Former Reading wing, Chris Greig-Jenkins came back to haunt his old team with a hat trick of tries which sent them to a third defeat in a row.
In a match which was competitive until the last fifteen minutes Wallingford sealed their victory with three unanswered tries in the final quarter.
Wallingford went ahead after ten minutes when No 8 Nathan Chapman, who was a thorn in Reading’s side throughout the game, picked up from a scrum near the line and crashed over for an unconverted try.
Reading were soon on the scoreboard themselves when, after a series of rucks near the Wallingford line, Lewis Donnelly in his first game of the season forced his way over after an initial surge from Greg Jackson. Bowers added the conversion to put Reading in the lead.
This lead was short lived as from a scrum in the Reading 22, the ball was moved quickly out to Greig-Jenkins who avoided the Reading defenders to score an unconverted try in the corner.
The rest of the half was a closely fought affair with both defences on top for long periods. Reading did more attacking at the end but despite winning three penalties in the Wallingford 22 were unable to press their advantage home and ended the half 10-7 down.
In contrast, they began in the second half in great style when after an initial break by Bowers got them into the 22, he then put a cheeky kick with the outside of his boot over the Wallingford defence which allowed Proctor-Searle to run in for an unconverted try.
As before, their lead did not last long as Wallingford No 8 Chapman picked up the ball from a ruck on the Reading 22 and charged over under the posts for a converted try, his second, to make the score 17-12.
Reading then replied with a try of their own. After good carrying by Donnelly and Ryan Smith attracted penalties from Wallingford, a good break from Steve King almost made the line but after being stopped, he picked up from the back of a ruck and dived over for an unconverted try which put Reading on equal terms.
It was then that Greig-Jenkins took over. Firstly, good work in the centre set him up with an open run to the line which he finished off in trademark style for an unconverted try. And Walingford repeated the formula again five minutes later when a after break in the centre the ball eventually found its way to Greig-Jenkins who completed his hat trick with another try in the corner to give his team a ten point lead.
In the last ten minutes a missed tackle allowed Wallingford to score a further converted try to stretch the score out to 34-17 and despite a good effort by Donnelly to get Reading’s fourth try just coming up short that was the last of the scoring.
This was a game that Reading let get away in the last quarter. The Reading side showed seven changes to the match day squad from the previous match and lack of familiarity certainly affected their defensive organisation especially when they began to tire in the second half.
They can comfort themselves however that they won’t often come across a finisher like Greig-Jenkins, a player who scored just short of 200 tries for them when he was with the club and although only playing occasionally seems to have lost very little of his finishing ability.
Reading play Reading Abbey on Saturday 15th in a home fixture for the first time since 2021/2022 season, a local derby which is always hard fought.
Tries: Donnelly, Proctor-Searle, King
Conversion: Bowers
TEAM: Jason Carr; Jake Clift, Luca Busciglio-Bland, Alex Rowe, Tom Burrows; Jos Clarke, Sam Bowers; Dave Southworth, Steve King, Ryan Smith; Jamie McIntyre, Lewis Donnelly; Mike Bolton, Will Proctor-Searle (capt.), Greg Jackson.
Replacements: Fuat Cemiloglu, Mitch Fisher, Ben Fuller.
By Peter Chidgey
