Thatcham 81 pts Phoenix 20 pts

Thatcham did their promotion ambitions a power of good last Saturday when they demolished Phoenix by a sizeable margin. Within minutes of the start of proceedings the outcome looked ominous for the visitors. Although weakened by recent injuries, Phoenix were immediately on the back foot and were penalised three times in as many minutes for not releasing in the tackle. The first of these was converted by Thatcham off the right upright to take an early lead. The second penalty was taken into the corner and Thatcham drove on and crossed for their first try which they converted to take a 10 point lead. Phoenix responded with a Townsend kick into the corner but Phoenix failed to take advantage but gained turnover ball and a Duncan Wardle drive took them back to within 5 meters of the Thatcham line. Thatcham gained a penalty however to clear their lines and from the lineout drove Phoenix back into their own half and swiftly moved the ball right to score mid way out on the right. The conversion took Thatcham into a 17 point lead in as many minutes and things were looking ominous for the visitors. More penalties went Thatcham’s way as Phoenix recovered somewhat and put together some useful recycling but unfortunately errors let them down and Thatcham gained turnover ball. With so much possession from Phoenix mistakes and making very few themselves, Thatcham made their visitors pay dearly and crossed again to extend their lead to 22 points. The Phoenix pack was struggling under severe pressure from Thatcham but generally when in possession, Phoenix gave Thatcham plenty to think about. A rare Phoenix penalty gave Townsend the chance to open the scoring for Phoenix on the half hour and he did not disappoint. Thatcham crossed another two times before halftime to take a 36 point lead into the break as Phoenix struggled to get back into the game.
During the break Phoenix made a couple of changes, Nigel Coltman came on for Alex Jones and Chris Vaughan for James Willis. But within a few minutes of the restart, Thatcham had extended their lead with another try. Clearly Phoenix had to retain possession but failed to do so for any significant period with the consequence that Thatcham made all of the play. Some darting runs for Phoenix from the rejuvenated Wilf Midlane at full-back penetrated the Thatcham line on a few occasions but Phoenix were unable to maintain any continuity. Between the continuous Thatcham attacking frenzy, Phoenix managed some scoring chances. Townsend converted another penalty before the Phoenix pack strung together a driving maul that pressurised Thatcham on their own line and Edd Dibb crashed over for a Phoenix try which Townsend converted. Shortly afterwards Thatcham kicked up field from turnover ball when Phoenix were pressing inside the Thatcham 22 and Wilf Midlane gathered the ball on his own 10 meter line and weaved his way clean through the Thatcham defence to score beneath the posts. This took Phoenix to a total of 20 points whilst Thatcham piled on the agony. Phoenix clearly had scoring ability and on occasions embarrassed Thatcham but were overcome by the shear power of their opponents. In the closing seconds Phoenix took a quick penalty 10 meters from the Thatcham line only for a Thatcham interception to add insult to injury just before the final whistle.

Phoenix train every Tuesday evening at 7.00 p.m. at their grounds in Institute road Taplow see www.phoenixrfc.com for further information. Next weekend Phoenix entertain Gosford All Blacks at Institute Road in the Bucks Berks and Oxon Premier League, kick-off 2.15 p.m. everyone is welcome.

Phoenix: Edd Dibb, James Dean, James Willis, Neil Wyncombe, Paul Devlin, Duncan Wardle, Alex Jones, Dave Harris, Kieron Roche, Matt Asslet, Dave McMillan, Tom Jost, Jason Townsend, Wilf Midlane.
Subs: Billy Duncan, Chris Vaughan, Nigel Coltman.