Salisbury 39 - Reading 12 in Papa John's Community Cup
In perfect Spring conditions Salisbury welcomed Reading to Castle Road in the first round of the Papa John’s Community Cup. The hosts had inflicted two narrow defeats on Reading in the league and they made it three-from-three with a further but more convincing 39 – 12 win.
Salisbury established early momentum after a long kick to the corner following a penalty. They moved the ball quickly across the visitors’ 22 after the lineout, cleared out the defence at a ruck for James Kennedy to take the ball on the charge and score under the posts. Ollie Bate added the extras for a 7 – 0 lead only four minutes in. Reading responded almost immediately when the hosts gifted them an attacking scrum after a knock-on from the restart. They moved the ball at pace to score an unconverted try in the corner.
Salisbury pressure earned a penalty on 10 minutes which Bate converted to extend the lead to 10 – 5. The hosts then continued to play with purpose but couldn’t sustain pressure due to a number of unforced errors. Progress was further inhibited by a yellow card for a high tackle in the 16th minute. Despite this Salisbury regrouped. Will Murley opted to run a penalty and got close to scoring, the hosts won the subsequent ruck and Mike Dauwalder eventually powered his way over for their second try on 20 minutes.
At 15 – 5 Salisbury looked the more confident and scored their third try in the 30th minute after Reading had squandered an obvious overlap. Kennedy broke from deep and found space. Salisbury sustained the attack through several pairs of hands for Kennedy to finish what he had started with a converted try. The hosts added a fourth try on 35 minutes when they gathered a poor goal line dropout and moved the ball skilfully for Theo André Browning to finish in the corner. Bate converted and Salisbury finished the half leading 29 – 5.
The third quarter was largely dominated by Reading who were determined to get back on terms often forcing Salisbury to scramble back in defence. The visitors scored a converted try when they attacked from a scrum on 50 minutes to narrow the deficit to 29 – 12 but that was their last score. They often failed to capitalise on promising periods in possession. The final quarter was largely a scrappy affair in which Salisbury scored twice more with tries from Dan Hammond and Joe Paden.
The win earns Salisbury a fixture against Newbury Blues in the next round on Saturday.
Joe Cooper