Wheatley headed in to this rearranged game with a strong side and, for a change, a couple of subs. From the off, Wheatley battered their way into the Faringdon 22 with some strong running from the centres Lewis Mayling and Sean O’Leary. The back line released Alex Cove, Adam Muir and Jordan Mayling to great effect, and despite all the pressure, last ditch tackles from the visitors denied Wheatley a score. Jordan must have felt sorry for the opposition as he kept giving them a chance to catch him up.

Wheatley were denied an early try when James Pollard, man of the match, drove over from short range but was judged to have been pushed in to touch by the opposition, so the ref agreed. The early pressure eventually paid off when Muir slotted a penalty under the posts.

Wheatley released the pressure and Faringdon came back at them. Their old heads in the forwards kept pushing Wheatley to the edge and caused some problems at the set piece. Having moved up the field, they were awarded a penalty which fell just short of the posts. Andy Tippet was left an easy catch to mark, but, like Jordan, decided to give the opposition a chance by dropping it and conceding a 5 metre scrum under the posts. Fortunately for him, the recently reunited triumvirate of Pollard, Pete Mitchell and Jody Hyde kept the opposition at bay and the opposition work came to nothing.

The boys in purple then put their foot down. Tries from Ben Highton and Andy Tippet with a conversion from Muir put the score at 15-0 at half time. Wheatley were anxious for the bonus point and started the second half brightly. The forwards started turning the screw and caused the opposition pack some real problems. With Pollard now at 7 and Surm, Pete and Ted in the front row, the pack began dismantling Faringdon with relative ease. Only Elmo missing a pick and go from the visiting number 8 caused any issues.

Wheatley’s defence held strong and maintained the clean sheet, which could prove vital with Wheatley’s points for total relatively low so far this season.

Second half tries from Tippet (2), Highton (2), Muir and Adam – who’s surname I have forgotten – plus another 4 conversions from Muir pushed Wheatley to their biggest win of the season.

Nick Banton did nothing of note except lie on the ground.