Sat 13 Sep 2025, 15:00
Crowthorne 24 Shire Hall 22
It had been nearly six months since Shire took the field with that impressive win against High Wycombe. Availability for this pre-season friendly was limited, especially as the majority of our University students had not yet returned from their holidays. The make up of the forwards had a somewhat unusual line up with both Tom Overend and Alistair McGregor, normally backs, filling unfamiliar roles. There were debuts for Billy Wigley and Manzi Murenzi too and a nice cameo from Arun Luis. From the outset, Shire took the game to Crowthorne and found success after only 8 minutes when Matt Margot went over for his 88th club try. Matt couldn’t add the extra points, but this was a good start. Centres Luke Jellicoe and Laurie Moss were beginning to become a handful for the Crowthorne defence and much good ground was made. Shire had a lot of possession, but the wet conditions were proving to be difficult for both sides. On the half hour, fast feet from Luke Jellicoe fooled the Crowthorne defence and he made a fine break to offload the ball to Manzi Murenzi who left the remaining Crowthorne defenders in his wake to score on his debut. Matt Margot added the conversion, and everything seemed rosy in the Shire Hall camp. Just on half time a heavy challenge on Laurie Moss saw him leave the field to be replaced by Dave Tridgell who had already played a full game of rugby at Reading School.
Half Time Score: Crowthorne 0 Shire Hall 12
Obviously some stern words at half time in the Crowthorne team had the desired effect as the monster Crowthorne captain gathered the ball and crashed through numerous weak efforts by Shire to set up a platform which culminated in a try. Seven minutes later and the scores were level when further lapses by Shire allowed Crowthorne to go over for their second try. To stop the Crowthorne forwards, two huge brave tackles by Tom Overend lifted Shire and their response was to take a penalty shot at goal.(Perhaps not in the spirit of the game but you’ve got to keep the scoreboard ticking sometimes!) Matt Margot was successful with his kick and so Shire were back in the lead. Much territory was now Shire’s but they could not convert any of the pressure due to good defensive work by Crowthorne. The comedy moment came at a lineout when Ollie Homan-Green completely fluffed a pre-planned move with his head rather than his hands. Crowthorne responded to this by capitalizing on some inadequate tackling to score under the posts to take the lead by 19 – 15. With three minutes left on the clock, Shire thought they had won the game when Luke Jellicoe bamboozled the defence to score under the posts. Matt Margot added the extra points to put Shire back in the lead. Game management was now very important but indecision from the resultant restart allowed Crowthorne to gain possession. After a few phases, Crowthorne managed to work the ball out wide to score what was to be the last play.
This was a worthwhile exercise for both teams in preparation for the season’s league matches. Yes, the result was disappointing for Shire but things will improve. Our thanks to both Crowthorne and Phoenix for lending us players so that the game could go ahead and we wish both clubs the best for the season.
Final Score: Crowthorne 24 Shire Hall 22
Tries: Matt Margot, Manzi Murenzi, Luke Jellicoe
Conversions: Matt Margot (2)
Penalty Goal: Matt Margot
MOTM: Kris Sharma – got his backs moving well and put in some fearsome tackling
DOTD: Ollie Homan-Green – completely messed up a special line out move
