Wessex Do Their Talking on the Pitch in Wales

Evocative of how the season has gone thus far, the trip to Cardiff last Wednesday was eventful, to say the least. Two red cards, three yellow cards, and 59 points accounts for one of the more notable away trips this semester.

Facing Cardiff Met 3rd XV, Wessex knew a win would get them back on track and up to second in the Western 1A Table, rounding off the year excellently. This is precisely what happened; the final score was 42-17 in our favour.

Playing on one of the less scenic pitches in the Welsh region, Wessex got off to a wonderful start; debutant Sam Mansfield scoring from No.8 before coming off with an unfortunate shoulder injury. Wonderful footwork from Adam Davies off a set piece led to the second try, whilst Leo Smith grabbed the third after a meandering run from full-back Harry Burn put Smith under the sticks. Max Hobbs’ first of two tries, compounded with excellent kicking from Davies after Cardiff had a man sin-binned, put Wessex in cruise control heading in to the break.

The second half saw an embarrassing loss of discipline for the hosts, to put it lightly. A red card for their Captain after a dangerous high tackle allowed them to essentially ‘throw in the towel’ and take excessive measures to try and provoke Wessex. With a desperate lack of keeping up with the game, the Referee missed a myriad of cases which were undoubtedly illegal. As it transpired, Dave Jordan was sin-binned for being eye-gouged (yes, that is written correctly!) and Henry Ritchie took exception to this, unfortunately being the fourth man to be sent to the sidelines.

After Raffa Vaccaro was the fifth and final player to be shown a card, Wessex again focussed on the rugby and scored two excellent tries. The first one came from Max Hobbs. A half-break from Davies in our own 22 allowed myself and Ben Flett to use simple hands, allowing Hobbs to finish excellently in the corner. Davies scored his second to put the game out of sight. Substitute Rob Booth then put salt in the wounds by scoring the final try of the match. After debutante Chay Atkins latched on to the break created by joint ‘MOTM’s’ Davies and Sam Lindsay’s interplay in midfield, his excellent pass to myself and Booth’s support line wrapped up proceedings.

A potentially ugly match was made in to a fine spectacle from the boys. The first half of this season has been of an excellent standard for Wessex. There have been a few blips along the way, but our league position pays tribute to how well we have played in the last 9 games, led excellently by Captain Freddie Gleadowe. Boasting the best points difference the league has to offer, promotion is still on the agenda. We would like to thank everyone for the continued support and hope you all have a good Christmas and New Year. The 1st XV and whole squad can’t wait to get back on to the pitch!