Brilliant Blues on a roll as Newbury make it hat-trick of wins
Newbury Blues made it three Regional 2 Tribute South Central wins on the bounce following a comfortable bonus point 39-24 win over Devizes on Saturday.
Blues donned a brand new kit but made a familiar fast start, Jonny Lees and then the impressive Michael Klichowicz testing the Devizes defence with incisive forward runs in the opening exchanges.
In the absence of regular fly half and captain Dan Thorne, the first Blues’ points came from the boot of Kris Ford, who kicked a penalty in the 10th minute to make it 3-0.
Blues’ first try came less than 10 minutes later when the in-form Freddie Beharrell broke the Devizes’ line and set up Lees to score.
Ford impressed from the kicking tee, adding the conversion to extend Newbury’s lead to 10-0.
Blues then survived some Devizes pressure – Josh Winfield and Jamie Futcher denying the visitors with some last ditch defending – before Michael Duppa-Miller set up Tiarnan Kelly who touched down to make it 15-0.
Debutant Ali MaGee then provided a sensational assist for Klichowicz, spinning and beating two Devizes defenders before handing it to the Blues’ nine to score.
Ford – who looked to be loving his responsibilities from the tee – nailed the conversion to make it 22-0.
Devizes’ bounced back when a sensational Sam Jones score reduced the arrears to 22-7 but the hosts added another five points before the break as Winfield set up MaGee to score his maiden Blues try and secure Newbury a bonus point.
Into the second half and Magee added his second before Lewis Dodds scored for Devizes, both conversions missed to leave the score 32-12.
That was how it remained for 15 minutes when Miles Albert powered over, Chris Ford added the conversion and Blues looked to have wrapped things up at 39-12.
The visitors refused to give in and were rewarded with two tries in the final 10 minutes from Charlie Paget and Jones, but it wasn’t enough to deny Newbury an emphatic 39-24 win.
Blues win featured nine players that have come through the youth ranks and head coach James McAvoy hailed his side's "perfect blend" of youth and experience; Ali MaGee, who scored twice on his debut, became the 35th player to don a Blues strip this season.
“We were excited, we were refreshed, fluent and impressive,” McAvoy said.
“It was another excellent win, we’re really starting to build up some positive momentum now.”
McAvoy was delighted with how a number of his squad stepped up to fill leadership roles in the absence of regular captain and fly half, Dan Thorne.
Kris Ford kicked nine points, Jamie Futcher captained the side and there were impressive performances from the experienced Josh Winfield – winning his 177th cap – Freddie Beharrell – winning just his third – and Jonny Lees, who returned after a spell on the sidelines.
McAvoy said: “Jonny made an instant impact, we’ve started well every single game this season.
“Kris practices his kicking a lot, he’s kicked for previous clubs.
“He’s got a boot we can call on from a longer distance, and we know that Kris is a confident kicker that we can utilise whenever we’re without Dan (Thorne).
“Ali (MaGee) is one we’ve had our eye on for a few weeks now, he made such an assured debut he’s put himself right in the selection mix.
“He can cover a number of positions, he’s a very confident defender and he’s got great hands.
“We’re giving opportunities to boys that come through from colts onwards and boys that come in from other clubs, I think we’ve got the perfect blend."
Blues travel to sixth placed Grove this weekend and then return to Monks Lane in a fortnight with the visit of Swindon, which will feature live music and the annual ale festival.
"We're looking forward to Grove, who have had a decent start to the season, this weekend and then Swindon," McAvoy said.
"We started the season with three defeats, now we've had three wins and we're full of confidence, momentum works both ways."
The momentum is with Blues at the moment – it remains to be seen if they can make it four wins from four this weekend.
