Windsor 1stXV v Bicester

Windsor entertained Bicester at the Home Park in ideal conditions for running rugby, with only a mild crosswind to affect kicking, not that Windsor had much intention of that! With Captain Ed Bell back at flanker and centre Patrick Birch over a short illness, this was very close to Windsor’s best team; ex-Colt Luke McGurk was giving his former Colts team mate Stuart Everton a rest at lock. Bicester are near the bottom of the League and, this being the Old Windorians Re-union Day who were keen to see the attacking rugby for which they were famous; they weren’t disappointed.
 

Windsor kicked off and immediately attacked. A clash of forwards at the first encounter had the Bicester lock off for a cut; Physio Helen Melville fixed that with steri-strips. Scrum-half Tom Lawrence set Taks Ndwere off down the left wing, but good cover defence forced him to throw forward in the tackle for a scrum 5. The Bicester scrum-half tried to kick clear from the back of the scrum, No.8 Darren charged it down,  Stand-off James Driscoll picked up the loose ball, out to Centre Paul Nunn and he sliced through under the posts to give Driscoll an easy conversion.
 

Bicester came back and attacked on Windsor’s 22 line, but there was no way through and they eventually lost possession by chipping through for a dead ball. They opted for a scrum at a penalty, but hooker Matt Sancto took it against the head, Darren picked up and Birch came through the gap at speed. Bell was in support, jinking to avoid the cover defence. Against Chipping Norton at a similar break, he held on, was caught and was slated by your correspondent. This time John Hurst on his right received a good pass and he was in at the corner. Well done, Captain! Driscoll’s kick just drifted wide.
 

A penalty to Bicester gave them 3 points, but they were slow at the restart and Nunn caught the ball carrier hard for a turnover, Flanker Martin Gosling drove to set up the ruck, through the halfbacks to Birch, using Nunn as the dummy runner, for Ndwere to gladly accept a pass, cutting in to give Driscoll an easy conversion.   Bicester had the run of the penalty decisions and pulled back another 3 points. 19-6 at halftime and Windsor looked good, several more scoring chances just lacking an incisive finish.
 

A penalty at the restart was kicked to touch. Lawrence took McGurk’s clean ball from the lineout, to Driscoll. Bicester had every reason to be wary of Windsor’s in-form centres and their fullback had covered them well, but this time Driscoll passed back inside to Lawrence and he scooted through the gap with the fullback nowhere near him. An easy conversion and Windsor thought this game was won. Back came Bicester with the help of a penalty, breaking clear for the first time down the left wing. A desparate and brave tackle by Nunn just saved the score, but from an ensuing 5m. scrum, the Bicester pack pushed over the line and scored. The kick missed leaving Windsor more than 2 scores ahead. 

At the next play, a lineout, Birch decided to cut inside diagonally. He seemed to run through most of the Bicester team, giving Lawrence an inside pass for another clear scoot to the line. 

Coach Paul Britton rang the changes, subs Sean Kennedy and Lee Rawlings (ex-Windsor Colts) and Owen Flisher came on for Nunn, Hurst and Ray Cox. The injured Owen Oxlade took over water carrier in his beach wear. Lawrence made another break and gleefully scored his hatrick, Driscoll bouncing the converion back off a post. Flisher showed his flanker origins, wrestling the ball from his opposite winger, and putting fullback Daplyn away, but his pass to Lawrence with the line clear was adjudged forward.

Bicester got the ball, but the steam was out of them and they resorted to forward drives. A penalty to Windsor stopped that and Gosling took a quick tap, only to be stopped in his tracks. Physio Helen was off the mark immediately, showing a turn of pace that belied her 7 months pregnancy. Captain Bell came into the line for the next break, Lawrence was there again, but he passed to Birch, who ran from halfway, again diagonally, to score wideout, too far for Driscoll to convert. He made up for that with a long kick, Flisher caught the fullback, again wrestled the ball away and fed Driscoll on his shoulder for the last of 8 tries. With the conversion, that made it 48-11.

 

What a change from the previous week. Coach Paul Britton was naturally delighted, but not surprised at his player’s good performance; it was Nunn’s 30^th Birthday and the team wanted a good post-match celebration, kicking off with a Max Tray Special. He may be brave, but he couldn’t down the raw egg!

 

This was Lawrence’s best performance with a hatrick of tries from excellent support play and he gets the Willmett Solicitors Man of the Match.

 

Team:- Daplyn, Hurst, Nunn, Birch, Ndwere, Driscoll, Lawrence, Darren, Gosling, Bell, Wright, McGurk, Kelly, Sancto, Cox. Subs. Flisher, Rawlings, Kennedy