Sun 29 Sep 2024
Hungerford RFC's Colts got their league season off to a flying start with a dominant bonus-point win at Reading.
In testing, windy conditions, Hungerford notched a 25-7 victory in a game the hosts never looked likely to win after centre Roddy Goodenough crashed through their defence to touch down after three minutes.
Hungerford had the edge in every facet of the game, even with the strong wind in their faces before half time and turned around 15-0 ahead with further tries coming from a long outside break by tight forward Alfie Reynolds and a length-of-the-pitch debut score from outside half Ollie Hamlin.
With the wind at their backs after the break, Hungerford pushed Reading back with punishing positional kicking. Another score early in the half - from prop Ethan Hawkins - secured the bonus point and fullback Henry Wilson added the fifth before Reading claimed a consolation try and added the extras.
Coach Dan Ward described Hungerford's win as "an excellent start to the league season. We made good use of our strike moves and got the ball wide frequently. Our defensive sets were strong, and we made excellent exits. We showed good tactical sense to gain territorial control with our kicking game and though we still have things to work on, every member of the squad should be really pleased with the result and the way it was achieved."
