Marlborough 36 – 17 Swindon
On Saturday, Marlborough hosted Swindon up on the Common—it has been a while. The Marlborough team was not at full strength, as there were players off with sickness and injury. The numbers were so high that Tuesday’s training session had to be cancelled—not the ideal preparation. Fortunately, two full sides showed up to their respective games with reserves.
It was not a great start for Marlborough, Swindon were the first to score points, and by the twenty-fifth minute, they were ahead by twelve points to nil. It could have been much worse had it not been for the Marlborough winger, Callum Hunt, showing unprecedented speed to tackle and hold up a Swindon player’s attempt at a try under the posts.
Not to be outdone, tight head prop Gareth Smith, starting from inside the Marlborough 22, ended up almost halfway and seemed to galvanise his teammates. From here, Marlborough started to build. On the twenty-eighth minute, Ash Horner crashed over the line after an attacking lineout and one dominant phase. This was kindly converted by Will Grant.
Five minutes later, Marlborough scored their second try with a move started by another dominant run from Gareth Smith, setting up a multi-phase attack that resulted in Weir Filikitonga outpacing two defenders to score, but sadly, this was not converted.
Just before half-time, Marlborough had an attacking scrum, with the ball going through the hands to Weir and then out to Callum Hunt for a strong finish, again unconverted.
Half Time: Marlborough 17 – 12 Swindon
The coaches, Elisi and Vili, were not overly happy at halftime, but they recognised that after an appalling start to the game, the leaders in the team had not panicked but instead stepped up and clawed their way back into the match. So, the message was to remain calm and measured.
Marlborough had an attacking line out two minutes after the restart, followed by a brief maul, then two passes out to Vili Hakalo, who beat two Swindon players to score under the posts, with Will adding the icing on the cake.
Marlborough were becoming increasingly dominant in the set piece, with the front row laying the groundwork for powerful scrums. Marlborough’s “Man of the Match,” 18-year-old Arthur Allen, was ruling the line outs, and the team was looking strong.
Following an excellent penalty clearance from Will Grant, the resulting maul set from the line out saw the home side hooker, Solomone Aniseko (Seko), crash over with an unconverted try in the fifty-third minute.
Even though Marlborough were the more dominant side, they still managed to squander scoring opportunities, which luckily for them, Swindon did not manage to take advantage of and punish the home side.
Following a very strong scrum in the seventy-fifth minute, simple hands along the line and the ball went out to Akariva Seruvatu (Aka), who showed his pace to score, which was converted by Grant.
To their credit, Swindon did not lie down and let Marlborough have it all their own way, they battled hard and right to the end, where they were rewarded by scoring with the final play of the game.
Final Score: Marlborough 36 – 17 Swindon
Team manager Dave Pittams was delighted with the outcome. “This was a difficult week, and this was a successful conclusion for Marlborough.” A great deal of credit should go to the players who stepped up. “Man of the Match,” Arthur Allen, was outstanding in the line-out and defence. He also wanted to give credit to the “veteran second row player,” Patch Campbell, who has already retired twice and never fails to step up and answer the call when the club needs him. Henry Webster, although a first team regular in the past, has only just started playing second team rugby again after more than a year out with a serious shoulder injury, but he had a powerful eighty minutes.
Jamie Pittams, a former Club Captain, expected to play mostly second-team rugby this season and stepped in as skipper in the absence of injured Club Captain and Vice-Captain, Ollie Spanswick and James Marshall. He was an experienced head when the team needed him.
Another ex-captain, Ben Fulton, had travelled back over night from Scotland to cover the bench and made a big show when he came on.
The second team also deserves a mention and a message of thanks. With some of their senior players stepping up to the 1st XV, it meant blooding several young boys in a difficult away fixture against Chippenham. Although they suffered their first loss of the season, they still managed to earn a bonus point away from home—well done boys! All in all, this is a week the players and coaching staff can be proud of. Under very difficult circumstances, they have come together and represented Marlborough outstandingly—as family.
Weekend Roadworks Respite for December
