HIGH Wycombe RUFC are up to second in the Southern Counties League after beating Bucks rivals Beaconsfield inside the first 40 minutes on Saturday.

They led 19-0 at half time and although Beaconsfield battled back with three tries to win the second half, there was no coming back from such a one-sided opening half as it ended 36-20.

Beaconsfield oach Simon Tattersall said: “We got sucked into playing their game. We got drawn into a tussle up front.

“We wanted to play outside their 12 and 13, but got a bit carried away with the forward battle.

“We were 20-0 down at half time and it could have been a cricket score. We got three tries in the second half and it would have been nice to at least come away with a bonus point, but hopefully the players will learn from this.”

High Wycombe’s reliance on their big guns and set piece was well-founded, with the home team dominating the scrum and line out and scoring three simple tries Fly half Matt Wardle scored the first, before High Wycombe pulled away with a penalty try and a score from lock Peter Partis.

That made it 19-0, and Tattersall admits the game was effectively over by then.

He said: “Wycombe are a well-coached side. They have a game plan and it works for them. They apply a lot of pressure by turning teams and pinning them in their own half and then taking advantage of mistake.

“But we knew that was coming and that’s the disappointing thing.”

Andy Brodie got Beaconsfield’s first points on the board shortly after half time, but any sniff of a comeback was quashed with two more tries for the hosts, with full back Joe Openshaw scoring the second of them.

Ken Kavanagh made the score more respectable with Beaconsfield’s second try, before Brodie went over again late on.

The High Wycombe bandwagon rolls on to Bicester on Saturday, while Beaconsfield, now down in in ninth place, must pick themselves up for another derby when they host Marlow.

Tattersall said: “You don’t know what’s coming with them. Traditionally they’ve had a strong backline, but we just need focus on our own structures.

“We try to encourage an attacking, expansive game, but we need a bit more clarity about what we need to do in each area of the field to make sure we don’t find ourselves struggling near the bottom.”