Hungerford RFC

A bitterly cold morning at Henwick Worthy Fields as HRFC’s Hurricanes travelled to their postponed first Berkshire Youth Cup game against Thatcham. With a very strong squad, the team were looking forward to making an impact.

The first couple of minutes showed some big strength from Thatcham who favoured the left wing for a lot of their rolling maul play. A knock-on and the resultant scrum yielded good ball for scrum-half Leo Horwood who patiently set his attack before unleashing Max Bartholomew for the first of his tries.

Within 15 minutes the Hurricanes had gone 0-6 ahead with four tries from man of the match, Max and one each for second-rower Frankie Marrangio (after some incredible support work from fellow lock George Hastle) and full-back Harry Wilding. With the cup game won with maximum points, Thatcham opted to play-on and their spirit was incredible.

Hurricanes found good success spreading the ball wide, and quickly built on their lead with Max scoring his fifth. Leo Horwood crossed for two tries after spotting gaps in the defence out the back of the ruck. Then number 8 Greyson Evans went route one off a penalty to score his try. Mazy runs from captain Oscar McBride saw him dot down two tries, and Barnaby Merchant lit the afterburners to outpace Thatcham’s defence down the right wing, crossing in the corner.

Thatcham crossed for their try with the last play of the match, despite a ferocious chase from Harry. Their player survived the tap tackle to give the home team the consolation they played their hearts out for.

Both sets of coaches applauded Thatcham's grit and mentality and for playing in the spirit of the game. Head coach Matt Allard remarked "it was nice to see Thatcham score their try - the whole of Hungerford RFC were cheering for them. Throughout the match, our players linked up well showing great teamwork and a number of players were candidates for man of the match. We were impressed with their scrum strength which is something we've been looking to shore up. We take a few things home to work on but are thrilled by the result".

Hurricanes welcome Reading RFC in their next cup game on 2nd February.