Five-star performance from Blues

Newbury Blues fine form continued at the weekend with a fifth successive Regional 2 Tribute South Central bonus point win, beating Swindon 34-12 at Monks Lane.

However, it was Swindon who started fastest in what was an even first half, the visitors crossing within two minutes to lead 5-0 as most of the 350 spectators were still filing out of the clubhouse.

It wasn’t long before in-form Blues responded, Miles Albert latching onto a pinpoint kick to score his third try in three games.

Skipper Dan Thorne nailed the conversion from a difficult angle wide on the right and Blues had a 7-5 lead, much to the delight of one supporter and his ear-piercing horn in particular.

Newbury then began to go through the gears and scored again minutes later, Kris Ford and his deceptively fast feet breaking a tackle to set up the explosive Michael Klichowicz to score his fourth try of the season.

Thorne made no mistake with a much easier kick and the hosts led 14-5 after an exciting opening quarter of an hour.

There was an unmistakable edge to this contest and Josh Winfield wasted little time getting stuck into his opposite number and causing a ruckus between the two old rivals, prompting consternation amongst the onlooking travelling Swindon contingent in their distinctive yellow striped suits.

When the action resumed Thorne made it 17-5 with another impressive kick from some 40 yards but Swindon were back in it before the break, Michael Thompson touching down after a well worked scrum in the 37th minute.

Jaques Danford kicked the conversion and a minute later the sides were off down the dugout for half time, Blues boasting a slender 17-12 lead.

The second half witnessed an altogether more dominant display from Blues, who made it 22-12 in the 65th minute when George Butler did well to control a bouncing ball after another incisive kick found him out wide to score.

A frustrated Danford was sent to the sin bin for Swindon and the 14 men were unable to prevent Blues securing a bonus point as Klichowicz collected the ball from another strong scrum and raced over to score his second try of the afternoon and extend the lead to 27-12.

There was still time for one more score for the hosts as Reuben Langdon crossed the whitewash before Thorne's third successful conversion sealed a 34-12 win for fifth placed Blues.

And Blues head coach James McAvoy was delighted with his side's performance and was quick to praise his team's response to conceding so early on.

He said: “We weren’t phased, I was confident we’d turn it around and I was so pleased with how we responded.

“We were so calm after that first try, we stopped them playing how they wanted to.

“Swindon started with lots of energy but we solved the problem really quickly.

“We’ve been really happy with the fluidity of attack the last few weeks, we’ve been close to 40 points in all of our last five matches.

“We’ve been conscious we’ve given up a couple of losing bonus points so we were determined this week we’d make it more difficult.

“We came in at half time with the score 17-12 with the game in the balance.

“We came out and controlled the breakdown, showed really good discipline and played in the right areas, we were excellent.

“The fact that those final 40 minutes were a shutout was the most pleasing thing for me without a doubt.

“A couple of the boys have told me about the rivalry with Swindon, it’s always nice to get one over them but I think it was one we expected to win.”

Next up for McAvoy's men is a challenging trip to second placed side Witney this weekend before another Saturday on the road at Reading in a fortnight’s time, which sets up a Blues and Stags double header.

“We think we can beat anyone, we’ll go there full of confidence,” he said.

“We beat Witney 60-15 at their place last season but then they came and beat us at Monks Lane, we’re expecting a tough test but we relish challenges, we’re looking forward to demonstrating our credentials.”