Another shuffle necessary to get a first team out

Phoenix came out strongly for this match, having suffered away at Thatcham earlier this season. Into the Phoenix setup came Robin Gill and Ian Watkinson, both missing from the earlier encounter. Also in the Phoenix line-up were Chris Clarke and Chris Harrison, both on the wings. Injury issues caused Watkinson to play at scrum-half and allowed Matthew Symmonds to come into the side at flanker. This made a huge difference to the home side as Ian Watkinson relished in his new scrum-half position where his control of the game helped the home side gain some momentum. His long pass allowed Roach at fly-half to feed his line whilst Symmonds at flanker made his presence felt in the lineout and the loose. This was definitely a good recovery game for Phoenix who are in need of a couple of wins. Robin Gill and Alex Jones got around the field well for Phoenix and were strong in the loose. But the combined effort from the Thatcham pack could not be handled by individual effort.
Roach kicked off for Phoenix and a wayward clearance from the visitors was moved out by Phoenix and James Richardson at centre broke through the initial Thatcham defensive line and was eventually hauled down just insode the Thatcham 22 but illegally which gave Coltman an ideal opportunity to take the lead for the home side with a penalty. He duly obliged and Phoenix were ahead inside 5 minutes. Thatcham had not driven forward at all at this point but a lineout was taken quickly and Thatcham released their faster threequarters to take play well inside the Phoenix 22. An early injury to James Dean at hooker forced a replacement for Phoenix with James Dixon entering the fray. This seemed to give Phoenix a lift although the useful exploits of Robin Gill at flanker were somewhat limited by his movement to hooker. The Phoenix scrum held well in the early stages and Constable was able to break away with the ball when Thatcham were penalised inside the Phoenix 22 but Thatcham were able to level the scores with a penalty a few minutes later. But Thatcham retained much more of their possession and a lineout from a kick to the corner was driven over for their first try of the match. The conversion was missed but a Phoenix defensive error a few minutes later allowed Thatcham to move further ahead with an unconverted try. But with the safety of half-time just seconds away, Phoenix were run left and right and then left again as Thatcham developed the overlap to score beneath the posts and take a deserved 20 points to 3 lead into the break.
Phoenix regrouped during the break and Thatcham found things a little more difficult during the second half. Phoenix bottled up the Thatcham attack and held them at bay for several minutes but a dropped goal for Thatcham broke the deadlock a few minutes later. Thatcham launched wave after wave of attacks on the Phoenix line. The Thatcham pack drove on relentlessly but Phoenix were not to be walked over and with Edd Dibb at tight head prop driving strongly in the tight, they were able to keep Thatcham out. Symmonds broke clear with a loose ball for Phoenix and Jamie Willis drove on strongly from the lineout but Phoenix were unable to conjure anything up to break the Thatcham line. Phoenix played with much character during the match but were unable to make any more impression on the league leaders. As the match came to a close Phoenix continued to defend strongly but Thatcham had a last chance lineout in the corner from which they managed a fourth try seconds before the final whistle. Phoenix train every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 7.00 p.m. at their grounds in Institute road Taplow see www.phoenixrfc.com for further information.
Phoenix: E Dibb, J Dean, J Willis, A Jones, N Coltman, M Symmonds, R Gill, J Constable, I Watkinson, K Roach, J Richardson, A McMillan, C Harrison, C Clarke, T Jost.
Subs: J Dixon, D Harris, P Jefferies.