Trentham 34-36 Harbury

The Villagers went into their quarter final clash against Trentham knowing that a win would set up a home semi final against one of Wigan or Northallerton with a Twickenham final up for grabs. Both sides came into the game on the back of strong victories in the RO16, and Harbury knew that this would be our toughest test so far. Trentham are unbeaten at home this year, having only lost one game all season, and we would have to do it without a number of key players including Ciarán O’Connor and Luke Winchester, who missed out through injury.

Having got the long travel to Stoke out of our legs, the squad got off to the best start possible. After Ricky Alford kicked a perfect 22:22 to give us field position, strong ball retention and quick breakdown work managed to overwork the Trentham defence. As Tom Boag sniped round the corner of a ruck, Tom Arnold burst onto his offload and just reached the try line to open the scoring. Ricky added the extras for 0-7.

Trentham however, proved immediately why they’ve been so successful this season and quickly hit back. A line out play saw them find space out-wide, and the winger finished well in the corner despite the best efforts of Ricky Alford. A touchline conversion levelled things up early at 7-7.

This game was quickly shaping up to be a bit of a ding-dong battle, and from a line out on half way, Hobson and Whelan combined to make good yards down the left. As the ball was spread back to the right, Rory Pond gathered a ball out the back and spread to Ricky Alford and Will Higgins for the winger to run in Harbury’s second try of the game. Ricky missed narrowly with the conversion to leave the score at 7-12.

Unfortunately the Villagers lost Rory to injury in the process of scoring, and a reshuffle saw Ricky move to 10. Ricky won’t mind me saying that he’s enjoyed not having to slot in at 10 this season, but the old dog is still capable of producing some magic. A chip and chase benefitted from the Ricky bounce, and as the captain regathered he stepped around the fullback and offloaded to Harry Holland to score under the sticks. Ricky added the extras for 7-19.

Despite the score advantage, Harbury were put under the cosh towards the end of the half, as Trentham slotted a penalty and scored a breakaway try to bring the score closer at 17-19 and it’s safe to say that this was already the most competitive game of the season with two well-matched teams going head to head. We went into half time with only two points the difference as both sides added an extra score before the break. First Ricky added to his assist with a try courtesy of another chip and chase, as he made it look shockingly easy and extended the lead to 24-17. Trentham hit back however, as Jackson went to the bin for a high shot, and their winger finished another well-worked move in the corner despite the touch judge flagging for foot in touch. The extras were missed narrowly to leave the score at 22-24 to the visitors.

We knew we'd be in for a tough second half, and it started as such. Trentham used their numerical advantage and scored two quick tries after the break, converting one from the touchline. At 34-24 to the home side the game looked like turning away from the Villagers, but this is a side who doesn't know when they're beat and Harbury came roaring back. In the last 20 minutes Trentham's ill-discipline saw them reduced first to 14 men for a late shot which saw their blindside flanker sent to the bin. Despite the man advantage, we couldn't find a way through Trentham's very strong defensive line, and they won turnovers close to their line to relieve pressure with a number of crunching shots on some of our biggest runners. One of these shots was late and high and Tom Boag, and unfortunately was missed by the referee, but it saw Tom's nose genuinely explode on his face and if Tom makes it for the end of the season he may well be sporting a Harinordoquy-esque face mask.

Eventually the pressure was made to tell, and this is a try that perfectly exemplifies that we're a side where in open field anyone can play in any position. As Ricky distributed from 10, Joe Cummings came steaming onto the pass, drew his man and played a perfect ball out the back of Ben Knott for Tom Arnold to catch and ship on to his partner in crime Charlie Allerton, with the big 8 dotting down in the corner. This brought it back to a one score game at 34-29, despite the kick sailing wide, and we were now in the ascendancy.

Trentham needed to slow the game down at this point and regain some control and some territory, but as the restart sailed out on the full the Villagers were geed up and looking to go get the victory. Jackson was having an absolutely sterling game, and from the scrum he made vital metres down the right, before play was switched allowing marauding prop Jason Wood to do the same down the left flank. As we recycled, Ricky spotted the opportunity to grubber through again, as he chased his kick he collided with a Trentham second row, for which the player was sin binned for the remainder of the game. With a penalty in front of the sticks, Harbury opted for the scrum, looking to go for the try that would bring us level.

One key moment that might have gone unnoticed to some, was the front row swapping positions ahead of this scrum. Ant Tate had been withdrawn for Danny Woodward, and the Trentham loosehead was having a much better time against Joe Cummings than he had done against Ant. Joe and Jason swapped, showing their immense versatility, and the young but powerful front row managed to turn the screw, securing good platform for our set piece.

Unfortunately Ricky had been left injured and unable to play on after the collision, which saw Jackson step up at 10 in a bit of a makeshift backline. Continued Trentham ill-discipline compounded their errors, and a stupid late shoulder charge on Tom Kittendorf saw Trentham reduced to 13 men as their flanker was given a second yellow card and sent off. With Trentham's main line out jumper now gone for the duration, Harbury opted to go for the corner. Ben Lurch Knott managed to stick the penalty 5 metres out to give us the perfect platform to attack. Air Kittendorf took the line out at the front, and despite Trentham's attempts to sack the maul, Charlie Allerton peeled off and got within inches of the line. Jason Wood and Harry Holland both went close, before Lurch tried his luck from a metre out. As the big man was stopped, the tackler didn't clear the ruck and ripped the ball loose. As Whelan pounced on the ball and dove over to score, the referee's whistle gave better news than we could have imagined, as he awarded a penalty try meaning we didn't have to try and convert from out wide. Harbury were now in the lead at 34-36, and Trentham were reduced to 12 men with only minutes to play.

The kick off went straight to Jackson, and the athletic centre powered away from the would-be tacklers and found Whelan on the outside in space. As the winger sprinted down away from the defenders he looked destined to score, but to add some spice to the game he cut back in opting to retain possession and not risk the touchline (painful viewing on the Veo). As Jason Wood carried next phase, Trentham stripped the ball and looked to play out, eventually winning a penalty. The fly half went deep with the penalty, and despite Whelan touching it in flight the referee awarded the line out when time was already dead... just to spike heart rates on the sideline even more. Thankfully, Kittendorf and Knott managed to disrupt the attempted drive towards the line, dislodging the ball to spike pandemonium on the sideline.

Easily the biggest win of the season, and one which keeps our dream of a league and cup double alive. MotM was given to Jackson by the opposition, and he and Ricky absolutely ran the show all day. DotD went to yours truly for the heart attack enducing last 2 minutes. This win means that we will now welcome Wigan to Waterloo Fields next weekend, with the winners heading to Twickenham for the final the following Sunday. One of the biggest games in the club's history I'd wager, and please come down and support the lads in what is set to be a very difficult outing against an historic rugby club.

Up the Harbs
Toby Whelan