A short trip to city rivals Coventrians RFC saw the Wheats get maximum points in the league for the second week running. With multiple changes to the squad Wheats showed great strength in depth to come away with a hard fought win.

Straight from kick off Wheats put pressure on Coventrians and were camped inside the hosts 22 for the opening 10 minutes. Some good defensive work from Coventrians kept the Wheats out until a penalty was awarded 10 metres out from the try line. Ben Hands quick tap opened up space for himself and dived over the line untouched. Gareth Windsor added the 2 points.

7-0

Only a few minutes later Wheats ran in a second try. A scrum on the Wheats 10 metre line set a great platform for the Wheats backs. Scrum half Sam Eaton, found fullback Jamie Hutton on the short side who found his way through the home teams defence with amazing speed and dotted under the sticks for a wonderful individual try. An easy conversion for Gareth Windsor.

14-0

After the second try the game turned extremely scrappy from both sides with penalties galore. This seemed to work in Coventrians favour as they started to get a hold on the game through their forwards. Some excellent defence from Wheats kept them out for a good 5 minutes on their own line. A scrum was awarded on the Wheats 5 metre line and after a few resets Coventrians player Sam Shaw managed to pick up the scraps and dot over on the line. Conversion added.

14-7

Half time

The second half started in similar fashion with Coventrians making it hard for the Wheats to get clean ball from the breakdown. With 20 minutes remaining in the game, Wheats piled on the pressure to pull away from the battling home team. Wheats fought hard at the breakdown to win some clean ball which found its way to centre James Hancox on the half way line, Hancox threw a beautiful dummy to open up the gap which he blitzed through and sped away for his 4th try of the season. Windsor slotted the conversion again to open up a 14 point gap.

21-7

Straight from the restart came one of the Wheats best tries of the season. Number 8 Charlie Hands took the kick off on the 22, side stepped the on coming defended and weaved his way through the rest of the Coventrians forwards. Getting towards the oppositions 22 he found a great pass to James Fisher who was first in support as always. Fisher drew the covering defender and produced a wonderful timed pass to hooker Alan Beauchamp who finished off the move for his first try of the season. A wonderful try straight from the restart really took the sting out of Coventrians. Windsor added the 2 points from out wide.

28-7

An eventful last 15 minutes seen 2 tries a piece. Some pressure from Coventrians ended in them having an overlap and allow them to claw a score back. Some great defence from man of the match Tom Brown and the rest of the Wheats stopped Coventrians getting another score. Minutes later Wheats second row James Fisher got a big hand on a Coventrians line-out 10 metres out from their try line. Replacement Ben Dale couldn’t believe his luck as the ball fell into his hands and he had a fairly easy run into the corner, for his first try for the Old Wheats. Windsor added the 2 with a touchline kick to make it 5 out 5 from the boot.

35-14

The scoring wasn’t over for both teams as Coventrians bundled over the line for the 3rd time to make it 35-21. Charlie Hands finished the game off with a well deserved try. The big man bundled his way over in the corner for his 2nd try in the last 2 games. Gareth Windsor slotted the extra points to finish with 100% kick success.

Final Score:
Coventrians 21
Old Wheats 42

Try Scores (pictured):
Ben Hands
Jamie Hutton
James Hancox
Alan Beauchamp
Ben Dale
Charlie Hands

Conversions:
Gareth Windsor x6

Man of the Match: Tom Brown
Dick of the Day: No one this week

Wheats make it 2 out of 2 in the league this season, taking maximum points from both games. Up next is a home tie against Bedford Swifts in the Midlands Vase this Saturday.

Coaches Corner

A scrappy affair at times where we let Coventrians into the game through ill discipline or silly errors.

We need to be sharper at the breakdown to provide clean ball for our 9 and protect him more.

Powerful displays from Tom Brown, who was man of the match, James Fisher, the Hands brothers and Ben Dale gave us front foot ball to play with. For the second week running we left points on the feild but we are becoming better at taking our chances.

The biggest plus was having four players 20 and under finishing the game and dogging it out agaisnt seasoned players. We have a core of younger players stepping up this season to take the burden off the older heads.

Matthew ‘Cheeks’ Cappell

UP THE WHEATS