This was always going to be a close game and having spoken to a few of the Old Cents’ supporters they had high hopes of an away win to secure 3rd place in the league which would give them their best ever league position in the club’s history. The best ever league position in their club’s history at seasons end is what they got but they had to settle for 4th as Bracknell secured 3rd place in a hard fought, end to end, lead ever-changing try fest.

I have to give due credit to the boys from Gloucester for their contribution to a fantastic festival of open rugby in a fitting end of season extravaganza when both sides have proved themselves to be very difficult to beat and potential title contenders for next season. The result in the end was Bracknell’s 6 converted tries to Old Cents’ 5 converted tries so when I say that both George Owen for Bracknell and Liam Hemming for Old Cents were faultless in their conversions that will save me a lot of time.

Personally, I’m glad that Bracknell edged the game on the scoreboard (a boring old wooden thing that we have to put numbers on – nothing like the glitzy electronic thing that Old Cents flaunt in front of their visitors) because it allows me to let loose just one more time with literary gibberish when an away win would have reduced me to a mere description of the game – and who would want that!!!

So, on the basis that no-one knew who was going to win until the final whistle and I’ve already got the conversions out of the way we can concentrate on the try scorers:
- 7 minutes in - much to the delight of the home crowd Nick Ovens crashed over to cap a fine series of phases from Bracknell 7 – 0
- 13 minutes in – much to the delight of the away crowd Liam Hemming sliced open the Bracknell defence to put his outside centre away for a score. 7 – 7
- 18 minutes in - much to the disappointment of the home crowd Old Cents scored again 7 – 14
- 23 minutes in – to the utter disbelief of the home crowd when Bracknell looked sure to score again the Old Cents winger snapped up a dropped ball on his own line and raced the length of the field untouched for what was beginning to look like an unassailable lead. 7 – 21
At this point the prospect of an end of season home win seemed rather unlikely
- 27 minutes in - much to the delight of the home crowd Bracknell’s top try scorer George Owen sneaks in at the corner after great interplay between backs and forwards including an exceptional collection of a wayward high pass by Ollie Taylor at full pace and full stretch to continue the forward movement. 14 – 21
- 32 minutes in - to the utter delight of the home crowd – following several attempts at the line by the Bracknell heavyweights it was the speed and guile of George Owen that brought the scores level. 21 – 21
- 37 minutes in – an ecstatic home crowd watch the ever willing Giuseppe Salustri retake the lead for the home side. 28 – 21
- 40 minutes in – half time (thanks be to the RFU Laws because this was breathless stuff and we all needed a break…….other than the bar staff of course…..)
Given their comeback in the first half the home crowd had good reason to think that their side had 3rd place in the bag when Bracknell opened the second half scoring but there proved to be plenty of time for the game to ebb and flow
- 46 minutes in – an increasingly confident home crowd see Barry Dwyer nip in for a score to open up a “2 score” lead. 35– 21
- 52 minutes in – a slightly less confident home crowd see Old Cents’ No. 6 finish off a series of phases for what was eventually a walk in score. 35– 28
- 57 minutes in – a considerably less confident home crowd see Old Cents’ No. 6 finish off a series of phases for with another stroll over score. 35– 35
- 65 minutes in - to the unbridled delight of the home crowd Barry Dwyer snapped up a loose ball and raced 50 metres untouched to score under the posts. 42 – 35

With a whole 15 minutes to go in a game such as this many expected there to be another twist - but there wasn’t to be one. As Old Cents have done to them more than once in the past, Bracknell took possession and held on to it. The last 15 minutes saw no end to end excitement as the home side ran down the clock, closed out the game and secured 3rd place in the league table.

This very satisfying result allowed the home support to show their true appreciation of a side who have given them good reason to be proud. There was quite an emotional moment at the end of the game when the players and supporters applauded each other with real feeling. There may have been a couple of blips but I think I can speak for most of the Bracknell supporters when I say that this season has been yet another in a series of seasons when we have been proud to be followers of Bracknell RFC. A big hand goes out to all Bracknell’s players, coaches and support staff.

