The boys started with the wind blowing diagonally across the pitch, in their faces. Reading started strongly with a powerful run from their backrow player taking the ball the length of the pitch from kick-off with the boys finding themselves 7-0 down early doors.

Thereafter Bracknell competed well, the breakdown being even despite Reading's obvious weight advantage. Some good opportunities for Bracknell followed with strong runs from Charlie and Tawen down the wings. Reading had a strike runner at fullback who proved too elusive on a number of occasions however he did not have it all his own way. Charlie making a crunching tackle in the middle of the pitch followed by Freddy B knocking him deep in to touch when he looked like scoring a couple more.

The weather didn't help with the distribution however there were still some great examples of the ball going through the multiple hands with Hayden at 9, Bailey at 10, backed up by quick hands from Teddy in the centres. There were a couple of soft tries conceded which the boys recognised they should have done better (the coaches may have helped them with that part too...). Basic missed tackles and shipping ball aimlessly in panic didn't help what was always going to be a tough outing however the team stuck at it which led to Will scoring towards the end of the first half by breaking down the blind side and powering through the fullback to make it 27-5.

The second half saw a much better performance, and it also allowed Bracknell to try some different positions for the boys, with Franklyn debuting at Scrum Half and Theo joining the backrow. Injuries meant Finn P had to leave the game, although he had made 60 minutes’ worth of tackles by half time. In addition, with Thomas, Zak and Greg all injured the remaining 15 on the field, were in for the duration.

Bracknell started to create a platform with George N, being his usual dogged self at the breakdown, and Harrison hitting the rucks with verve (after only being back for 2 games after a serious knee injury). Will began more of his trademark runs, bouncing though and over defenders making good ground and it wasn't long before he crashed over for his second try.

Reading had the edge out wide, and whilst they scored several more tries, Bracknell kept moving forward with sharp work from Franklyn on quick penalties which saw Bracknell finish strongly with Freddy B spinning around and stepping a number of players to go over, leaving Reading defenders grasping at air. A conversion from Charlie in a strong wind made the final score 47-17 to Reading.

The important point for us as coaches was not the final score but the manner in which the boys finished the game. That left Bracknell on a high note. As coaches we asked for heart and courage, and they got that in spades in the second half. The boys stuck together, made sure the score line was respectable and they gave Reading a tough game.

If it wasn't for Reading's one or two exceptional runners, the score would have been a lot closer. As a group they will have all taken learnings out of the game, whether that's a boy who is usually in the development squad stepping up, or a regular U14 recognising when they need to do to react and lead by example.

As a club with a big squad and more than one team, we are leading the way V’s those with one focused team and as such it presents a challenge to make the match ups as competitive as possible, whilst developing the boys. Sunday was a good example of a tough outing but one where we are confident all the boys will have learnt from it and use to improve personally and collectively.