Sat 16 Sep 2023, 15:00
Abbey continued their excellent start to life in Counties 2 Tribute Berks/Bucks & Oxon South with a comfortable victory over a hard-working Slough team at Rosehill. The home side scored seven tries in total and probably should have scored two or three more after being in control for the bulk of the match.
Abbey’s forward superiority was in evidence right at the start of the game when their pack stole the ball against the head at the opening scrum. Scrum half Sol Wallis-Robinson initiated a move involving the bulk of the pack, and this resulted in Abbey winning a penalty. Centre Charlie Shackleford kicked into the 22, but after winning the lineout Abbey knocked the ball on. A further Abbey penalty was again kicked to touch, and after flanker Chris Shaw had won possession at the front, hooker Zac Mayo and outside half Scott Rennie took the ball to within ten metres of the Slough line. The visitors offended again, and although the penalty was right in front of the posts, Abbey opted to take a scrum. The decision was fully justified, because Rennie took Wallis-Robinson’s pass and dummied his way clear to score under the posts. Shackleford added the simple conversion.
Second row ‘Treacle’ Knights caught the restart kick and Ed Wisener, who was leading the side in the absence of Mike Beckly, set up a move involving Shackleford and flanker Max Courtnage which took play over the halfway line. Shaw won the next lineout, and a lovely pass from centre Reuben Norville sent prop Gereie Sutherland on a strong break. Slough were penalised again, and Shackleford sent the ball into the visitors’ 22. Knights secured the ball and set up a drive to line. It looked as if Mayo would score, but he chose to break from the back of the maul. His pass found Shackleford, and winger Callum House and Wallis-Robinson both handled before Wisener burst clear to score wide on the left. Shackleford could not convert, but Abbey had a 12-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Slough came more into the game after this, and they soon reduced the arrears with a straightforward penalty from centre Max Miles. Soon afterwards, they came close to scoring a try wide on the right, but Abbey’s defenders managed to prevent winger Drew Scott from touching down. But Slough kept the pressure on, and after Rennie
was yellow carded for an illegal tackle, Miles landed a brilliant 40-metre penalty to make the score 12-6. This seemed to spur Abbey into life again, and a good move involving Sutherland, Wisener, House and winger George Goodenough took play into the Slough 22. Norville and prop Mat Woodrow made further ground, but the ball was then knocked on. Slough counterattacked, but when play reached the halfway line the visitors were penalised at a scrum. It was now Abbey’s turn to counterattack, and Wisener, Wallis-Robinson and Courtnage took play back to the Slough 22 again. Shaw and Mayo continued the move, and another of Norville’s textbook passes sent full back Max Boucher on a dash to the line. He was able to cut in closer to the posts, but Shackleford once again missed the conversion.
Rennie returned from the bin after Boucher’s try, but Slough were the next to score when Miles landed his third penalty. Sutherland and second row Sam Hallett both ripped possession from Slough forwards in the next couple of plays, and then Wallis-Robinson split the defence with a quickly-taken tap penalty. Knights and Hallett were both involved in the move, and suddenly Wisener found himself in the clear on the edge of the Slough 22. He ran in unopposed under the sticks for Abbey’s bonus point try, with Shackleford’s conversion making the score 24-9. First half injury time was now being played, and Abbey scored again from the restart. Knights caught Slough’s kick, and after great handling from Wallis-Robinson, Rennie and Boucher, House ran into the Slough half. His pass found Sutherland who galloped clear to score after a 45-metre run. Shackleford’s conversion made the half time score 31-9.
Ed House replaced the injured Courtnage at the start of the second half, and Abbey were soon celebrating their sixth try. Shackleford kicked a penalty into the Slough 22, and Hallett won the ball at the front of the lineout. A series of drives saw Shaw, Rennie, Wisener and Woodrow take the ball ever closer to the line before Hallett plunged over, much to the delight of the crowd. Shackleford again added the extras. Abbey continued to dominate, with Knights pinching a Slough lineout throw and Sutherland, Mayo and Ed House all making ground. Arron Ross and Adam Postlethwaite came on for Goodenough and Sutherland, and soon after this Abbey scored their seventh and final try. Shaw won a lineout ten metres from the line and Mayo went over at the back of the driving maul. Shackleford’s best kick of the afternoon made it 45-9 from close to the left touchline.
Half an hour still remained, but rather surprisingly there was no more scoring. Sutherland came back in place of Mayo, who injured his hand while scoring, and a good move up the left saw Boucher stopped just short of the line. Alex Ashford replaced Norville and was soon in the action with a good diagonal run. James Becalick came on for Knights, but Knights was soon back when Hallett came off after putting in a great shift of an hour. After this, a brilliant move involving Knights, Ed House and Shackleford released Ross, but he didn’t quite have the gas to outpace the defence, and he was stopped just short of the line.
With injury time fast approaching, Slough ran out of fit front row replacements when hooker Shahid Khan was injured, and the rest of the match featured uncontested scrums. This meant that Slough had to take a player off when the next scrum was called. Goodenough came back on for Wallis-Robinson with time almost up, and Slough came close to scoring a consolation try in last play. Ed House was shown a yellow card, but Abbey held out to complete a convincing victory.
The final quarter of the match was a disappointment after when had preceded it, but at their best Abbey once again looked a confident and entertaining side. The intention is always to play fifteen-man rugby, and Reuben Norville’s pinpoint passes are a massive bonus to the players around him. Wisener led by example with some thunderous runs, while Sutherland and Mayo also caught the eye. Sam Hallett rolled back the years with a dominant display, and Shackleford’s kicking out of hand was consistently good. All in all, Abbey’s players can feel more than satisfied with their afternoon’s work, and they will hope for further success when they visit Tadley next weekend.
Abbey: M Boucher, G Goodenough (A Ross 47), C Shackleford, R Norville (A Ashford 57), C House, S Rennie, S Wallis-Robinson (G Goodenough 87), G Sutherland (A Postlethwaite 47), Z Mayo (G Sutherland 52), M Woodrow, J Knights (J Becalick 57), S Hallett (J Knights 60), M Courtnage (E House 40), C Shaw, E Wisener (captain)
Slough: W Young, C Blanchard, J Spandley, M Miles, D Scott (S Kono 79), T Young (E Smyth 77), D McNeaney (J Williams 40), C Griffin, S Khan, M Fenwick, C Fullicks (captain, R Vater 79), R Vater
(W Kinson 43), S Rowe (R Vater 57-71), A Grewal, C Storey (J Fisher 40)
Abbey:
Tries: Wisener (2), Rennie, Boucher, Sutherland, Hallett, Mayo
Con: Shackleford (5)
Slough:
Pen: Miles (3)
Yellow cards: Abbey: Rennie, E House
Referee: M Barwick (Oxfordshire) 
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