Sat 7 Nov 2026
Shire Hall 34 Aldermaston 27
Only 7 players from last week’s team against Bracknell were available for this crucial match against League leaders Aldermaston. Shire dug deep into their playing squad to field a full squad of 20 players. Returning after a long absence from injury was Max Davies and debuts were given to Tom Pritchard, Roche Kilian and James Appleton. Shire were keen to improve on their dismal display against Aldermaston at the end of last season, but this was going to be a big ask.
Things did not start well for Shire as they conceded two tries in the first six minutes to go 14 – 0 down. But Shire have never lacked spirit and this was shown 10 minutes later when a flowing move in the backs created space for full back Alex Webb to put Tom Overend in for a good try. Rhys Stewart could not add the extra points, but the score definitely gave Shire a lift. Five minutes later a bit of good fortune allowed Luke Barefoot to latch on to a pass from Tom Overend and go over. From the sidelines, the pass looked forward but the referee did not give it and the score counted. Rhys Stewart added the extra points and Shire were now just two points behind. Yet again Shire’s defensive work was outstanding with good tackles by Max Davies, Thomas Williams and Gwyn Robins in particular ending promising Aldermaston attacks. Aldermaston increased their lead with a rare penalty, but they were finding it difficult to break through Shire’s defence. On the half hour, Tom Pritchard received a yellow card because of a high tackle which seemed somewhat innocuous from the sidelines. Aldermaston were able to capitalise on the numerical advantage with their third try a few minutes later to give them a 12 point lead at half time.
Half Time Score: Shire Hall 12 Aldermaston 24
Half time saw the introduction of Luke Jellicoe, James Appleton, Roche Kilian and Michael Tripsa to replace Joe Tett, Tom Pritchard, Andy Ryan and Tom Overend for no apparent reason apart from rotating the squad. Within 5 minutes, Luke Barefoot went over for his second try of the game after a typical mazy run from Luke Jellicoe bamboozled the defence. Rhys Stewart added the extra points to reduce the lead to just 5 points. Shire were now in the ascendency with the Aldermaston pack tiring quickly. The power of props Will Jellicoe and Max Davies were the main factors here and Jamie Pedder and Gwyn Robins were winning excellent ball in the lineouts. Aldermaston added another rare penalty to extend their lead after 50 minutes, but this would be the final time that they troubled the scoreboard. Five minutes later the try scoring machine that is Matt Margot muscled his way over for his 99th Club try to bring the score to 27-24 in Aldermaston’s favour, but we now had a try bonus point. At this point Jack Mould replaced Alex Webb and soon after Matt Margot went over for his 100th try to join a very exclusive club of just 4 players who had also achieved this feat. No conversion from Rhys Stewart but Shire now were 2 points in front. It was not surprising that Shire backs were starting to run riot, especially Roche Kilian and Luke Jellicoe and to create space for supporting players. With 5 minutes left, it was Gwyn Robins who went over to extend Shire’s lead to 7 points. Sadly, Rhys Stewart’s conversion hit the crossbar. Fair play to Aldermaston as they pressed to get the equalising score but were denied by Shire’s consistent tackling, epitomised by Jack Mould’s bone crunching tackle on one of their big forwards. The last play was a Shire lineout which Gwyn Robins collected cleanly and fed the ball for Andy Scanlon to gleefully kick the ball to touch.
This was truly outstanding performance against a very good Aldermaston team. If you ignore the woeful first 6 minutes, Shire were clearly the dominant team and wanted the victory more. There were so many good performances throughout the team and it would have been easier to give the Man Of The Match to the whole team. Andy Scanlon and Dave Tridgell were very tidy half backs and provided good ball for our lively backs. This victory took us up to 3rd in the league and it is worth noting that no side has gained a try bonus against us this season. Next up is Thatcham who had a good win against Bracknell this weekend. Congratulations to Matt Margot on achieving 100 tries in just 189 games!
Final Score: Shire Hall 34 Aldermaston 27
Tries: Tom Overend, Luke Barefoot (2), Matt Margot (2), Gwyn Robins
Conversions: Rhys Stewart (2)
MOTM: Thomas Williams – considering he is a back playing at flanker, an awesome game.
DOTD: Tom Pritchard – yellow card !
