Westcombe Park 63 - Bracknell 19

It was Ladies Day at ‘Coombe’ with a large crowd present to watch the last game of the season with the home team wearing a splendid new pink stripped strip.

Bracknell kicked off and the first phases of play looked encouraging. However, two early attacks came to nothing with a penalty to the home team for crossing and a penalty kick to the corner leading only to another penalty, this time for holding on when the ball carrier was isolated.

The next 20 minutes were a horror story for Bracknell’s defence with Coombe crossing for 5 converted tries in 20 minutes and a 35-0 lead. The first phase tackling was weak and the home team executed very well once they were given an opportunity. These defensive lapses were compounded by other mistakes when the opportunity arose to put some pressure back on the home team, a penalty kicked dead, runners getting isolated and balls turned over in contact.

Coach Dan App Dafydd made a couple of changes on 33 minutes with academy boys Aly Walton and Ben Hallaways coming on, the latter for his first team debut. Walton immediately found a gap and pressure was put on the Coombe line only for the ball to be spilled. The inevitable followed and a few phases of play later they scored again to make it 42-0.

As the first half came to a close, Walton again found a gap and this time was able to run in the try with Dennett converting, half time 42-7.

Both teams tried to put on a show in the second half with running rugby at every opportunity. Although the Bracknell defence held up better than the first half, it couldn’t prevent a further three tries being run in and despite plenty of possession and opportunity could only run in two of their own from Burch and Yates.

Final score 63-19. Bracknell’s new management team were left with plenty to consider during the off season but with the benefit of having blooded a number of new players during the last four games. The coach was also heard wondering out loud how Coombe had managed to lose 8 games this season based on their form, fitness and athleticism shown in this match.

Not the final game that everyone wanted to send Stuart (Sly) Silvester into his well earned retirement but the team left in good spirits to head back to Bracknell to celebrate the 2nd XV’s league win.

Thanks to Coombe for their hospitality and best wishes for next season.

Bracknell: 1. Jonathan Mirza (C) 2. Stuart Silvester 3. Thomas Williams 4. Leo Bailey 5. James Wright 6. Tom Devereux 7. Jamie Rudkin 8. Lachy Val 9. Jaque Conway 10. Lewis Dennett 11. Simon Bayliss 12. Chris Brember 13. Ben Yates 14. Ian Burch 15. Stuart Mackay Subs: Michael Clarke, Ben Hallaways, Ally Walton

Pete’s Predictions
Thanks to too many beers last week we end up with 2 weeks’ worth of predictions for an end of season extravaganza which is bound to keep you on the edge of you seats – assuming of course that you haven’t seen the last 2 week’s results which is extremely unlikely.

Week 25 predictions. It’s a rather strange way to claim a victory but I was so unsure about week 25’s results that I am happy with 4 out of 7. Predicting that Colchester (at home) would beat Guernsey is a plus while Wimbledon (at home) beating Westcombe Park is a surprise. London Irish not drawing also came as a bit of a shock

Week 26 predictions. The last game of the season’s home advantage should be worth something so I didn’t see Wimbledon winning at Shelford or Irish (after the Lord Mayor’s show celebrating their league win with a trip to the Channel Islands) winning at Guernsey. Taking that into account I got 5 out of 7 right this week which means that if there was a chance of getting wrong….. I did!

Win of the week
Week 25 – what can I say……Irish, against everything I have tried to predict over the last few months have proved that they have what it takes to win the league. Beating Tonbridge Juddian was all they needed to do so it’s all over. “Win of the week” goes to London Irish Wild Geese.

I very much appreciate the following link sent from Irish’s Nick Moore because, if nothing else, it proves that I am not the only person who reads my ramblings on a Sunday morning:

https://twitter.com/nick__moore/status/722785026086199296/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

In my defence, Irish won 7 games by 7 points or less, 3 of those being narrow victories being against 3 of the bottom 4 sides in the league and at the same time managed to draw a rather incredible 4 games this season so how the hell am I supposed to predict anything from that!

Week 26 – Every side wants a home game at the end of the season when the sun is shining and they can celebrate whatever the season’s achievements allow them to celebrate but a win really helps those celebrations go the way they have been planned. To travel away and win on the last game of the season may not be appreciated by the home side but it has to be respected by the wider audience.

So, ignoring absolute thumping’s by higher placed sides revelling in the sunshine against lower placed league opposition which my cat (if I had one) could have predicted, we’re looking at away wins.

Just looking at my dubious predictions would help anyone narrow down the candidates to Wimbledon and Irish. Wimbledon will be very happy with their win against a side placed above them in the league (Shelford) and under normal circumstances this would have been enough but I just have to raise one final glass to Irish. Having secured the league and automatic promotion the week before, the idea of a celebratory weekend away in the Channel Islands must have been very tempting. That makes their win at Guernsey all the more impressive – unless of course, they were worried that TJ’s 5 point penalty for a technical transgression might be inexplicably revoked on a very belated appeal…..

