Reeds Make it Five Wins on the Bounce
REGIONAL 2 SOUTH EAST
REEDS WEYBRIDGE 40 OLD COLFEIANS 32
It was a special Presidents lunch day down at Whiteley last Saturday, and the guests, together with the packed touchline of supporters were hoping to see their heroes clock up a convincing win against Colfeians who are at the bottom end of the table. They collected the win together with a four try bonus point as well, but it was a result that was secured by individual brilliance rather than an eighty-minute cohesive team performance with the win being needlessly in doubt until the final whistle. Early on it was the visitors, coming down the hill, who had the best of the action taking up residence deep in Reeds territory, Reeds strayed offside and Ryan Napper the No 10 slotted a simple penalty to take an early 0 – 3 lead. Later on, had Colfes not had limited success with their penalty shots and conversions, the game would have been a lot closer with their kicker unfortunately for them having an off day. Back to the early action, and it was Reeds, with No 9 Ollie Palmer rifling out pin point accurate passes that gave the back division that extra metre of space, Reeds on the move had men free on the outside probing around the Colfeians 22, the Colfes cover fanned out to cover the danger but a sharp inside pass to Michael Wasko the No 4, taking the ball at pace on a sharp inside line, wrong footed the defence and it was a seven pointer under the sticks. Ben Sherry, Reeds No 10, was the instigator of the second try, his clever chip over the oncoming rush defence allowed centre Josh Clark to run on to the kindly bounce and Reeds scored once again under the posts. Reeds now had two tries on the board and a 14 – 3 lead. Pete Cole collected another long-range penalty before Colfes finally responded by way of winger Charlie Nagel who crashed over just by the corner flag for an unconverted try to make it 17 – 8 at half time.
Reeds were nine points in front and had the slope in their favour in the second half. It was time to unleash Reeds pacy back division and they duly initiated a move from deep in their own half, but it all went pear shaped with balls being off-loaded under pressure creating a series of handling errors that left Colfes with the easy task of picking the ball up and scoring a try under the sticks. The conversion seemed a formality, however, Matt Stevenson, Reeds quick winger saw the kicker hesitate, and charged down the conversion, a morale sapping moment for Colfes with two easy points lost. Up front, Reeds were having a difficult time holding the big Colfes pack in the tight scrums and that allowed their forwards – particularly O’Malley and Baker – and backs to launch several dangerous sorties into Reeds half. It was in those ferocious mid field encounters that Chuggs Wallis, the back row specialist, earned his Man of the Match Award, denying the visitors quick ball that would have given them scoring opportunities. Pete Cole stretched the lead with another long-distance penalty to make it 20 – 13 soon followed by an attack launched by Matt Stevenson from Reeds 22, his blistering pace took him wide of the cover, winger Aaron Endeley took an inside pass 10 metres from the line and he was over the whitewash near the flag for a five pointer and a 25 – 13 lead. Reeds were now on the charge and a slick passing movement allowed just enough room for winger Nick Brown to touch down for another seven-pointer under the posts following an earlier decisive burst of pace and offload by full back Pete Cole. It was a nineteen-point lead now at 32 – 13 and it seemed as if Reeds were home and dry. However, in that last quarter Reeds conceded a series of penalties and yellow cards and that coupled with a few missed tackles at close quarters allowed Colfes to score two late tries and come within eight points of Reeds total with Reeds adding a further penalty courtesy of Josh Clark. It was a nervous time for the Reeds support until late on when Ben Sherry, the No 10, gathered a steepling high clearance kick from inside his own half and ran it back with interest to score a tremendous solo try that put the game to bed, touching down for an unconverted try and a 40 – 32 scoreline.
Matt Edwards from the Hampshire Society was the referee in charge, consistent and decisive, he ensured an enjoyable afternoon of rugby for players and spectators alike.
Man of the Match: Chuggs Wallis
Team: Lennan Day / Rhys Day / Leon Champion / Lewis Jones / Michael Wasko / Chuggs Wallis / Ben Ewington / Alex Corner / Ollie Palmer / Ben Sherry / Nick Brown / Josh Clark / Ollie Maitland / Aaron Endeley / Pete Cole. Bench: George Corner / Ollie Tyndale / Matt Stevenson
Next week Reeds Weybridge are away to Old Reigatians, kick off 3:00pm
Reeds 2nd XV 36, Weybridge Vandals 2nd XV 21.
GS October 19th 2024
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