For the second time in two weeks The Rams have been involved in what American commentators would call a “two point ball game” but I imagine that the emotions at the final whistle differed considerably.

A two point win against Amersham and Chiltern last week was followed by a two point loss at Lily Hill Park this week as Bracknell bounced back from their poor performance in Newton Abbot, avenged the away loss against their local rivals earlier in the season and regained second spot in the league in the process.

A rather dark and blustery day saw 100 happy lunchers pile out of the hall to join a healthy Christmas crowd as Bracknell, third in the league table welcomed Redingensians, second in the table to a contest that would decide who would go into the festive season in the much sought after play-off spot.

The Rams were first to score with an early penalty but a 10 minute period where the home side secured possession and territory saw Bracknell draw level and then take the lead through two penalties from the boot of Liam Prescott. 6 – 3.

So, with 12 minutes gone it looked as if Bracknell had the edge up front and might be able to ease away to victory, but first impressions can be deceiving. For the next 60 minutes the only scoring opportunities came the way of the visitors and Bracknell didn’t get as much as a shot at goal. Whether it was Redingensians taking control or Bracknell gifting them with opportunities is debateable but there is no doubt that their first score was handed to them in seasonal wrapping paper.

What might on a different occasion have been a clever Stuart Mackay chip into space, turned out to be gifted into the hands of the Rams hooker who could almost smell the line before being brought down. This fortuitous incursion into enemy territory forced a lineout in the corner and a try followed soon after. After nicking a few metres towards the goal posts it was converted by The Rams’ No. 9 to take the score to 6 – 10. After nicking a few more metres towards the goal posts another penalty was added by The Rams’ No. 9 but a further attempt went wide.

At 6 – 13 down, Bracknell headed for the half time break having put together little more than 10 minutes of sustained pressure so although the scoreboard didn’t make great reading the Bracknell faithful still had the belief that their side would have more to offer in the second half.

The comeback wasn’t immediate however, in fact far from it. Not long after the restart Bracknell’s captain, the inspirational Nico Maybury was carded for a 10 minute break and the penalty that went with it allowed The Rams to extend their lead to 6 – 16.

Strange though it may seem, being down to 14 men seemed to spark a bit of a comeback and Bracknell appeared to have a bit more urgency in their play. The application of a bit more pressure resulted in a yellow card for the visitor’s front row replacement and the rather unusual spectre of uncontested scrums then followed.

Despite the rather surreal scrummages and the loss of Liam Prescott through injury, Bracknell seemed to get the bit between their teeth. More pressure was applied and as is often the case, more yellow cards were conceded as the Rams defence of what they might once have considered to be a rather healthy lead, became more desperate. Two more yellow cards in quick succession meant that an ever more vulnerable defence was stretched to breaking point and the visitors would remain at least one man down for the remainder of the game.

With just part of the damage done Bracknell still needed to turn the pressure into points and they were running out of time. A couple of spurned opportunities kept the home crowd on edge and having not scored for a full 60 minutes their side were leaving it rather late. This all changed with a try in the corner by the athletic Ollie Taylor which kick started a fantastic final 8 minutes for the home side. A WWF style double knee drop on the scorer by the already carded Rams replacement went unpunished by a ref who seemed to lack the steel to reduce the visitors to 12 men, but that wasn’t to stem the tide. 11 – 16.

The conversion attempt from the touchline was fluffed by replacement kicker Ben Nowak but he would soon have the chance to make amends. Just two minutes later Bracknell crossed the line yet again but everything seemed to go into slow motion while the crowd waited for Stuart MacKay to come back to earth from his extravagant Chris Ashton style dive to touch down under the posts. 16 – 16. Every player had contributed to the effort but the final pass from Chris Brember capped off a notable return to the side for his first appearance since early October.

As Ben Nowak slotted the conversion to take the score to 18- 16 and complete the comeback many thought it was all over – but they were wrong. To the relief of the home support the restart was kicked straight into touch – then to the disbelief of the home support the first contested scrum in half an hour was lost against the head and the Rams had possession in the Bracknell half.

With the crowd baying for the final whistle ‘Gensians were awarded a penalty and, possibly thinking there was no time left, took a long shot at goal. It proved to be too far out and the kick never looked like regaining the lead for the visitors but as the hush went around the ground for the anticipated shrill blast of the ref’s final whistle the game restarted for another agonising few minutes. Bracknell worked phase after phase in their own half where the concession of a penalty would surely lose them the game as they pleaded for an indication from the ref that they could bring it all to an end. Much to the relief of the home crowd Bracknell walked the ball into touch to seal memorable 18 – 16 victory.

Bracknell – Jonny Mirza, Stuart Silvester, Ken Dowding, Kenny Barry, Ollie Taylor, Matt Brambley, George Milligan, Nico Maybury (C), Daniel Ap Dafydd, Liam Prescott, Ian Burch, Joe Price, Chris Brember, Stuart Mackay, Daniel Antonelli. Subs – Gareth Staples, Jonny Baugh, Ben Nowak.

Pete's Predictions
While it might be thought that it hardly needs mentioning that Lydney extended their lead at the top of the table with a bonus point win against struggling Old Cents – the score line of 32 – 21 suggests that they didn’t have it all their own way.

As we know, third placed Bracknell beat second placed Redingensians to retake the second spot they relinquished to the Rams last week. As fourth met fifth, Brixham proved to be too strong at home for Old Reds but this should be of no surprise to level 5 followers. As we reach the half way stage the Devon trio of Barnstaple, Brixham and Newton Abbot have lost just 4 of their combined 21 home fixtures and only three of those to “outsiders”. It’s also worth noting that Lydney still have three trips to Devon to look forward to in 2014 – the first of these being their very first game of the new year; but I think even Newton Abbot’s recent return to form will be tested

Bracknell travel to Weston-super-Mare who are uncharacteristically mid table so the form book suggests a narrow away win but with ‘Gensians at home to a Brixham side who have been known to let slip the odd game in Berkshire, Bracknell will need to perform much better than they did on their last trip on the road if they are to retain 2nd spot

Why not give the car a new year’s airing and travel down to support Bracknell at Weston on January 4th?

GO BRFC