The 2nd team’s trip down the A34 to Didcot started far from smoothly with late drop outs, missed alarm clocks and a last minute call up to the 1sts for skipper Danny Rae leaving the brains trust scrambling to organise the team and players arriving at Boundary Park unclear what position they would be playing in, writes Rich Tyler-Gunning.

It wasn’t long, however, until the team was settled with Rich Tyler stepping into the captain's armband and the back row of James McAuley, Reece Coates and Gerardo Pradillo all making their first starts in their respective positions.

The last time GAB 2s were at Boundary Park they had come away with an easy victory and the swelling crowd could sense the red and whites were up for revenge early with GAB skipper Rich Tyler being at the bottom of a brawl for which he claimed complete innocence…

The match started positively for the men in black; a dominant scrum and a superb 50:22 from Alfie Morton leading to early territory pressure. However, Didcot’s defence and the referee’s whistle kept frustrating them until a loose Didcot lineout on their 22 was disrupted by Gerardo Pradillo who kicked the ball over the try line where the bounce confused the Didcot backs and the tenacious Mexican was able to touchdown for Gosford’s first try. 5-0

Didcot were not to be written off so quickly however and a combination of failure to clear the ball effectively from the kick off, poor tackling and poor discipline led to Didcot taking a 10-5 lead.

Gosford came back again though, Alfie Morton bounced back from a missed penalty kick to field the resulting goal line dropout superbly and release the terrier-like Kay McLauchlan who made the first of many dangerous counter attacks that put Didcot on the back foot. This was followed by probing line breaks from the likes of Manu Loubet, the ever-present Gerardo and others and only a fine covering tackle stopped Teifion Jones scoring in the corner.

Gosford’s confidence was up now, however, and at the resulting lineout Sonic Wassell brilliantly poached the ball from Didcot’s maul and after a few attacking phases, Alfie spotted hooker Bernardo Saez Benito still lurking on the touchline and the powerful Spaniard went over in the corner to level the score with his first GAB try 10-10

The half ended with some fine Gosford defence frustrating Didcot meaning the sides went into the half all square at 10-10

The 2nd half started with similar frustrations that had plagued GAB in the first. Strong territory was hindered by a lack of discipline. Bernardo, The Iberean Bullet, kept firing himself into the Didcot attack disrupting them superbly, unfortunately the referee continued to deem that he was offside and he was lucky to stay on the pitch after the third time he was called back in a row.

Fortunately despite the referee’s continued interventions, brilliant Gosford defence continued to thwart Didcot. Particularly doggard efforts from the new flankers James McAuley and Reece Coates really kept Gosford in the game.

15 minutes into the 2nd half, there was a tension in the Gosford ranks and a feeling that if they could just get hold of the ball they would take back control of the game and inspiration came from another powerful counter attack from Kay who fielded a loose clearance and charged full pace into a sea of red and white shirts only to reappear out the other side kicking and screaming and shrugging off the tackles of guys twice his size. This was the start of the Gosford revival and soon all the backs were breaking tackles and impressive handling was releasing Teifion Jones, Jonny Campbell and Kay McLauchlan down the wings which was really causing havoc in the Didcot defence. The breakthrough came at last from a classic Alfie Morton snipe that left the ragged Didcot defence standing watching him do an awkward, limp swan dive under the posts. 10-17

From then on Gosford remembered how to play. Everything they did seemed to get them on the front foot and in particularly crashing runs from the Duracell Bunny, Gerardo and Man of the match, Reece Coates, really caused Didcot problems and soon it was they who were being punished by the referee. And Gosford were there to take advantage.

The next score came from, who else but, the talismanic Kay in an individual moment of brilliance. Under pressure, fly half Rob Eynon gave Kay McLauchlan an inside pass, which he took standing still. With nothing in front of him and the type of French flair that Manu dreams of, Kay chipped over the top, gathered it on the 22 and leaving Didcot defenders sprawling in his wake sprinted under the posts for a try of the season contender. 10-22

This was followed moments later by veteran winger, Ben Gilkes, coming off the bench and making a mark immediately; taking a quick tap penalty with his first touch of the ball and powering over the line from 10 metres out. 10-29

Didcot were not done yet however, and despite Dickie’s calls for calm heads, they were able to turn over the ball off the kick off and get one more score in. But the game ended with more defiant Gosford defence denying Didcot any bonus points and continuing the 2nds undefeated league run. Final Score 15-29

Reactions:

Dickie Tyler, Captain
‘We let ourselves down at times but we rallied and proved what a team we are. The commitment in attack and defence was immense.’

Marc Grant, Co-Captain
‘We stuck at it when they scored their first try we didn't give up. We looked like a team on and off the pitch.’

Reece Coates, Man of the match
‘A Great game to be a part of. Proud to be part of this unbeaten side.’

Bernardo Saez Benito, Dick of the Day.
‘Sorry about all the offsides.’

Final Score: Didcot 2s 15 – 29 Gosford All Blacks 2s

Scorers:
G Pradillo 1T
B Saez-Benito 1T
A Morton 1T 2C
K McLauchlan 1T
B Gilkes 1T

Tap Social Men of the Match: Reece Coates and James McAuley