Reading Abbey RFC

Sat 1 Mar 2025, 14:00

Reading Abbey

31 - 28

(HT 0-0)

Reading

Reading Abbey

Reading

Reading Abbey 31 Reading 28 

Mark Hoskins 

Abbey won a nail-biting local derby at a sunny Rosehill to claim the Tracey Rolfe Memorial Cup, a trophy donated in memory of a popular former member of both teams. The home side dominated the first half, with co-captain ‘Treacle’ Knights in commanding form, and led 24-7 at the break. But the visitors took control in the second half with some impressive scrummaging, and the final minutes saw Abbey clinging on desperately to their lead. Abbey’s score of 31 was their highest points total against Reading in a league fixture. The result sees Abbey maintain their position of sixth in Counties 1 Tribute Southern North, while Reading are now in ninth place.  

Knights began the game as he meant to continue, catching the kick-off and making good ground before Abbey were awarded a scrum. The pack held their own at the set piece, and outside half Reuben Norville started off a series of phases in which most of the side featured at least once. Prop Adam Postlethwaite handled twice, centre George Goodenough made a clever dodging run, and flanker Alex Langton and hooker Tom Wilkinson were both prominent. Abbey looked full of confidence, but unfortunately play had to be halted after four minutes when flanker James Becalick was injured. He had to be helped off, with Mike Beckly replacing him.  

Knights won the ball at the first Abbey lineout, and co-captain Sol Wallis-Robinson began a move involving Wilkinson and Beckly. Reading were penalised, and after second row Chris Shaw won the lineout, No.8 Matt Eldridge and centre Callum House took play into the visitors’ 22. Norville and Langton continued the attack, but after a 10 metre break from House the ball was lost. Reading counterattacked, but brilliant tackles from Knights robbed two players in quick succession. Wallis-Robinson kicked the ball back into the Reading half, and after the visitors had failed to secure possession, winger Brendan Clarke made 20 metres. Norville and Wilkinson moved the ball to the right, and full back Sam Andrews had room to speed away to touch down in the corner for the opening try. Norville struck his conversion attempt very well, but the ball drifted wide to the left. 

Abbey dominated the next five minutes, forcing Reading into mistakes. Knights made 10 metres, Norville, Goodenough and House supported him, and Abbey won a penalty. Wallis-Robinson took a quick tap, and although he was stopped short of the line, there were plenty of players up in support. Eldridge almost got to the line, and then Beckly picked up and dived over under the posts for Abbey’s second try. Norville’s conversion should have been a formality; both touch judges put their flags up and the referee’s arm was half raised, but the ball clattered against a post and bounced wide.  

Abbey were now 10-0 up at the start of the second quarter, and they continued to dominate the match. Norville, Clarke and Langton attacked up the left side of the field and Abbey were awarded a free kick. Wallis-Robinson tapped the ball, and Norville and Clarke made ground. The ball went loose, but Clarke recovered possession and set off on one of his trademark unstoppable bursts to the line, cutting infield to score under the posts. Wallis-Robinson added the conversion, but sadly Norville limped out of the action at this point. Tom Martin replaced him, slotting in at full back, Andrews moved to the centre, and Goodenough went to outside half.  

Knights caught the Reading restart kick, but the visitors were soon on the attack, setting up a good position in the home half for the first time. Flanker Alex Rowe, his side’s outstanding forward, was heavily involved and Reading began to apply serious pressure. Eventually, the ball was worked to the left where centre Archie Wright crossed in the corner. Outside half Sam Bowers converted superbly from the touchline. Abbey were then forced to use a third replacement, with prop Dan John coming off and Ryan Williams joining the action.  

Abbey soon put the setback of conceding a try behind them, and they went back on the attack, with Knights, Williams and Langton all involved. Reading conceded a penalty, and from the resulting five metre lineout, Eldridge caught the ball and was driven to the line. Advantage was played, and the ball was whipped out to the right where winger Leo Clifford dived for the line. However, Reading second row Greg Jackson tackled Clifford at head height, and referee Tyler Ramoo had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try and showing Jackson a yellow card. Abbey came close to another try in the dying minutes of the first half. Wilkinson was held up over the line following another Wallis-Robinson tapped penalty, and Clifford and Eldridge both made good runs. There was no further scoring, but Abbey looked very comfortable at the break with a 24-7 lead and a bonus point in the bag. 

