Dismal first half sinks spirited Wheatley fight back

Dismal 30mins sinks spirited Wheatley fight back

After a few weeks rest the men in purple were back in full flow taking on a familiar Chesham side an hour away from home in the Chiltern hills.

Wheatley kicked off and uncharacteristically started strong with concerted effort and carries up deep into the Chesham half. After many minutes of pressure and a couple of unforced errors, a number of penalties ensued, Wheatley settled for a pop at the posts which was unfortunately missed due to a sudden late gust of wind. More Wheatley pressure and Laman converted with 3 points from the tee following more big carries and solid Wheatley ball retention.

Following the first 15 minutes of constant Wheatley possession, Chesham started to find their feet in the game with carries through the midfield and finally exploiting out wide. Much of the same continued with sloppy wheatley defence and a few scores from Chesham with the stags leading comfortably at the end of the first half.

The second half started with the halftime message sinking in and Wheatley carrying with intent from the off. Multiple penalties and clever kicking from the hand pinned Chesham back. Tamworth, after many months of practice, pulled off two “Gregans”, on two consecutive plays, luring in multiple Chesham players and finding himself galloping through on the whitewash. Tamworth, like his autumn crop, was felled by the chesham fullback and selfishly took the ball to deck. More positive play and tactical kicking and russ finds the corner for a Wheatley line out. Wheatley pack tactically let Chesham win the ball from their line out for Bland to scoop up the scraps and scamper over from close range. Laman converts the extras.

Much of the second half continued with back and forth with Wheatley carrying hard and brutal turnovers and rucking to blunt the Chesham attack.

The game ends with a Chesham win but Wheatley drawing the second half 1 - 1 following a terrible first half. The scoreboard does not reflect the Wheatley performance and the men will take some positivity from the final 40 with momentum carried into next week.

Credit to Harry having a solid day as a makeshift 15, Stan with a big impact off the bench and carrying hard, and Laman for a big performance kicking and carrying as always. Credit also to Ben, Cocky, Adam and Dave for sticking with it against some clinical running from Chesham back line. The pack as usual get no credit for another solid scrummaging display against a low Chesham pack and for another dominant line out performance.

MoM to Nelly for his rampaging carry’s and constantly putting the Chesham defence on the back foot. DoD to Keir for his all to brief cameo following firstly a scrap with the Chesham front row, and then a try saving tackle and sin binning from five meters out following an impingement from a tap and go from the Chesham 9.

Roll on next week and back to winning ways with Gabbidon forecast for another DoD performance.