Windsor U12s v Marlow and Buckingham

Right from the whistle, Buckingham dominated our match squad. A well received ball from kick-of immediately followed-up by some bobbing and weaving setup a breakaway which was concluded in a try: this set the tone for the first match! Buckingham had a very strong pack which tended to leave our attempts at tackling futile! Scrappy handling from Wins' that was taken-over by the Bucks' winger left their second try on the cards. Dhaliwal responded to the challenge with some beautifully timed and executed tackling! This led a bit of revival in the players and the old maul machine was rolled out of the shed and dusted off....

Second half proved a dynamic mix of substituted players which gave Buckingham some cause for concern. The Laidler boot proved it's worth and was an awesome compliment to the wizard line-outs that Wins' invariably were now controlling. Sadly these were mostly as a result of last-ditch defences close to our try-line from which we would not have had to dig-deep if, and only if, we could execute some proper tackling!!! Vengeful ripping from the pack was very well received by Yeandle but by the time the ball was in transit to our winger Bucks' backs had intercepted.  Laidler anticipates a deep kick and sweeps behind our 3/4 line to take a splendid catch, winding-up to a full-tilt dash along touch. Sadly, it wasn't to be and Laidler bites the dust at the hands of one of Bucks' fast and powerful wingers. Lawton's plucky attempt at a tackle on this big lad left him seeing stars while Buck's notched-up another try.

Final score: 7-21

Windsor Marlow

Some very 'robust' 3/4 work from Marlow was a major concern throughout this game. Similarly the Marlow scrum was causing our pack some considerable grief. Wins' are unaccustomed to this level of force and many of the reliable tacklers became understandably wary of this Marlow side. Consequently, our set-piece play was interfered with and desperate moves led to loss of possession: a break-way interception from Marlow puts them ahead! From the restart Marlow start their assault, we fail to tackle but they give away a penalty. Chris is taken down but the ball is cleaned-up by Lawton who is promptly dump-tackled by a Marlow centre but the resultant injury puts him out of the game. Williams follows-up with a copy-cat attempt on a Marlow 3/4 but it is Dhaliwal who exquisitely exacts revenge on Marlow with a text-book dump tackle! First half over, Wins are one try down.

Second half starts with some formidable driving from the Wins' pack, notably Tunnacliffe and Ashby-Harvey. Marlow dart in and out and eventually wrest the ball from our forwards. Cullen repeatedly delivers some excellent tackling but Marlow keep possession and score. Deveraux and Turner manage to disrupt the Marlow charge but, unfortunately, their mauling was awesome and they drive over the try line. Game over: 21-0

Windsor Marlow (revisited)

Sadly more of the same.  Our tackling is pitiful with one notable exception: this was Annunziata's game, he delivered fantastic try-saving tackling time after time.

Lawton's head injury clearly must have blurred his vision and he was hurriedly 'excused' from playing hooker.

Otherwise the lads did their best against a very strong opposition but the outcome was inevitable.

We'll be back....