Abbey continued to look confident as the second half began. Shaw, Goodenough and Langton all handled before Clarke made a great 25-metre diagonal break. Martin made further ground, and Williams and Wallis-Robinson both got close to the line, but Jackson returned from the bin without any addition to the score. This seemed to give Reading a confidence boost, and they were soon attacking inside the home 22. Langton pulled off a good tackle on replacement flanker Romeo Crumplin-Hill, but Bowers scored a good try under the posts, catching his own chip ahead. He converted with ease to narrow Abbey’s lead to 10 points. 

Abbey rallied after this, with Martin catching a high ball and linking with Williams and Wallis-Robinson. Unfortunately, Wilkinson had to leave the field with an arm injury, with John returning in his place. Knights won a lineout and made 10 metres, and Eldridge, Postlethwaite and Shaw continued the attack, forcing Reading to concede a penalty. Wallis-Robinson kicked for the left corner, and Eldridge won the ensuing lineout. A massive drive followed, with the backs joining in, and as the ball reached the line Shaw peeled off and touched down for an important try. Even more importantly, Wallis-Robinson landed a brilliant touchline conversion to extend Abbey’s lead to 31-14. 

The rest of the game belonged to Reading. They took control of the scrums, and were awarded a series of penalties. Goodenough, John and Shaw defended valiantly during a period of persistent Reading attacks, but eventually winger Harry Morgan broke clear and ran in to score under the posts. Bowers took a quick drop-kick conversion, and it was a 10-point game again. Abbey lost a lineout soon after the restart, and they then conceded a penalty 10 metres from their line. Reading, not surprisingly, elected to take a scrum, and after Abbey were penalised at the set piece everyone assumed that the visitors would go for another scrum. But skipper Will Procter-Searle took Abbey by surprise with a quick tap, and with the defenders tackling him too early yet another penalty was conceded. This time Reading went for a five metre scrum, and after the ball was won, Proctor-Searle broke clear to score his side’s bonus point try in the left corner. Another great touchline conversion from Bowers cut Abbey’s lead to three points. 

At this stage there were five minutes of normal time remaining, plus what proved to be a further five minutes of injury time. Abbey were totally starved of possession now. They conceded another penalty 10 metres from their line, but were fortunate to see Reading throw the ball in crooked at the lineout. Abbey wisely chose a lineout themselves instead of a scrum, but the ball was lost and Reading were on the attack again. Two more penalties went Reading’s way, and they chose to take a scrum from both. The referee announced last play at the second of these, and there was a possible case for Bowers trying for a draw by kicking at goal. However, Reading were so dominant now in the scrums that they must have fancied their chances of another try. They moved the ball to the left, but Abbey covered every gap and tackled magnificently. The ball went loose, and after Andrews hacked it downfield, Wallis-Robinson kicked for touch to end a nerve-jangling afternoon. 

This was a classic game of two halves. Abbey were comfortably the better team in the first half, playing with huge confidence even after losing their playmaker Norville. Knights was outstanding, Langton continues to look impressive in the first team pack and Clarke was always a danger with ball in hand. The second half was a different story, with Reading looking increasingly the stronger side. Norville’s tactical nous was probably missed at this stage, though Abbey had enough of the ball to score what was to prove a crucial fifth try. Both sides suffered annoying injuries in what was actually a cleanly contested, if passionate game, and Abbey’s defence at the death managed to see them over the line for a valuable victory. 

For the record: 

• When the teams met earlier in the season, 14 of the Abbey squad were involved and 11 of the Reading squad.  

• Abbey’s previous highest league score against Reading was 25, achieved twice previously, both times at Reading: 

14/01/2012: Reading 36 Abbey 25 

12//01/2019: Reading 14 Abbey 25 

• Abbey’s previous highest league score against Reading at Rosehill was 23:  

29/09/2018: Abbey 23 Reading 22 

Abbey: S Andrews, L Clifford, C House, G Goodenough, B Clarke, R Norville (T Martin 30), S Wallis-Robinson (co-captain), A Postlethwaite, T Wilkinson (D John 53), D John (R Williams 36), J Knights (co-captain), C Shaw, J Becalick (M Beckly 4), A Langton, M Eldridge    

Reading: J Clarke, H Morgan, J Barker-Lopez, A Wright, G Coker, S Bowers, C Attard, R Eastley (D Southworth 36), L Palmer (R Eastley 60), S King, G Jackson, J McIntyre (O Humphreys 38-48, A Rowe 49), W Proctor-Searle (captain), A Rowe (R Crumplin-Hill 40), R Smith 

Abbey: 

Tries: Andrews, Beckly, Clarke, Shaw, plus penalty try 

Con: Wallis-Robinson (2) 

Reading:  
Tries: Wright, Bowers, Morgan, Procter-Searle 

Con: Bowers (4) 

Yellow card: Jackson 

Referee: T Ramoo (East Midlands)