Hard work fails to gain rewards

As per the As match on the same day, conditions were extremely challenging for rugby and spectators alike.

The Bs kicked off first and, unfortunately, the conditions conspired to ensure that it was a miskick which gave Marlow the opportunity to go back to the centre circle for a scrum. The first scrum could have been a warning of what was to come for the rest of the game with Marlow seemingly gaining the upper hand and having some space for their backs to run with the ball. Initially however, our team proved more than equal to the task consistently pushing them back behind the gain line. Eventually a knock-on from Marlow meant a scrum to us near their 22 metre line. A nice move sent Archie Palmer to the try line and was unlucky not to have been awarded the first try of the game and judged to have knocked on.

Unfortunately, from the resultant scrum, Marlow secured the ball and sent it wide to their fast winger who then sprinted the length of the pitch for a try under the posts which was harsh on A&C given the pressure they had been putting on the Marlow try line. From the resultant re-start, Amersham secured the ball and went forward to the Marlow 22 with brave defending denying A&C this time. History was to repeat itself when Marlow nabbed possession and passed the ball to the same flyer for another length of the field try.

The second half started much brighter for Amersham with finally possession yielding two tries for Archie Palmer and Harvey Wilson. After these scores, Amersham were within two points of Marlow and again dominated possession with Marlow conceding 3 consecutive penalties in the middle of the pitch - allowing the Bs to march right up to their try line. In the end with only Marlow’s brave defence on their try line stopping another score for Amersham - with both forwards and backs both going close - amongst them Dylan Coker and Archie Palmer. Unfortunately, Amersham lost the ball again and Marlow passed it along the line for their winger to score another length of the field try with our back division committed to the attack.

This last score was cruel on the A&C lads who had fought very hard and, unfortunately, you could see their heads drop and from the restart, Marlow ran in what was the best try of the game. After the unsuccessful conversion, the game ended with Bs losing 12-26 which was not a fair reflection of their dominance of possession and territory.

The boys should feel pride in their efforts only just failing where it mattered the most - crossing the line and something for us to work on.