Wheatley returned with high hopes for a win after 2 straight losses, hosting Hungerford with Weather described by many as “perfect”. The starting line up featured many of the regulars but with Cal returning to wear the 10 shirt, the backs featured an unstoppable amount of pace with even more to come. However, despite Poochies 21st celebrations looming, it was not so “perfect”.

Wheatley started strong and clearly wanted the win from close table rivals Hungerford with hard fought scrums which seemed to be one sided. After winning a scrum on the 5 meter line, quick ball from Tippet and Cal allowed Knoop to brake the line and with a cheeky little step, missed the winger to secure Wheatleys first try. With last weeks improvised kicking tee (poochie) Moose attempted further success however this did not pay off, with a close miss to the posts.

With Wheatleys spirits high the intensity picked up with the standard “black black red” working efficiently, with the forwards clearing the rucks and the backs actually getting clean ball, thanks to a tidy partnership between 9 and 10. With a stroke of genius from the “Humanator” he spotted a trick and intercepted a pass between the oppositions backs. Try number two was scored and Cal slotted it to make it 12 nil (with a real tee). Eventually, Hungerford managed to shake the cobwebs and realised they had a game to be playing. With a large overlap their backs had come to life and were shifting the ball out to the wing in Wheatleys 22, however with an almost identical interception as try one, if not more spectacular, winger Josh took the ball and made a sprint to the try line, with his first score for the 1st team. Fly half Cal completed the deed with 19 points to nil.

At this point Wheatley started to relax which exposed the team to hard-hitting Hungerford forwards who started to spin and slip through tackles. Muir sustained a knock to the nose (with a short trip to A and E after the game), which resulted in a quick swap in the centers with Ben Kelsey coming onto the field.

With further impact play from Hungerford and fast pick and go’s they easily broke the line, which resulted in a try with an equally easy conversion. Heads dropped in the Wheatley camp. At the restart Wheatley’s passages of play started to crack with lack of support and tackling, Hungerford skipped through the line and secured their second try. Half time came with the scores at 19-12 and a wake up call for Wheatley. (With the standard Poochie half time talk “its nil nil”).

As the second half commenced, hard fighting Hungerfordians came strong out of the gates. With a frustrated pack, silly penalties awarded the opposition quick ball which caught Wheatley off guard and resulted in 2 further tries from a now head high Hungerford. The fight it seemed was not over and with a few nice passages of play, resembling that of the first 20 minutes, a long miss pass to Alfie at outside centre created the perfect overlap for him to score in the corner.

Fighting hard, the opposition pushed Wheatley back at the restart and broke the line for a 5th try which just added further pressure to the home side. Things got much worse with Joe binned for “holding on” which allowed them to run the ball right to the corner for their final try and the end of the game.

Wheatley performed immensely in the first 20 minutes, with strong scrums and a lightening set of backs, and will be looking to add to this time significantly for a final home game before Christmas against Littlemore.

Man of the match: Humanator, for solid tackling, textbook running and a try.

Words - Josh Hillsdon