The dawn of an important season for Wheatley began with a friendly away game against Witney 2's. A team that are two leagues above the league Wheatley are moving into. Despite not having any of the usual's available at 9 or 10 Wheatley moved people around and fielded a strong side. We knew we were the underdogs but wanted to compete and upset the opposition as much as possible.

The first 10 minutes were not pretty, Witney started hard and it took some time for our players to find their feet and remember the game. Going 7 points down early on seemed to provide the wake up call we needed. Our defence tightened up, with big crunching hits coming in from Seb, demoralising the opposition a little more each time. Our attack began working it's magic, the forwards got some ball out which Lil and Dingle distributed to our lightning paced backs. With the likes of Nelly, Jack and Josh working the back of the field, making dangerous runs into space. It wasn't long before a cross field kick from Dingle bounced backwards over the waiting arms of Jack Smith into the path of Fido. He span out of one tackle mid-catch and handed off the next before running around the full back to score our first try.

Now Wheatley were the ones controlling the game, we had a shell shocked Witney on the ropes. More clever running from Dingle and Seb created overlap for our wingers to gain some ground. A double scissors manoeuvre from set piece saw Dingle dummy Seb and pop inside to Fido at pace to seal another score. The gap in defence was opened up and a straight fast line was all that was required to make the try.

Witney came back with ferocity, hitting hard winning rucks and spoiling our scrums. A lapse in concentration and discipline allowed them to sneak through a weak try. We ended the first half at 12-12.

Feeling like this game was ours for the taking Wheatley started the second half hard. But Witney were upping the tempo of their game too. Their heavy forwards made an impact across the field, a lot of tackling was required. With newcomer at 9 Lil putting in his fair share of the hits Wheatley were surviving, but we were pinned back in our 22 for too long. Eventually a try was conceded putting us 5 behind.

Despite this Wheatley were having fun. Witney in their aggravated state clearly upset the ref with back chat, who responded accordingly by pushing them back 10 and giving us a penalty. Some great hands worked the ball out to Nelly, who seemed much happier in his old position of full back. He broke a gap and had the support of Fido and Josh either side of him. The ball went to Fido who made more yards but was snagged, he popped the ball up to Luke Durbin who along with more Wheatley support got it up to right in front of the opposition posts. Quick ball was needed and that was exactly what Sean got. Deciding to use his hands instead of his chest this time he took the ball in space and ran over the line. After Dingle's conversion, a jubilant Wheatley were now leading by 2 points with just 10 minutes to go.

Unfortunately Wheatley spent most of the last part of the game pushed back in their own 22. Poor fitness was beginning to show cracks and Witney managed to bag another in the corner. The whistle blew at 19-24 to Witney, disappointed with the narrow loss but overall happy with their performance, Wheatley enjoyed a well earned beer in the sun. Here's to a great season ahead!

Tries: Fido x2, Sean x1
Conversions: Dingle and Seb
Words: Fido (Muir)