South West One

South West One
Old Patesians 28 v Bracknell 0
By Henry La

Match photos at http://www.solidphotos.com/main.php?g2_itemId=19288

Coach Chris Sheasby demonstrated little Christmas cheer following his teams defeat against a Cheltenham team who were clearly not impressed by the visitor’s reputation and history, especially after beating them 35-9 at Bracknell in November.
This season, the Gloucester team have a West Country hex over Bracknell. In both games the Lily Hill team has had opportunities to pile up useful leads but they have lacked sufficient finesse to finish off the chances that came their way.
Old Pats have one of the strangest club houses in rugby. It looks like an upmarket 1960’s sculptured concrete house which has seen better days. Set in a small park it overlooks the rugby pitch from 100 yards away. This is reputed to be one of the toughest in the area to visit but it was difficult to see why from a distance.
It is only when you stand on the touch line that you see the substantial slope down the pitch, more disturbing are the severe undulations across the pitch which look like a previous case of sever subsidence or they are the scars left on the earth’s surface following an earthquake. In addition to the undulations, the pitch has another unusual feature being just 80 metres long and one of the shortest in the league.
As the teams came out, the Bracknell players jogged out as a unit over the spongy turf to the playing area while the home team casually sauntered to their positions resembling some pub soccer teams on a Sunday afternoon. But it didn’t take long for them to prove that in reality this is a cultivated image because they are a very capable unit, especially on their own ground!
The locals mentioned that their team prefer playing down the slope in the second half. This is similar to Bracknell at Lily Hill so it was a surprise that after winning the toss, Bracknell’s decision to kick off gave the home team the chance to select the way round the teams would start.
Kicking off downhill, Bracknell drove Old Pats back into their own territory. This didn’t gain the advantage they had hoped due to aggressive rucking by the home team who quickly gained possession and were soon on the offensive. From their first counter attack they gained a penalty on the half way line leaving home fly half Adam Seager with a comfortable 40 metre kick but, he missed, due to the fluctuating cross wind.
Bracknell’s problems started after 3 minutes when the promising Bracknell full back Neil Higgins was unable to continue after aggravating a groin injury. This seems to have been the harbinger of worse to come and it did.
Old Pats were proving to be a team comfortable with the conditions; they quickly snuffed out any Bracknell attempts to get quick ball at rucks causing the visitors to be laboured when trying to play their running game.
A try opportunity came to Old Pats on 31 minutes when their flying winger Henry Bird chipped over the Bracknell defence; he chased the ball to the try line but under pressure from the Bracknell defence knocked on as he tried to touch it down.
Other than in the scrum Bracknell looked off colour but still in the first half they had the skill to create four straight forward chances to score. Poor ball handling and confusion amongst the players prevented them profiting from these situations..
The only score in the first half came after 36 minutes when Seager succeeded with his second penalty attempt. This came after Bracknell were caught off side but it was enough for the home team to lead 3-0 at half time.
During the break Bracknell suffered another setback when the hard working flanker Kai Blankley couldn’t start the second half due to concussion.
Nevertheless the visitors started brightly but after 54 minutes they gave away a soft try following their own promising attack deep into the Old Pats half. Bracknell took too long to get the ruck organised resulting in the ball popping out. An alert Old Pats back swooped on it, he fed it out to winger Hill, who ran the 40 metres downhill to score. Seager missed his conversion attempt but against the run of play, Old Pats now led 8-0.
It is an indication of Bracknell’s potential that they were still in the game despite clearly playing well below their capability. Having two players injured was not helping their cause against a team prepared to work hard all afternoon. Worse was to come when after 55 minutes, the visitors lost the influential running forward Nico Maybury with a bad rib injury.
The last replacement was reserve prop Gareth Staples and he had to play as a flanker so it was clear that only a Christmas miracle would save Bracknell. There were no miracles with the home team gaining in confidence and easily stopping any threatening Bracknell attacks.
The forced substitutions put Bracknell’s defences under pressure and to their credit the home team took advantage with winger Hill cleverly chipping into space down the right. He was able to complete a hat trick of tries scoring in the 65th and 71st minute. Seager converting one then scored from a penalty, giving Old Pats a 23-0 lead.
Just as Bracknell’s players and supporters were wishing play to end, on the stroke of 80 minutes, Old Pats replacement scored a runaway try. Seager missed the conversion but Old Pats won by a flattering 28-0.
As the home team celebrated their justified win, all that was left was for the visitors to contemplate why they failed to show anything like the recent form as they did recently against Redingensians.
Veteran flanker Graham Sparks felt that, “Injuries were influential in the result. The first half was tight but the second half injuries disturbed the balance of the pack. We then lost a couple of crucial turnovers and they took they chances. We should have put our first half chances away and then it could have been a different story.”
After the game supporters indicated that Coach Sheasby needs to study why some players seem to lack the urgency and passion that other teams like Old Pats or Weston-Super-Mare have. Also, this season there have been too many wasted opportunities due to sloppy finishing.
But does Coach Sheasby have the time or players to sort out the problems. How can a team who played sublime rugby two weeks ago be so inconsistent? Also, is there time to make changes that will have a significant effect on Bracknell’s promotion ambitions? Clifton remains clear league leaders with Bournemouth in second and Bracknell and Redingensians in third.
Bracknell now have a chance to heal their wounds before resuming their league program at home to Coney Hill on the 10th January but prior to this, on the 3rd January they play a Berkshire Cup match away against Newbury Stags.

*** Courtesy of Bracknell Times