Gosford had to field a very experimental side with lots of people unavailable: Elliott Newell had to cover the 10 slot with Alfie Morton coming on to the wing. Miles Johnson was back out to 13 writes Liam Donnelly.
Determined to start the game well they did just that. Some very early pressure in the first few minutes amounted to points. Great hands by a number of players lead to skipper Miles Johnson scoring in the corner. Con missed. 5-0
Next points came just a few minutes later as Alfie Morton slotted a penalty kick from long range off the tee. 8-0
Determined to keep going Gosford kept attacking in to the Wheatley half. At 15 minutes this resulted in a penalty at a kickable distance. Alfie's attempt went wide of the posts and due to some confusion from the Wheatley players was chased and dotted down by Liam Donnelly. Con scored by Alfie. 15-0
The last of the GAB first half points came from another bout of good fortune. From a scrum in the middle of the park number 8 Dan Hughes picked up at the base and made a strong 30 metre carry. The offload to supporting Jamie Edwards didn't quite go to hand but a good bit skill meant Jamie kicked the ball through to allow James Groves to score. Con missed. 20-0
The last 20 mins of the first half was all Wheatley who to be fair, put Gosford under lots of pressure with some strong carries and retention of the ball. They were rewarded a kickable penalty at 34 mins which was scored. 20-3.
The pressure carried on for the remainder of the half, but Gosford got to half time without conceding again.
Gosford started the second half similarly to the first and the first points of the half wasn't far away. At 44 mins Dan Hughes picked up at the base of the scrum and made another charge towards the Wheatley try line. The offload this time went to hand and winger Kay McLauchlan finished off to score. Con missed. 25-3
Possession was very back and forth for the next 15 mins or so, but the deadlock broke on 61mins. Pressure on the Wheatley try line lead to a kick from behind the line being charged down by flanker Alex Jackowski, who pounced on the loose ball to score a try. Con missed. 30-3
Just 5 mins later Gosford Scored again. Some good forward play lead to flanker Dan Bullimore scoring in the corner. Con scored. 37-3
The last points of the game was scored on 71 minutes where some good phase play in the centre of the park got Gosford into the Wheatley 22. This lead to a 3 man overlap so Gosford went wide and Alfie Morton cruised in to score a try. Con scored. 44-3.
Overall a good solid performance by Gosford who were missing a large amount of players. Well done to all those lads filling in and playing out of position. Credit to Wheatley who made it real tough at times, they were clearly missing a few players themselves. No doubt the result of teams having to play 5 games in a row at the start of the season. The result meant GAB leapfrogged Wheatley up to 4th in the league
The Tap Social MOTM went to Alex Jackowski who worked tirelessly throughout.
Next game is against Abingdon (A) on 14th October.