GO BRFC

Final score Bracknell 42 – 35 Old Centralians (Bracknell 5 points – Old Cents 2 points)

Bracknell – Gareth Staples, Stuart Silvester, Nick Ovens, Kenny Barry, Ollie Taylor, Giuseppe Salustri, George Milligan (C), Michael Clarke, Barry Dwyer, Rob Smart, George Owen, Ben Nowak, Chris Brember, Ian Burch, Stuart Mackay. Subs – Jasper Miranda, Nathan Crow, Daniel Ap Dafydd

Pete’s Predictions
Promotion candidates. I’m assuming that Redingensians took the opportunity to give a few battered and bruised promotion winning players the rest of the season off or to blood a few youngsters. Whichever it was, I guess that their poor showing at Barnstaple is excusable.

Exmouth have home advantage in the playoffs against a Barnes side who rather unexpectedly lost their first game since early December at the hands of “skin of their teeth” relegation survivors Westcliff. Last week I thought that Barnes were on an unstoppable roll but lowly Westcliff have proved that they are not unbeatable. Rather strangely, the result of the playoff might have a bearing on where Bracknell play their rugby next season – in South West or London leagues

Win of the week. The season is now over and to be honest it was all done and dusted last week so I’m going to apply a few handy rules to this week’s win of the week.
Firstly you can’t include any results that involve a side who have already been promoted or relegated – and if you take the Barnstaple v Redingensians result into account you have to agree that this is a very salient point.
Secondly, there were no away wins from the remaining fixtures.
So, it’s quite simple……only one side beat opposition placed above them in the league. Congratulations to Bracknell – the final recipients of this season’s “Win of the week” award.........GO BRFC!!!

Relegation worries. If only Chard were not already destined for the drop then their 2nd win of the season would have to have been a contender for win of the week. Go down fighting and you will have every chance of bouncing straight back up.

2014-15 round-up
Redingensians: Right from the start Redingensians looked like they were serious contenders and right from the start I predicted that they would go up. What more can I say….
Exmouth: Right from the start Exmouth looked like they were serious contenders and right from the start I predicted that they would be serious promotion candidates. (I love copy and paste)
Bracknell: When Bracknell lost their first game at Old Cents I said that they would end up higher in the league at the end of the season. I’ll take third.
Old Centralians: When Bracknell lost their first game at Old Cents I said that they would not be the only side to lose at Painswick Road. Well, as it turned out, Redingensians were the only side who managed to win there. Old Cents have had a great season and have secured the best ever final league position in the club’s history
Brixham: Brixham have shaken off the reputation of just being a side who are difficult to beat at home. Several league wins away from home have helped to secure a well-deserved 5th place but I imagine that it will be their away from home result in the Devon Cup Final that they will remember above all the others.
Hornets: When Hornets lost their first ever league game at this level at Newton Abbot I suggested that they should not to be too disheartened and as it turned out even Redingensians lost there. Hornets should be very pleased with their 6th spot in the league – like Old Cents, it’s their best ever final league position in the club’s history and ….they surely are the best rugby side in town
Newton Abbot. There may be mixed emotions at Newton Abbot. 7th spot is probably below target and a home loss in the Devon Senior Cup will have hurt. At least their good start to the season has meant that relegation was never a concern.
Barnstaple: After a very shaky start Barnstaple have finished well above sides that were relegation rivals in the first half of the season. I imagine they will be very satisfied with their final league position – not to mention their final league result.
Bournemouth:. Having come down from the league above, Bournemouth looked to be candidates for relegation yet again in the early stages of the season. I reckon they will be pleased with their resurgence in the latter half of the season and having been comfortably out of the relegation zone for some time have now become a side that are difficult to beat
Old Patesians: Old Pats haven’t picked up many wins on the road but have been very difficult to beat on home soil as Bracknell can attest to. They can thank their home form for keeping them safe again this season
Old Redcliffians: At one stage in the season Old Reds and W-s-M were neck and neck in the relegation race but Old Reds have shown a fine fighting spirit since Christmas. It’s been a tough season after losing last season’s home invincibility tag but they have survived to fight another day
Weston-super-Mare: It doesn’t really give me any pleasure to say that I picked W-s-M out for relegation after the very first week of the season – but I did. The last gasp attempt to stay up was left a bit too late given the way the fixtures panned out. The games that could have been won were played much earlier in the season. The question is can you bounce back up?
Oxford Harlequins:. Quins must have been quite pleased after their first few games of the season. In early November they had 4 wins under their belts and mid table looked a doddle. Unfortunately it all went downhill from there
Chard: The season never really got going and relegation was on the cards from the off. Despite this Chard never gave up. They have given the 3rd and 4th place sides a run for their money in the last few weeks so if they can maintain that sort of form they should be confident of starting next season as hot favourites for promotion