Whatever - “Win of the week” for the second week running goes to National 3 London and SE league title winners London Irish Wild Geese. Congratulations go out to you from all the Pete’s Predictions readers (Yes, that’s not just me – that’s both of us)

2015-16 Season Round-Up
Pete’s prediction week 2 “Eton Manor are my first candidates for the drop while Bracknell along with Wimbledon will survive.” (All correct predictions as it turned out)

Pete’s prediction week 6 “After predicting a return to level 4 I see that Shelford lost games 4 and 5, admittedly to table topping teams, but have then just scraped an away win at struggling Gravesend. This is not promotion winning form.” (A correct correction of an incorrect prediction - if you see what I mean)
Pete’s prediction week 7 “My prediction is that Irish will not stay at the top for the duration.” (Ooops.)
Pete’s prediction week 7 “While anyone in the bottom half of the table still has to be careful it appears to be more of a matter of who joins Eton Manor and Westcliff at the end of the table where no-one wants to be.” (Not bad after 7 games out of 26)
Pete’s prediction week 10 “Despite my prediction that London Irish would not stay top they are still there – but they have only played 2 of their top 4 fellow contenders and both of them at home. They drew at home against East Grinstead in a very unusual run of 3 consecutive home games so I still think they have been smiled on by the fixture fairy so far this season. They must have tougher games to come and we will then see they are made of.” (……obviously I was still not convinced)

Pete’s prediction week 11 “It may be a bit early to say that Colchester and Bracknell are safe but…”

Pete’s prediction week 12 “For a second week it is the Irish result that upset my apple cart. Last week’s prediction of a draw when Irish won by a point was close (with no cigar) but this week I predicted a home win with confidence. I have nothing against London Irish Wild Geese (other than the fact that they didn’t really deserve to win at Bracknell) but this unexpected result does come as rather welcome relief. Somehow Irish have always managed to get the upper hand in tight encounters so far this season – beating Wimbledon by just 2 points, Bracknell by 3, Westcliff by 4, drawing with East Grinstead (the only draw so far in this league so far this season by the way), and beating Shelford by a single point last week – so for the good of the league I’m pleased to see a close encounter go the way of their opposition for a change.” (….still not convinced)

Pete’s prediction week 12 “…Eton Manor, Westcliff, and Gravesend have mustered just 4 wins between them all season and look like the likely candidates for the drop…. I think Colchester have enough about them to win the majority of their games against fellow strugglers and will pull clear of trouble….(Correct – picking the 3 relegated sides on week 12 out of 26 is not bad going )

Pete’s prediction week 15 “For the first time this season my predictions last week were spot on – 7 out of 7. A clean sweep of home wins gave me a clean sweep of correct predictions.” (It’s nice to get one full house in a season and this was the only one)

Pete’s prediction week 17 “Those who are really on the ball may have noticed that as of Saturday evening the RFU website’s league table shows Tonbridge Juddian at the top while the Pitchero league table puts London Irish Wild Geese in top spot. I understand that this is due to a 5 point penalty for a technical transgression on the part of Tonbridge – wait for it – while playing London Irish – and guess that the RFU might be allowing the appeal process to run its course before making any necessary points adjustment. My guess is that any appeal is a dead duck so Tonbridge will have to win the league the hard way – and probably will do!” (Why did I have to put that last bit in!)

Pete’s prediction week 20 “Before week 20 either Gravesend or Westcliff needed 15 points from the remaining 7 games to overhaul their nearest rivals Bracknell, but that has now moved on to 16 points from 6 games assuming Bracknell get nothing from the remaining 6 which is stretching it a bit. Westcliff still have home games against Bracknell and Eton Manor along with a trip to Gravesend so 15 points is not beyond the realms of possibility but Bracknell also have trips to Eton Manor and Gravesend from which they would hope to gather a few points. The chance of a change in the bottom 3 is looking very remote indeed” (In the end it was remoter than remote…or is that more remote than remote?)

Pete’s prediction week 21 “So, this week, the side who beat Gravesend by 6 points, Wimbledon by 2 points, Bracknell by 3 points and Westcliff by 4 points manage to beat promotion contenders East Grinstead by a full 13 points away from home – win of the week goes to London Irish Wild Geese. Congratulations go their way for today’s result, but it’s just a tad too early to congratulate them on promotion.” (With a 10 pointer against TJ’s it was still too close to call)

Pete’s prediction week 24 “When Irish host Tonbridge Juddian next week the sparks are going to fly as they battle it out for top spot and automatic promotion with the losers almost certainly taking the play-off spot” (Irish win the game and the league and automatic promotion top level 4. Tonbridge Juddian (W 21, D 1, L 4, points + 438) are rewarded with what I expect to be a home playoff against National 3 South West runners-up Barnstaple (W20, D2, L4, points +337)

My final prediction for the season…….Tonbridge Juddian beat Barnstaple by 8 points.

Will Bracknell be in National 3 London and SE or the South West? I can’t even start to try and predict that!

Go BRFC – (wherever you are)