The last time these 2 sides met it was in South West 2 in the 1991/2 season and Amersham and Chiltern (A & C) had won the Southern Counties league the previous season with Bracknell finishing in 2nd. Back in those days only one side went up and it was only due to a league restructure that Bracknell found themselves joining A & C in the league above

Back then Bracknell were welcomed to Ash Grove with an entry in the programme that said that they didn’t deserve to be where they were but the game that followed promptly settled the debate with a convincing Bracknell win that was part of promotion winning campaign

The Amersham and Chiltern programme this year drew attention to the suggestion on the Bracknell website that they had had a couple of easy fixtures to kick start their season and that their league position before this week’s fixture with Bracknell was partly due to the strength of their opposition to date. As it turned out, the result of this game saw them drop from 2nd to 8th having played 3 of their 4 games at home so I think we can say that there may well have been an element of truth in the suggestion.

Bracknell started strongly and only 2 minutes into the game through the boot of Liam Prescott they had secured a lead that they were never to relinquish. 3 successful penalties out of 4 attempts were the fruit of the territorial advantage Bracknell held in the first half. The only try of the first half however, came from one of the home sides rare incursions into the Bracknell 22 and smart footwork beat weak defending wide out on the right for A & C’s centre to score in the corner but with the conversion missed and just 1 penalty in the bag A & C were unable to match Bracknell’s tally and the half time score was 8 – 12.

In the first half powerful drives including several by Kenny Barry and the usual quick, organised phases of attacking play had left the home side feeling the pressure. For the first time this season Bracknell went in at half time with a lead and to be fair, it was a deserved one because they had been on the front foot all game and certainly appeared to have the upper hand.

The first score of the second half is often an indication of how the game will evolve and this was the case again today. Bracknell scored their first try 4 minutes after the restart through a short range effort by George Milligan converted by Prescott. 8 – 19.

Further pressure led to the first of 3 yellow cards for the home side as they resorted to spoiling tactics in their attempts to stem the flow of green shirts. Bracknell put the one man advantage to good use and their second try was another short range effort from Jonny Mirza – this time unconverted. 8 - 24

Perhaps settling back on a comfortable lead Bracknell allowed the home side the last score of the game and their fly half converted his own try to make the final score Amersham and Chiltern 15 Bracknell 24.

Yet another strong, well organised performance saw some pluses and minuses – first sight of Joe Price at centre left Bracknell followers wanting to see more but an injury to scrum half Daniel Ap Dafydd took the edge off a dangerous looking Bracknell back line.

Bracknell – Mirza, Fillier, Brambley, Barry, Taylor, Waugh, Milligan, Maybury (c), Ap Daffyd, Prescott, Brember, Nowak, Higgins, Burch, Mackay. Subs – Staples, Aiono, Price all used

Pete's Predications

As a result of their first away win of the campaign Bracknell moved up one place to third in the league after Weston-super-Mare lost at home somewhat surprisingly to Brixham. The biggest upset however, saw Lydney lose their unbeaten record at Old Redcliffians who’s only defeat so far this season was to Bracknell at Lily Hill Park.

While two of the newly promoted sides are faring rather well the third, Old Centralians, have played 3 of their 4 games away from home and are rooted at the bottom of the table on negative points and no wins to their name

Redingensians posted the highest score of the day with an emphatic 60 – 5 win over Chippenham – a score which makes Bracknell’s 18-12 loss to the Rams look very respectable. Unfortunately, our own points scoring isn’t quite as prolific and you have to go all the way down to 4th from bottom before you find a side who have scored less than Bracknell’s 80 points but having played 4 of the top 8 and none of the bottom 6 and our points conceded tally being the 3rd lowest in the league this should be no cause for concern.

Next week, Bracknell welcome an Avonmouth Old Boys side to Lily Hill who are in search of the first point and are only being kept off the bottom by Old Cents’ rule transgressions. I’m cautious not to be over zealous in my predictions but if Bracknell can continue their strong start to the season the form book points towards a home bonus point win. With Redingensians playing at Lydney, 2nd place could be up for grabs but Barnstaple and Old Reds are likely to be hot on our tails.

Everything to play for – Would welcome your comments but...see you at the game next week!!