South West One - Barnstaple 17 v Bracknell 18

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BRACKNELL player-coach Chris Sheasby was left not knowing whether to lambast or praise his players after their skin-of-their-teeth win at Barnstaple on Saturday.

Bracknell outplayed their west country opponents for long periods of the game, but found themselves having to twice claw back from hefty deficits before snatching victory at the death.

The Chiefs scored breakaway tries either side of half time at moments when it seemed Bracknell were on the verge of scoring themselves.

But cheap turnovers allowed Barnstaple to break the length of the field on two occasions, the only times they really threatened to pierce Bracknell’s miserly defence.

Sheasby was rightfully disappointed by the ease that Barnstaple twice turned last-ditch defence into attack, but couldn’t fault the effort, and quality, that his team showed to earn victory.

“It was tense and we nearly threw that one away, but you have to give Barnstaple every credit,” said the former London Irish number eight.

“We must be more ruthless – the two tries they scored were from when they were all but dead and buried, underneath their posts on their line.

“We do not sometimes see the bigger picture – when you work your a**e off to get two yards from the line, you do not let the ball out.

“We let the ball out twice and got turned over out wide.
“They scored two loose tries when they should have scored no more than three or six points all game.

“You have to be ruthless and direct, playing correct executing rugby that brings you points – that will wear sides down and they will break in the last 15 minutes.
“You have to keep hammering and hammering, checking the blindside, and the one time when they all go for the forwards, the scrum half flicks it out to the wingers, especially our wingers who are big and strong, and you score a try.

“You have to be patient and we at times, do not show the patience to be able to play like that.

“It’s frustrating in the fact that we do so many things right.

“We do not have to resort to chipping like they did.

“If you can play the phase play like we do and get over the game line and break and recycle we have our destiny in our own hands.

“That was the case to get the first try, and then to get to 10 all, and then we were on their line and should have kept it going.”

However, although Bracknell again let the lead slip as Barnstaple took advantage of a quick turnover to make it 17-0, Sheasby couldn’t criticise his players’ commitment in claiming victory in injury time.

The win was all the more poignant for Sheasby, whose mother died suddenly the previous Monday, and he was determined to win the game in her memory.

“To come back and win the game shows an element of patience and shows that the boys know that at any time they can go up a gear and apply enough pressure to score a try,” said Sheasby.

“What you have to do is apply that all the time.

“They kept their composure, took their time and waited, then scored the penalty, applied the pressure and we got over in the end.

“Yes sometimes we don’t see the bigger picture, but we are good enough to raise our game a gear or two gears and win games.

“My mother would have wanted me to play and for us to dig out that great and brave win for a great and brave woman made it all the more special.”

Bracknell had to fight back from behind twice before snatching victory deep into injury time at Barnstaple.
An 86th-minute try from Rudal Aiono secured two vital points for Chris Sheasby’s side on a day when the top two clubs in South West Division 1 both lost.

But visiting Bracknell had to do it the hard way after the Chiefs scored two tries following breaks from their own line.

Bracknell trailed 10-0 at half time, before fighting back to 10-10.

Then, with 70 minutes played, they found themselves 17-10 down, despite dominating their west country opposition.
However, a Ben Nowak penalty, then Aiono’s late, late try earned Bracknell a deserved victory.

Skipper Nowak insisted that to have lost the game because of those two tries, scored after sloppy turnovers just a couple of yards from the Barnstaple try line, would have been a travesty.

“It was heavy going out there, but for the most part we dominated the game and had the possession,” he said.
“They got a breakaway try in each half which kept them right in it and made them very tough to beat.

“It is very difficult because they have very strong home support and they’re fighting for their lives in the league, but it shows our character as well to come back from 10 points down, then seven points down and hold on and and get a try in the last few minutes.

“I’m really pleased.

“We would have been kicking ourselves if we had lost, but that’s rugby.

“We were dominating in their half and gave away cheap turnovers and they capitalised.”

Barnstaple, with a strong and vociferous home support, made a positive start to the game.

Neil Giddy, after hitting the post with a second-minute penalty, made no mistake moments later as he kicked Barnstaple into a 3-0 lead.

It took 15 minutes for the visitors to muster a decent attack, only to see Nick Shears forced out to touch just yards from the try line wide left.

Handling errors were costing Bracknell at critical times, and Barnstaple pressed, however, it seemed the battling Devon side, sitting eighth in the table, lacked the cutting edge to pierce Bracknell.

On the half hour mark, the game turned in Bracknell’s favour and they suddenly found themselves on the front foot, probing the Barnstaple defence.

Shears again was stopped just inches from the line, while Nowak missed a seemingly straightforward penalty from 15 yards.

By now the pressure from Bracknell was constant, but despite being camped just yards from the line, they found the tenacious Barnstaple determined not to let anything through

The Chiefs then turned the game on its head, and from a quick turnover on the Bracknell left, they broke swiftly, and with a man over, Paul Sheres managed to run the ball almost the entire length of the field to touch down under the posts, leaving Giddy with an easy conversion.

It was heartbreaking for Bracknell, who suddenly, and completely against the run of play, found themselves 10-0 down.

Bracknell did have one more chance to reduce the deficit before the break, but once again Nowak failed to convert his penalty from 25 yards.

Coach Sheasby replaced the injured Neil Higgins just five minutes after the restart, and his influence added some much-needed composure to Bracknell as they continued where they left off.

More concerted pressure from Bracknell led to another gargantuan push over the line, but this time giant second row Jason Borcherds forced the ball over on the left.

Nowak composed himself and managed to bullseye a difficult conversion, bringing Bracknell back to 10-7.

They didn’t have to wait long to level the score as Nowak slotted home another difficult kick from a penalty, again out wide on the left.

Bracknell continued to press, and although the grit and determination of the hosts could not be questioned, it seemed Bracknell’s quality was destined to shine through.
However, again Bracknell failed to break Barnstaple down, and when they conceded a sloppy penalty a couple of yards out on 70 minutes, Sheres took it quickly before releasing Simon Watkins on his own 22.

The outside centre used terrific pace to run the length of the pitch, showing Nowak and Stuart Mackay a clean set of heels, before touching down under the posts.

Giddy made no mistake with the conversion and Bracknell were, incredibly, 17-10 down.

Again, handling errors in the backs prevented Bracknell from scoring, and it took a 78th minute penalty from Nowak to give Bracknell a glimmer of hope at 17-13.

As injury time ticked away, Bracknell pressed harder and harder, recycling the ball well but constantly finding a wall of red shirts preventing them from scoring.

With the crowd becoming incensed with referee Chris Bartlett the atmosphere and game intensified.

Then, in the seventh minute of injury time, Bracknell won a line out and one final push saw them touch down in dramatic fashion, with Aiono (or was it Joe Shelton...) credited with the score.

Nowak’s conversion missed, but it mattered little as it was the final action of the game, and Bracknell were 18-17 in front.

The win moves Bracknell to within four points of leaders Clifton, although the Bristol side still have two games in hand.

It does, however, leave them level on points with second-placed Bournemouth, although they also have a game in hand over Bracknell.

This Saturday, Bracknell host Weston-Super-Mare (kick off 2.15pm).

*** Printed courtesy of the Bracknell Times