From the outset Wheatley gave Drifters little opportunity to settle into the game playing with high tempo and urgency Drifters could not adapt to the pace of play and gifting the purple men free ball with poor kicking allowing the Wheatley back three time and space to ignite play.

Inside 7 minutes Wheatley had opened the scoring with a Aaron Laman penalty after the visitors breakdown offence inside the 22 allowed an easy 3 points.

On 10 minutes Wheatley were back in the 22 and again poor discipline put pressure on the visitors and with the Wheatley pack sniffing blood, Wheatley opted for the scrum and duly delivered clean ball to the back line, patience ensued with phases built James Neal as on hand to dummy his way over with Laman adding the conversion 10-0

Wheatley began to play exciting heads up rugby and looking for the space at each and every opportunity, a Drifters clearance fell short with Toby Butler on hand to move the ball wide Michale Ridge was on hand to open up the visitors defence with a 50 meter gallop up field evading several tackles before off loading to the supporting Sanda Mpanza who delivered a well timed pass to Dan Rule who rounded the Drifters 15 to score the try of the match with Aaron adding the extras 17-0

Inside 20 minutes Dan Rule had his brace after collecting a loose kick Rule turned on the afterburners and went under the posts 24-0

With Wheatley looking in control complacency got the better of them and some poor at the breakdown gave Drifters field position and poor defending at the subsequent maul allowed Drifters to get off the mark 24-5

With Drifters buoyed having opened their account the preceding 10 minutes proved more of a challenge for Wheatley but in stark contrast to previous seasons the purple men stood firm and it was Jack Taylor who settled the nerves with a sniping run opening up the defence and slipping under the posts and with Laman off the field receiving treatment Jack Taylor added the conversion 31-5

Jack Smith was next on the score sheet after some great interplay from forwards and backs Jack emerged on the wing and was able to dive over to open his account Jack Taylor missing the conversion 36-5

Half Time

Drifters were next to score with the ball hacked through the Drifters wing won the foot race to go under the posts for a converted try on the 50 minute mark 36-12

The remaining 30 minutes saw Wheatley up their game and tempo with Jack Smith adding a further two tries all coming from support play from both backs and forwards Sanda Mpanza was also names on the score sheet after supporting a Jack Taylor break Jack Taylor added another conversion with Aaron Laman returning to action to add a further 2 conversion with the scoring finishing up at 57-12

This match was a real snapshot of the potential with in this Wheatley squad and with the Outlaws winning 66-0 at Bicester the squad depth is also encouraging great individual performances from many today with Alex Gabbidon standing out with some fine running lines and off loads Pete Mitchells performance in to loose was stand out with his pace onto the ball and in to contact and clear example to others,

I can't complete the match report without congratulating the Drifter six for producing a fine squat press and lift all 22 stones of Alex Gabbidon and take him up to the roof terrace good work!

MoM Alex Gabbidon
DoD Toby Butler