Shipston U15s miss out away to an in form Witney

On a bright, warm October day Witney were fast out of the blocks, scoring before Shipston had got their game heads on. Today was a day for trying new things, some of the tactics from Wednesday training and new positions for some of the team. Perhaps these things construed to give Witney the advantage, or maybe it was just a bad week. Whatever the reason Witney took full advantage of some poor tackling and lots of space resulting in Shipston losing by 26-0 after the first 20 minutes, Witney having crossed the try line 5 times and exuding confidence.

Pete's passion would surely have motivated even the saddest of players and the boys came on with renewed energy and shape. They started moving forwards with some nice runs, however some loose passing saw Witney in for two more. 36-0. The game then started to change. The play got stuck midfield and despite Witney's energy and confidence they hit a brick wall of defence. This went on for more than 5 minutes and eventually Shipston got on the front foot. Charlie Dews went over, ably supported by Adam right on the sideline. George Hendy stepped up and slotted the neatest of conversions on the narrowest angle. Very impressive. 36-7

They might have lost the middle 20 minutes but Shipston were playing again.

Momentum started to build and the wall of defence held strong, Witney started to look as if their confidence had been eroded. George Verinder won some clean ball and passed out to Ilyas who broke away with some pace to score a lovely try under the posts. 36-14.

This was followed by Charlie Dews second of the afternoon from a good forward move, he peeled off the line out to work a good try. Witney returned with a good try of their own to finish the day 41-19.

The team improved through the morning and it would be good to get another fixture against Witney who were dynamic and fast. A test we can definitely stand taller against as the last 20 mins showed.

Player of the week (Witney award this every week). Harrison Costa. Even out of position made some great plays then fantastic when in finally back in his home position.

Misdemeanours of the day:
Adam Lane for pitch nudity
George Hendy for putting the ball on the clubhouse roof not once, but twice and (as you can see in the cover photo) sniggering on the pitch
Joe Painter. For Harrumphing on sideline for an hour and then having too much fun getting control of the opposition tight head.
Max for outrageous flouting of the strict post match dress code
Ilyas for a lack of post match dress
George V for wearing labels rather than team dress
Nick Briggs for not only bringing a dog (despite explicit instructions to the contrary) but then taking dog across the first team pitch. Shocking.