Blues have to settle for away draw
NEWBURY Blues and Trowbridge played out an entertaining 22-22 draw in South West 1 East.
Home side Trowbridge got off the mark first when they converted a penalty inside five minutes, following a number of successful scrums.
From the restart, Newbury conceded another penalty after tackling an opponent in the air and from there Trowbridge kicked the ball into touch.
Both teams then recorded successful interceptions, but Trowbridge made it count as they moved the ball through hands to break through the Blues defence and score close to the posts.
The kick wasn’t converted and it gave Newbury an opportunity to get back into the game during the early stages.
After a number of scrums, Blues were awarded a penalty after a Trowbridge tackle and as a result they got on the scoreboard.
Despite Trowbridge stealing
the lineout after Blues kicked their penalty into touch, they lost the ball as Oscar Astbury intercepted possession and ran under the posts from his own half.
The conversion was made and, after Trowbridge missed a penalty, Blues eventually went ahead when Ed Gavin released Will Osborne, who scored in the left corner.
Newbury extended their lead when Josh Winfield crashed over to score, but just before the break Trowbridge had a converted try of their own to reduce the game to two points.
Astbury and Toby Thorne produced some great interplay in the second half and it resulted in the latter scoring a try for the visitors, who were 22-15 up with 26 minutes remaining.
Newbury’s defence held firm for as long as they could, but Trowbridge finally scored a converted try to draw the scores level with seven minutes left.
The home side failed with a late penalty to win the game and the result ended level, with both sides getting a share of the points.
This weekend, Blues travel to Grove for their re-arranged game from the first match of the season.
Newbury Blues: Ben Hicks, Harry Waye Branch, James Macaulay, Kyle Doel, Adam Neal, Ed Gavin, Dylan Stewart, Josh Winfield, Toby Thorne, Michael Klichowicz, Oscar Astbury, Rory Jones, Will Osbourne, Jamie Futcher, Tommy Martin, Paul Sayers, Duncan Craigen, Ollie Keyse