There are many who follow Bracknell on a regular basis who are worried that their team are slow starters – and not completely without reason. Last week was a bit of an exception when the only time Frome touched the ball in play in the first few minutes was when their no. 4 (yes – four!) kicked off. The second time Frome touched the ball was when their no. 4 kicked off again but in the meantime Bracknell had scored within about 30 seconds and opened up a 7 point gap at lightning speed.

This week however, Bracknell would once again remind their supporters where the slow starters tag came from – but I don’t think we should be overly concerned about it at this stage.

My own opinion is that rather than Bracknell being slow starters it is more a matter of the opposition knowing they have to start quickly to get into the game. Bracknell are the league leaders after all – and as such are there to be shot at. The opposition all want to be the first side to topple the league leaders hence the 110% effort from the outset. To Bracknell’s credit though, up until now – albeit in the dying seconds at Chippenham – Bracknell have always worn down the opposition to get the upper hand by the end of the game. So they may be slow starters – but they are slow starters who don’t concede many points and then come good in the end – and that’s alright by me.

Facing a stiff breeze in the first half Bracknell forced a scrum from the kick off but were then rudely stuffed in the scrummage and conceded a penalty and considerable ground as a result. Other than one brief Bracknell excursion into their half Grove spent the next 20 minutes in Bracknell territory making us all wonder why they were bottom of the league. This culminated with a score for Grove’s 12 who cut a good line back towards the forwards, broke a tackle and touched down behind the posts. He converted his own try and Grove were 7 points to the good.

The next item of note in the game was not so good for the home side – overzealous use of the foot at the back of a ruck and the Grove scrum half was red carded for stamping. This would lead to the first Bracknell score after a full 24 minutes. This is top v bottom and their first score comes after 24 minutes – this is the sort of slow starting that gets tongues wagging among the touchline faithful. Anyway, a good miss move in the Bracknell backs saw Danny Bournes make good ground and feed Ian Burch who was stopped just short of the line. From the scrum that followed a poor pass from Grove’s replacement 9 led to a Bracknell scrum 5 metres out. Ken Hodgson picked up from 8 and made ground allowing Tom Scott to force over from the next phase. Sam Dunks, kicking for the first time this season converted. 7 – 7

After 30 minutes Ken Hodgson stole the ball in his own 22, Tom Scott ran straight, then the ball was spun wide left from the next ruck, Bart Van Herwijnen drew the last man and Ian Burch ran round behind posts. Sam Dunks converted 7 – 14.

For a moment it looked as if Bracknell had finally got started but in the face of the breeze Bracknell spent more time defending as the half wore on and finding it difficult to get out of their half they conceded a penalty in the dying seconds of the first 40. Grove’s 12 took the half time score to 10 - 14 with the last kick of the half – but unbeknown to them it would be their last score of the game.

3 minutes after the restart Grove suffered a yellow card, Bracknell kicked to the corner, executed a successful catch and drive (which has been known to go wrong on occasion this season) and a score by Ken Hodgson was converted by Sam Dunks 10- 21

Bracknell’s bonus point score came after 54 minutes when a tap penalty made its way down the line to see Ruairi Henderson touch down in the corner – again brilliantly converted by Sam Dunks from the touchline – admittedly with a tail wind 10 – 28 .

The writing was on the wall for the home side who seized the opportunity to overreact to a high tackle from Sam Dunks and after the ensuing melee both Sam and Ken Hodgson took a yellow card breather for 10 and it was Bracknell this time who were reduced to 13 men

Back to full strength and with a tiring opposition Bracknell continued to benefit from their trademark expansive game and on 78 minutes a quick tap penalty was spun wide to see Ian Burch get his second and then 2 minutes later a great line of running by Danny Bournes saw him touch down for Bracknell’s 6th try. Sam Dunk’s boots had used up the last of their magic converting Bracknell’s 4th try from the touchline and missed the final two conversion attempts.
Slow starters? Possibly
Strong finishers? Undoubtedly!

Full time: Grove 10 (0 points) Bracknell 38 (5 points)

Unbeaten Bracknell remain top of the league on 43 points over chasing Banbury (40 points), third placed Oxford Quins (39 points) and Newbury Blues (34 points) in forth.

The 1XV have a well earned week off before Newbury Blues are the visitors to Lily Hill on 20th November for a Berkshire Derby clash. Prior to kick off you can enjoy a delicious pre match lunch for only £25, for details and booking click here.

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