Windsor II vs The Crows

Recap

The Crows ushered in October with a trip to Windsor on a gloriously sunny autumnal day.

With Windsor Castle providing a stunning backdrop, the Crowthorne squad arrived in strong numbers despite a couple of last minute withdrawals due to sickness. The match saw the first appearances of the season for Marc Bullett at hooker and John Casey at outside centre.

An excellent start saw Crowthorne earn a penalty in front of the sticks almost immediately, with Josh Roberts slotting the 3 points. Windsor soon hit back with a penalty of their own, before Roberts again replied for Crowthorne, to make it 3-6. Crowthorne dominated the early exchanges but a combination of defensive lapses and over playing in the wrong areas of the pitch, kept letting Windsor back in.

Windsor levelled to 6-6, before a well-executed lineout move, led to a 1^st club try for Sam Clarkson, this week playing at 8. At 6-11 up, the Crows should have started to pull away but Windsor fought back strongly, first with a penalty and then with a well taken try, to lead 14-11.

Shortly before half time, a period of ill-discipline led to 2 Crows players being deservedly sent to the bin and a severe dressing down from the coaching staff soon followed. A strong start to the 2^nd half was sadly marred by a shoulder injury to fly half Josh Roberts. The transgression which led to Roberts’ injury, resulted in a penalty in front of the posts, duly slotted home by Dan Coombes to level the scores.

A flurry of substitutes started to make a big impact and give the team real go forward, particularly Deralcki and Steggall in the pack. The versatile Jee, having an excellent game on the wing, managed the sin bin period magnificently in his more familiar scrum half position. After exerting severe pressure on the Windsor attack, they attempted to ship the ball along their own line, only to concede possession and lead to another score for Clarkson. The try converted by Coombes, Crowthorne now led 14-21. Windsor were not done however and rallied to win a penalty after several phases inside the Crowthorne half, ultimately being rewarded with a very kickable penalty, allowing them to close the gap to 17-21.

Crowthorne responded strongly and again won a penalty straight in front of the posts, despatched by Coombes to stretch the lead to 17-24. Now back to their full complement, the Crows opted to really turn the screw up front. From a 5 man lineout, the pack mauled the ball fully 50 metres up the pitch before Windsor conceded a penalty by sacking the maul. The penalty was swiftly booted to the corner, allowing the pack to repeat the effort and cross the line, to seal a hattrick for Clarkson! Coombes again added the extras to make it 17-31.

In the dying minutes, it was all Crowthorne, as they pushed for the bonus point score. After being within inches of the line but to no avail, the ball was shipped wide to Shepherd, who opted for an unorthodox chip in the direction of the posts, which landed in the grateful hands of Redpath, who dotted down to seal all 5 points for Crowthorne, before Coombes again added the extras, to make the final score 17-38.

After missing a year for Covid and enduring a very challenging 21/22 season, in which the club had to completely rebuild its player base, this was a significant day for the club, marking the first away victory since the 1^st of February 2020! Many jugs were downed in the Crow to mark this turning point.

With no fixture this coming weekend, the team will now focus hard on training as they build towards the away fixture at High Wycombe on 15^th October. For anyone wishing to join the ranks, training takes place every Tuesday night at 7pm at Crowthorne rugby club. All welcome!