinnor had finally begun to play in the way we have come to expect, the forwards started looking after the ball at breakdowns and were trucking the ball up the field, giving the backs the opportunity to run riot. Before long Chinnor were scoring again, this time it was the returning Tom White who was diving over the line and in turn Will Jones extended the lead with the conversion, making the score 37-9.
The next try came again from Adam Draper who claimed his hat-trick for the day, but not to be out-done, George hope was again in possession of the ball and clearly only had eyes for the line. He shrugged off a couple of tackles and touched down under the posts for his own hat-trick and the final try of the day. Will jones added to his tally by converting and put the final score at 49-9 in favour of the Wildboys.
Thatcham put on a hard battle in the first half, but it was a fine display from the Wildboys in the second half that saw them earn the victory. There were some great individual performances within the Wildboys, notably George Hope and Adam Draper with three tries each, but Man of the Match this week goes to Jayson Abbott, whose inspiring runs seemingly turned the tide in what could have been a difficult day for Chinnor. Mare of the Match this week goes to Will Bhagat, who turned up to the fixture raring to go, only to realise he brought an empty pack of contact lenses and as such had to rush off to collect a pair, only making it back with 30 minutes remaining.
Next week the Wildboys host Reading Abbey 2s for the first time in a number of years, until then, keep it wild….
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Man of the Match: Jayson Abbott
Mare of the Match: Will Bhagat
Tries: A.Draper (3), G.Hope (3), T.White
Convs: W.Jones (4)
Pens: W.Jones (2)