Marlborough 53 – 8 Tottonians
Saturday afternoon saw Marlborough at home and rugby back on the Common for the first time in nearly a month. There was a good feeling around the club, not only at the prospect of a mouth-watering tie against a strong, well-drilled team of Tottonians who, in the away game, played in some difficult conditions and kept Marlborough to the closest score of any team so far this season. But also, as it was possible for the squad to win the league this weekend, a bonus-point win and a few other results going the right way would put Marlborough out of touch with second-place Stow. The boys couldn’t afford to get ahead of themselves though; as has been said by the coaches this week, Marlborough needs to take every game as it comes and focus on what is presented to them.
The Marlborough team remained largely unchanged from the side that beat Newbury last weekend. It is this consistency within the squad that has made a substantial difference this season, and it’s clear to see from the sidelines that the boys have really gelled now. There was one new face in the starting 15, as scrumhalf James Clancy returned to the club after a few years away.
It was a breathless first five minutes of the game, with both sides attempting to win the physical battle and gain the territorial advantage. It was clear to see the Tottonians’ plan was to be as disruptive as possible in and around the breakdown, and the ball was not coming easily for Marlborough. It took a well-placed kick from No. 10 Viliami Hakalo (Vili) to get Marlborough into the opposition 22, and some great pressure in defence forced Tottonians to knock the ball on. Marlborough won the scrum, and after several phases and some nice carries from front row player Gareth Smith and No. 8 Jack Lynd, the ball found its way out to Will Reeve to score the first try of the game.
The breakdown and set pieces continued to be hotly contested, with both teams finding some success. The next points of the game came courtesy of some good work from the Marlborough loose forwards at the breakdown, Marlborough were awarded a penalty on the halfway line, which James Clancy took quickly and carried up to the Tottonians 22. Marlborough used the momentum from this, and after a couple of quick phases, the ball was thrown back to the blindside for Ben Fulton to dive in at the corner. Twenty minutes in, Marlborough 10-0 Tottonians.
Marlborough was gaining a foothold in the game and had a chance to score off the next kick-off: a 40-meter run from Siaosi Feaomefiui (Toti) gave Marlborough the ball; the ball was moved along the line, but the final pass just evaded Akarive Seruvatu (Aka), who would have been over in the corner. Marlborough was clearly indicating their intent to proceed and appeared dangerous.
Despite this, the Tottonians managed to get themselves back into the game; a well-kicked penalty put them on Marlborough’s 5-meter line. The Marlborough pack countered the initial maul well and held out for ten phases on the line until a penalty advantage gave Tottonians the freedom to move the ball wide to their winger, who scored in the corner. Tottonians were awarded another penalty five minutes later and chose to take the points, bringing the score to 10-8 and bringing the game back into the balance.
There was more decent attacking play from the Marlborough side in the closing minutes of the half, at one point taking them right up to the Tottonians’ line, but the score remained the same going into the halftime break. It had been a hard-fought first forty minutes, with both teams going in with the feeling they were well in the contest and anything could happen in the second half.
The coaches used this opportunity to get some fresh legs onto the field, bringing Henry Webster on for Arthur Allen and Lemeki Moala (Meki) on for Gareth Smith; both had put in a good amount of work
Half-Time: Marlborough 10 – 8 Tottonians
If the first half had been more of a war of attrition, the second half was one of flair, fantastic fluid rugby, and destructive running from all in black and amber. Kicked off by the Marlborough scrum deep in the Tottonians 22, the Marlborough set piece, as usual, got the go forward, allowing Lynd to pick up from the base before offloading out of the tackle to Vili, who crashed over the line. This gave a taste of what was to come for the Marlborough supporters. The next try came in a similar way; a Marlborough scrum led to some good carries, driving Marlborough into the Tottonian 22; another carry and another offload from Lynd gave the Marlborough captain, Ollie Spanswick, the chance to add to his try tally for the season.
By this time, Marlborough was winning the aerial battle as well as the physical one. A 50-22 from Will Reeve gave Marlborough their next chance. The lineout was won, and the maul started moving but was pulled down metres from the line. The referee showed the Tottonians’ hooker yellow. Marlborough chose another lineout, and Solomone Aniseko (Seko) scored from the back of a well-driven maul.
The Marlborough backline, were also eager to impress and not to be outdone by the forwards, had now arrived at the party. On 63 minutes, Vili collected a loose ball just outside the Tottonians’ 22 and passed it to Will Reeve, who threw a 20-meter miss pass to Aka on the wing, who scored his first try of the day.There would be more to come from Aka before the day was over, and luckily for the supporters, they didn’t have to wait too long. Four minutes later, he scored what, at the time, was the best of the tries from the game. Collecting the ball on the Tottonian 10-meter line, he danced through two tackles before showing his power and balance to break through a double tackle, then finally wrong footing the last defender to go over and score. A try that deserves its own highlight reel.
Ten minutes later, Aka completed his hat trick, once again demonstrating his footwork to beat multiple defenders and score in the corner. The game was over by this point for the Tottonians, who had fought hard but had been blown away by Marlborough’s power and skill in the second half.
There was one last piece of magic left in the game. Meki somehow found himself out on the wing and looked to have taken inspiration from Aka as he received the ball, threw a dummy pass, and the Tottonian defence didn’t lay a finger on him as he went through the line. He then showed all the skills of a modern front row player to draw the final defender and pass to Ben Fulton on the wing, who ran in for the try. The crowd erupted with joy, and the job was well and truly complete
Final Score: Marlborough 53 – 8 Tottonians
What a game of rugby! The difference in the score at halftime and fulltime explains why Marlborough is in this position: a team that pulls together when games are tough and is then able to use all their attributes to really hammer home results. The second half was the most complete performance Marlborough has put together so far this year, from the attacking brilliance to the hard work and hunger of all fifteen in defence. “Man of the Match” went to the very deserving Jack Lynd, who continued to get Marlborough moving forward with his destructive carrying ability for the full eighty minutes.
We look forward to welcoming Buckingham next week, where a win at home will seal the league title. It would be great to have as many supporters come out to watch as possible.
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