As a supporter you are never quite sure how your side will perform after the Christmas break. Things were going well for Bracknell in the first half of the season but the extended break resulting from the cancellation of the game at Weston-super-Mare last week left the supporters wondering quite what sort of condition their team would be in when it came to the crunch.

After the first two minutes of play their worst fears were realised when Amersham and Chiltern (A&C) took an early lead. Without a single decent tackle being made on the opposition, Bracknell conceded a very soft opening try with only 2 minutes on the clock. Fortunately the conversion went astray, which meant the excellent scoreboard operator did not have to add to A&Cs score. 0 – 5

I’m guessing that there were a few harsh words uttered behind the posts because the home side seemed to up their game and start to create opportunities. Bracknell had the majority of possession for the remainder of the first half but made too many errors to punish the opposition in a way that would reflect their control of the contest.

That having been said, they still did enough to take a half time lead. Following good pressure from an ever dominant set of forwards a Liam Prescott penalty from right under the posts, where the idea of going to the side-lines would have been foolhardy took them to within 2 points. 3 – 5

10 minutes later the move of the game put Stuart MacKay in a one on one situation against his opposite number from a set piece and the wing delivered in the fashion that the Bracknell home crowd would fully expect. His try was followed by a fine conversion from way out which took the home side into a well-earned halftime lead. 10 – 5

The second half continued in a similar fashion to the first as Bracknell had the majority of possession but failed to convert pressure into points in the early exchanges.

The pressure that the home side exerted was always going to pay off in the end however, and 10 minutes from the restart their reward was a try from Matt Brambley which went unconverted. 15 – 5

The thoughts of a 4 try bonus point started to become a possibility but when further pressure lead to a penalty right in front of the posts the 3 points were too easy to ignore. 18 – 5.

A series of errors by the home side allowed the visitors a rare excursion into enemy territory and A&C took what advantage they could. A try against the run of play reduced the deficit to 8 points but the missed conversion left the visitors with too much ground to make up. 18 – 10.

As both sides had bonus points to fight for it was Bracknell that dealt the decisive blow and with 5 minutes to go they sealed the win with their third try as replacement Ben Nowak found himself in enough space to be able to cruise in untouched and score behind the posts. 23 – 10
Liam Prescott’s smart drop goal conversion seconds later took the score to 25 – 10 as the home side went on the hunt for a 5 pointer but it wasn’t to be.

So as the New Year’s campaign got underway Bracknell were able to get the better of their opposition after a rather shaky start to set 2014 off on the right track. A&C’s defence was spirited and even though the game may have been slipping away from them they fought to the end.

Bracknell – Jonny Mirza, Stuart Silvester, Ken Dowding, Kenny Barry, Ollie Taylor, Matt Brambley, Jonny Baugh, Nico Maybury (C), Daniel Ap Dafydd, Daniel Antonelli, Ian Burch, Joe Price, Chris Brember, Stuart Mackay, Liam Prescott. Subs: Jack Petelo, Josh Webb, Ben Nowak, Paul Poppamagz.

Pete's Predictions

To Amersham and Chiltern’s credit they have a sizeable tally of bonus points (bettered only by Lydney) which means they either win with lots of tries or lose narrowly. So far this season they have failed to get bonus points in only 5 games - tough away trips to Barnstaple, Lydney, and Old Reds and believe it or not – both their home and away games to Bracknell. We should be proud of the fact that Bracknell’s win at A&C back in September is the only home game so far this season that A&C have not got a league point from.

Let’s hope that we can conjure up a few more wins on the road because the postponement of last week’s game at Weston-super-Mare means that 4 of our next 5 games are away from home. This gives us a very tough series of games between now and March and holding onto third place will be hard work while regaining the coveted second spot would be quite an achievement.

Elsewhere in the league this week no-one lost to a side below them but the most notable win was Newton Abbot away at Old Pats, where the visitors chalked up their 5th win in a row and gave Old Pat’s their biggest home defeat of the season so far – certainly a side to look out for.

Even though Lydney still have 3 long trips to Devon I see them as away and clear while the battle for second is still wide open with at least 4 sides with dreams of the playoff spot. These 4 sides include Brixham who must be hoping that it doesn’t come down to point’s difference because their -10 point’s difference looks rather out of place in the top 4. You have to look as far down as 10th spot to find a side with a worse point’s difference than theirs!

Next week Bracknell’s game is at Avonmouth Old Boys so why not get yourselves a car load and travel down to Bristol to cheer the boys along?

GO BRFC