A bit ring rusty after the Christmas break, and maybe a bit tentative after a run of four defeats, the Colts got off to a slow start against Newbury, with the visitors drawing first blood after spending virtually all of the first 15 minutes in our half. But then the confidence started to return and although we made hard work of scoring after a prolonged period of pressure inside the Newbury twenty-two the try did eventually come when Sash squeezed into the corner to touch down. 5-5 at half time was disappointing considering the amount of territory and possession we had but poor decision making, a try saving tackle to prevent Cam getting into the other corner, and a disallowed try when it looked like Guy had touched down kept the scores even.

The second half started much more positively. The forwards upped the intensity and were more aggressive and dynamic at the breakdown. When Newbury did gain possession the tackling was fierce, and before long we scored our second when George ghosted thorough the defensive line to score under the posts and give himself a simple conversion. If we thought that would open the floodgates, we were wrong. Newbury came back strongly and enjoyed their second good spell of the game, rewarded with a deserved but unconverted try to narrow the score to 12-10. However, in the last 15 minutes our lads showed what they are capable of produced probably their best 15 minutes rugby of the season. The aggression was channelled in the right way, the forwards pressured and the backs created space enabling George to pull off an outrageous side step to secure his second seven-pointer of the match.. The move of the match led to the fourth try when Mini released Sash with a superb pass, Sash fed Guy who made ground before offloading in the tackle for Dom to finish the move. George slotted the extras to take the final score to 26-10.

Still some things to work on of course. The decision making was not always optimal, still too much hanging back at the breakdown and the back line was at times a bit ragged. But there were plenty of positives too, not least in getting the win. It was great to have Nic back for the first time this season, Dom had a great game, George Bartlett is a valuable addition to the squad and brought a new dimension to our play, Tommo was as tenacious in defence as ever and the U17s in Dan and Kieran did extremely well in the front row, as did Dan when he came on at scrum half.

Now let's make sure we keep that winning habit.