A fine day for rugby in Holton as Wheatley took on Crowthorne in the league with perfect conditions. The ground was soft underfoot and the sun was out. Excellent conditions for Wheatley’s patented brand of brawn and pace.

The Wheatley players took to the pitch wearing a brand new kit (Thanks to DPD for delivering it on Friday), courtesy of sponsors XT Brewery and Peoplevalue. The shirts were a touch snug on some of the “bulkier” players and on certain players *cough* captain Poochos *cough* seemed to arouse the nipples. Fitting that on the day that Wheatley wore new shirts with a memorial to Jason, they were playing the team from Jason’s last game.

The match kicked off at a frantic pace and despite strong attacks from Wheatley, they were unable to breach the Crowthorne line. A couple of cheap penalties lead to Crowthorne getting a lineout on the Wheatley 5 metre line. They duly converted the catch and drive and went up 5-0.

Back on to the offensive. Wheatley worked their way in to the opposition 22 and some good hands lead Barney over the line, except he decided, for once in his career, to not be greedy and stretch for the try. Fortunately, Guy managed to catch the pop from the ensuing ruck and crashed over for a try. This may have been his undoing as someone with a ruptured ACL should probably not be attempting crash balls.

Wheatley kicked off and Ben set off as fast as his uncle in a sports car to clatter another one of Crowthorne’s older team member and somehow he avoided a yellow. This subsequently lead to Danny Clark getting a yellow for cuddling a Crowthorne player, much to his surprise and Ryan’s who only realised this happened the day after.

However, Wheatley failed to capitalise on the momentum and again, silly mistakes allowed Crowthorne to score as another penalty on the Wheatley line allowed a crash ball to breach the line. They continued their pressure and scored another try before the break.

Wheatley regrouped at half time and came out for the second half knowing that the scoreline was not good enough. To begin with, Poochie made some inspired changes, bringing himself off and allowing some fresh legs on. A penalty allowed Wheatley a line out 10 metres out from the line which Harry duly shot up and took, setting the rolling maul, and converting it himself after a couple of phases.

He got his second after some safe hands down the line and Wheatley were on the move. After some more excellent rugby, Adam scored under the posts for Robbie to convert leaving Wheatley ahead for the first time. Unfortunately, Barney decided to deliver some rough justice by some name calling and conceded a penalty on the halfway line. Wheatley decided to make it something of a competition and didn’t tackle the runner to allow Crowthorne another try under the posts. They converted for 22-22.

With the last play of the game, Wheatley couldn’t score again. However, some really good positives, attacking play, defence, and, like last week, the set piece.

Next week, Didcot, we need to regroup and get our first win of the year. Polly loves cake