East Grinstead 45 - Bracknell 16

On a dull but dry day at East Grinstead ("EG") Bracknell came up against a big strong and quick team in EG, however initially this didn’t look the case.

Bracknell sporting five changes, both personnel and positional, from the side that so comprehensively defeated Westclife last Saturday for this first ever league meeting between the two sides.

Bracknell kicked off the first half and caught and drove the ball forward. EG got hold of the ball and put it out of play. From the line out Bracknell started to go through the phases but were awarded a penalty as EG were deemed to be offside. Liam Hemming stepped up and converted. 3 -0 to Bracknell on 4 mins.

For the next period Bracknell found they had to defend as EG were pushing hard. With some excellent ball control and speed from their back line they scored a try which was converted fly half Liam Prescott ( and former Bracknell player!!!) 7-3 to EG - 7 mins gone.

Bracknell contained EG with some good defence work but EG were getting on top and their skills with the ball were showing.

With 17 minutes gone a line out for Bracknell was stolen by EG who with speed and accuracy of passing the ball went in the their second try. Again it was converted 14 -3 to EG.

From the kick off Bracknell forced the game and secured a penalty which Liam Hemming stepped up and converted 14 -6. Bracknell were having problems with their set pieces which allowed EG to rob a lot of ball from Bracknell, which in turn put a lot of pressure on them.

On 25 mins EG again stole the ball and under heavy pressure EG No 13 Sheldon Tarawa scored EGs third try which was converted to bring the score to 21 – 6.

Despite being under pressure, Bracknell managed to secure the ball and with some good off loads, a final pass to Liam Heming saw him jink his way pass the EG defence to score. The conversion was missed 21 -11. That was the last score of the half and if Bracknell were to get something from the game they needed to sort out the set plays as it was causing problems.

EG kicked off the 2nd half and immediately put Bracknell under pressure. Bracknell were defending well but a turn over by Bracknell in the line out resulted in an EG a penalty. From there, EG again using their backline at speed crossed the line to score their fourth try which was converted to bring the score to 28-11 after 7mins of the second half.

14 minutes into the second half, scrum half Tom Parked, crossed the line for EG fifth try. With Liam Prescott now off the field, Sheldon Tarawa missed the conversion. 33- 11 to EG.

From the re-start the ball was caught by EG, but a yellow card was produced by the referee resulting in EG being reduced to fourteen men. Bracknell took full advantage of their numerical superiority. With some good passing in the Bracknell half, the ball made its way to winger Sakeasi "Yaps" Yabia who raced in for a try. Lewis Dennett stepped up to take the conversion but it was wide of the post. 33-16 to EG on 20 mins. That was the last score for Bracknell but not the problems.

Bracknell were again under pressure, the referee produced his second yellow card for the day for an offside decision. The card being shown to Harry Challenor. From the penalty EG again pushed forward and following a number of infringements the referee awarded a penalty try which was converted. 40-16 on 36 mins.

With the game coming to an end EG still piling on the pressure they gained a further try by full back James Copsey. The conversation being missed.

Final score: East Grinstead 45 - Bracknell 16 (Points: East Grinstead 5 Bracknell 0)

EG were a big powerful unit with very good players who could handle themselves with speed and power, their use of their backline was a joy to watch. Today Bracknell came up against what I believe to be the best side they have played this season and were exposed in set plays both in the scrums and lineouts.

East Grinstead now find themselves in third place in the league while Bracknell remain in ninth place. Bracknell now face Shelford at Lily Hill next Saturday in the final 1XV game of 2015.

Special mention to the Stags who recorded a fine 29-43 win over local rivals Maidenhead. Both the Stags and the 1XV are at home at Lily Hill next week, so why not come down and cheer the lads on??!!! There's also Xmas pre-match lunch, to book contact Steve Ward.

Bracknell 1:Joe Pickett 2:Stuart Silvester 3:Jonny Mirza ( c ) 4:Josh Kron 5.Leo Bailey 6:Dom Rice 7:George Milligan 8:Lachlan Valentine 9:Jack Conway 10:Liam Hemming 11:Sakeasi Yabia 12:Dan Faamatuainu 13:Joe Price 14:Ian Burch 15:Ben Yates Subs: Harry Challenor, Tom Deveraux, Lewis Dennet

Pete’s Predictions
For the 3rd week in a row the result of the game involving London Irish Wild Geese goes against my prediction. 3 weeks ago they won by a single at Shelford when I predicted a draw – last week they lost at home by 2 points when I thought they would win and this week they drew at Tonbridge Juddian when I suggested they would lose.

Over 3 weeks I’ve been wrong on all 3 occasions but just 5 points scored differently would have been enough to turn the whole thing back in my favour. Irish certainly have a liking for a tight game that’s for sure.

In the last 8 games, only one of those games has seen the difference in the final score greater than 4 points. Irish supporters must either be gibbering wrecks or have nerves of steel. Anyway, as far as last week’s predictions go, 6 out of 7 when the 7th result was a draw isn’t too bad.

Promotion candidates.
No change here as you might expect and we are now half way through the season so everyone has played everyone else - somewhere. Whether this gives any side a second half of the season advantage is yet to be seen, but there may be sides out there who have played a number of fixtures that are important to relegation or promotion battles either with the majority of them at home or perhaps away. The fixture list can sometimes play tricks that aren’t easily recognised.

In other words – it’s all to play for as we go into the second half of the season

The two top spots – the automatic promotion and the chance in the play off are still up for grabs. There’s no doubt that the top two as things stand have a good chance but there is time for others to catch up. With the difference in points being just 5 between the top 4 and 10 between the top 6 you have to remember that there is a possible 65 points available to any side in the second half of the season

If I was to throw in a rash half way through the season prediction…….Tonbridge for the title and East Grinstead to reach the playoffs (and win)

Win of the week.
Tricky. No-one won away and no-one gave anyone an unexpected thrashing but while no-one beat opposition with more points than them in the league – one side did beat a side higher placed in the table. Admittedly, even I had predicted Westcliff’s home win against Gravesend (who were on equal points as the game kicked off) but it wasn’t just a home win, it was an emphatic home win, the only win by any side in the bottom half of the league and it lifted them up by two places and out of the relegation zone as things stand

Whether this is a sign of things to come or just one of those vagaries of the fixture list we can’t tell but this week, “Win of the week” goes to Westcliff – and very pleased with their win they will be. The award may go un-noticed down Southend way and to be honest it’s not like winning the lottery but I bet they had a good evening in their club house on Saturday night .

Relegation worries.
The likely suspects remain the same but Westcliff find themselves breathing the fresh air that exists outside the stifling suffocation of the relegation zone – something that Chichester have succumbed to for the first time this season. Having lost every one of their last seven games Chichester need to kick that habit sooner rather than later but they have already played 4 of their closest 5 rivals at home this season so the second half of their season will give them very few opportunities to buck the current trend.

Looking back over recent seasons – since 2009-10 when the league first consisted of 14 sides – history shows that a side can go down from third from bottom with as many as 48 points but as few as 34. I think this will be one of the seasons where 40 odd points will keep you safe looking at the way the first half of the season has panned out but there’s still a way to go

My half way through the season prediction……the bottom 3 will be as they are now when it’s all done and dusted – but that’s just a guess and what do I know!

Next week’s fixtures
There are no crucial relegation or promotion battles next week but those at the top need to keep winning and those at those in the bottom half need any points they can get

Here are my predictions for week 14 in league fixture list order – and it’s a mixed bag starting off with a bit of wishful thinking
Home win
Away win
Home win
Away win
Home win
Away win
Away win

Go BRFC