On Saturday Slough travelled down the M4 to take on Hungerford in another eagerly awaited league game. The weather was perfect for running rugby, albeit with it being slightly boggy underfoot.

The game started at a frantic pace with the Slough forwards running through Hungerford at will with Ben Ambrose, James Rock and Craig Fullicks bulldozing their way through some weak tackling. Hungerford were under relentless pressure and it was only some poor decision making and finishing from Slough that let the hosts off the hook.

Slough were still making plenty of inroads into the Hungerford team but were guilty of trying to play rugby in the wrong areas. 13 minutes into the game though everything clicked and came together. A fantastic take from Matteo on a chip over the defence took Slough behind enemy lines and from there a try was inevitable. A couple of phases later took Slough to within 15 metres of the try line. Some slick interplay between the forwards and backs put Sam Rowe over in the corner with a move straight off the training paddock. Max Miles with the conversion to make it 7-0 to Slough.

From the restart the game settled back into the normal pattern, Slough playing all the rugby and Hungerford trying to unsettle them with late hits, Dan McNeaney taking the brunt of them. It took another 14 minutes for the next try to come and it was almost a carbon copy of the first try - this time with Matty “Comms” Collins going over in the same corner. Conversion scored to make it 14-0 after 27 minutes.

The next 13 minutes were very scrappy with Slough applying all the pressure, but some handling errors were stopping them from extending the lead before half time.

You could tell from the reaction from the players at half time they felt they were letting themselves down, they were getting too embroiled in all the off the ball treatment they were receiving. The introduction of Matt Fenwick and Martin Tilby at half time sorted that out. With Matt ‘The Enforcer’ Fenwick on the pitch, all the off-ball tactics seemed to stop from Hungerford (probably through fear) and with Tilby chopping everyone at their ankles, Hungerford couldn’t gather any momentum.

Five minutes into the second half Slough scored their third try. From a lineout the forwards set up a driving maul which Hungerford couldn’t live with, giving Slough a penalty advantage. With the Hungerford backs running backwards to stay onside, Slough took full advantage with Max Miles running through the middle. Billy Young was on hand to support and, with 20 metres to go, made it to the try line but his infant like frame caused him to be flipped back onto the pitch. Quick recycling gave Slough a 2-on-1 on the blind side with Ben Foster supplying his third assist of the game to put Max over in the corner. Conversion missed making the score 19-0.

The game then followed pretty much the same pattern, with Slough playing all the rugby.
The only surprise was that it took another 18 minutes for Slough to score their bonus point try. From a scrum, Rhys Amos picked from the base and fed Ben Foster who, rather than use his considerable bulk, chose to use his “step” to score from 20 metres out. Charlie “Chunky” Turner with the conversion from in front of the posts to make it 26-0.

With the bonus point wrapped up, the focus switched to keeping Hungerford scoreless. The hits were flying in, pushing Hungerford further and further back down the pitch, and with time almost up Hungerford resorted to some WWE style moves to see the game out.

It was a good performance from Slough, not one of the best and on a more clinical day the score could, and maybe should, have been 15-20 points higher. The positives to take from the game were the intensity in defence to keep them scoreless, as well as the return of a few players from injuries and the enigma that is Charlie Turner deciding to grace us with his presence.

Next week Slough travel to Oxford to play the cancelled fixture from before Christmas looking to continue to build the momentum.