The last meeting between Wheatley and Slough saw us dominate with a 39-0 victory on their own ground. It was a game against a team with strength, speed and talent, but with a couple of players lacking decorum. Those players attitude towards the sport and the referee was nothing short of shameful and ultimately it was their undoing against a calm and composed Wheatley side.

So, when Slough came to Wheatley to have a chance to hit back, we thought they might have learned something from that last sour performance. We were wrong.

Considering the two's didn't have a game this weekend, we had suprisingly few backs for a first team home game. This wasn't helped by Jake Durbin who was set to start on the wing sustaining a knee injury in the pre-game warm-up.

The game began with Wheatley exerting pressure from the kick-off, with big tackles raining in from Dan Bland and strong runs from the Pooch. After a period in their half we were rewarded with the first of many penalties and despite the strong winds, Dingle slotted it with ease.

Slough came back hard and an injury to Gareth meant we were now fielding two forwards at wing and center. Slough were able to convert their pressure into their first try.

Wheatley worked their way back behind enemy lines with strong dominant play from the Wheatley pack. A big run from Lego knocked the Slough hooker out cold, having been unconscious for a good 10 seconds he left the field (only to be allowed back on in the second half by the Slough physio). Off the back of a ruck George fired a fast ball to Dingle, with quick hands to Muir the gap opened up like the parting of the red sea. An unopposed saunter under the posts with a conversion from Ding saw the score move to 10-5.

By now a select few of the hormonal Slough players we were playing against were starting to get on the refs nerves. Having not learnt that chatting back only gives away penalties even the Slough contingency on the sidelines felt the need to join in with the ref bashing, with Old man Muir feeling obliged to give their mouthy supporters a lesson in manners.

The second half began with more promising work from the Wheatley side. Jamie Butcher made a run, Muir was in support but not needed as Jamie (AKA Snake hips) slid though two tackles and rounded another to place the ball down for another Wheatley Score. The physicality of the game was getting more intense and it was great to see the ancient trio of Banton, Jimbo and Surm still having a solid impact on the field. Tempers were flared after Dingle was tackled late by the Slough flanker causing the inevitable retaliation and resulted in both players being yellow carded. The back line now consisted of only three actual backs.

The next 15 minutes saw some woeful defence from Wheatley allowing the speedy Slough wingers to slot 3 tries in quick succession. With the two conversions this brought the score to 15 - 24. Wheatley weren't happy with this, feeling like the stronger side Wheatley knew they would have to act fast to win this game. Luckily the atrocious attitudes of a couple of the Slough players played out in our favor, with penalties allowing us to control territory. Great work from the forwards saw Banton get a try which Dingle converted.

Now with only a two point gap to overcome, Wheatley turned the screw, exerting more and more pressure on the already wound up Slough side. The clock was ticking down and the coming try was looking inevitable. The pressure was obviously too much for Slough though, with Wheatley just inches away from the line, a slough player played the ball on the floor, leaving the ref with no option but to award a last minute penalty try which was easily converted in front of the posts.

Wheatley were jubilant as the petulant Slough scrum half exploded with rage, launching his gumshield in the direction of the ref and started punching the goal posts. He then squared up to the ref as Wheatley looked on in disbelief. At one point he even tried to take off his boot to throw as he was led away by the calmer teammates

In summary Wheatley could have played a lot better and should have won by more points. But considering our lack of backs we still managed the bonus point win due to sporadic solid team work and an awful display of common sense from Slough. Going forward our tactics against Slough should always be to remain calm and let them make enemies with the referee as they obviously didn't learn this lesson the first time.

Finally, a massive thank you to the ref who stayed professional throughout the game, in what felt like a football match, rather than a level 8 rugby match.

Score: 29 - 24
Man of the Match: Jamie Butcher
Dick of the Day: Jake Durbin