Sat 7 Mar 2020, 14:15
An Old head makes the difference
Witney travelled the short distance to Stow on the wold rugby club looking to complete yet another double. Injuries and unavailability’s once again seeing a young team with a few old heads drafted in.
A Local derby against an improving Stow side who had one their last two matches had all the makings of a difficult game and so it started with Witney kicking into the wind and playing up the slight slope.
Under pressure from the start with Stow using the wind and roll of the slope had Witney at sixes and sevens. A try from winger Freddie Roberts on 17 minutes was converted by James Ingham 7-0 to Stow. Witney’s large away following began to wonder where the spark would come from and a triple substitution by Head Coach Adam Copperwheat after 30 minutes saw veteran Wayne Caffekey enter the field. This seemed to inspire the team and a yellow card for Stows James Wood on 32nd minute gave Witney an advantage however the failed to make the most of it and conceded a penalty on the 37minute which was narrowly missed by Ingham half time came with Witney now benefitting form the wind and slope.
On the 45th minute Witney’s pressure on Stows line saw Wayne Caffekey take the ball over the line for a try which was converted by Matt Clarke 7-7. Witney grabbed the momentum and Caffekey scored again on the 52nd minute conversion missed 7-12
Stows young team didn’t give up and pushed Witney back and a penalty by Ingham on the 57th minute brought the scores back to 10-12
5 minutes later intelligent kicking saw the ball work out to Jordan Pratt who crossed the line for Witney’s 3rd Try conversion missed 10-17
Witney clung on in the final minutes as Stow pushed all the way to the end maybe better game management by Stow would have seen the snatch a draw at the end but their line out went long in the wind and Witney kicked to clear and seal the game 10-17
Great local derby played by two similar teams who are based on local youngsters coming up through mini and juniors. Great hospitality pre and post-match just what Rugby is all about.
