A very competitive rivalry has
developed between Pangbourne College and Shiplake in recent years and this
Saturday proved to be no different. With the 1st XV being on the road for the
first time and facing a Shiplake side with a point to prove, after losing
heavily to Bloxham. The 1st XV knew they would be in for a furious
contest.
Pangbourne started the stronger
and it was only a matter of minutes before an excellent pre planned move led to
man of the match Hugo Harvey charging 40 metres up field. This put the Red army
on the front foot and came away with a 3-0 lead courtesy of Sam Rossiter. After absorbing some pressure from the
physical Shiplake side and keeping their Fijian at bay with some excellent
mid-field tackling from Doug Jefferis, Pangbourne put together the best period
of play of the match. Keeping the ball for over ten phases enabled them to run
their patterns and stretch the defence. This continued wave of attack was too
much for them to handle and Rossiter darted his way over. He duly added the two
points and Pangbourne led 10-0 at the break.
Whilst Shiplake did put together
some strong phases they never looked like crossing the Pangbourne line. Sam
Windsor-Lewis started to stamp his authority pinning back them back with long
kicks to the corner, forcing them to run from deep. It took until mid-way
through the 2nd half until Pangbourne finally sealed the game. After sustained pressure and once again
stringing continuous phases together enabled James Baker to force his way over.
Rossiter again adding the two points.
The final quarter led to a
frustrated Shiplake losing their discipline and Rossiter made them pay slotting
another penalty. The final score of 20-0
was a real credit to the team. They were professional, clinical and kept their
discipline throughout showing superb resilience and integrity, making them team
of the week.
The 2nd XV were victorious
for the second week running in 36-7 demolition. Men of the match performances
came from Harry Farrant and Rob Misson, both deserving their call up to the 1st
XV match for the remaining ten minutes, well done to them. The 3rd
XV won for the first time this season in an intense and thrilling game. Facing
three fifteen man lineouts, enough to throw anyone, they squeezed out a 24-22
win.
The U16A’s & B’s enjoyed
competitive matches and the score line is a massive improvement on last year.
Both these teams are training very hard and it’s only a matter of time before
this hard work pays off.
Other notable performances came
from:
Jack Rodgers in the U14C’s and Sasha Efimov in
the U14A’s
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