Bracknell III 16 - 7 Grove II

As the match report writer was playing in the 4's fixture and had limited time to watch the 3's apologies for the short match reports this week.

Firstly, congratulations to Bracknell RFC for fielding 69 senior players across 4 teams on Saturday, which is to be applauded on a 6 Nation weekend.

The two league fixtures were played on the infamous 'Pitch 2' at Lily Hill Park. Not only does it resemble a beach, it has an influential slope and it's very own 'Tough Mudder' course along the length of one touchline. The mud in areas was a tad unwelcome if you are tackled in to it, but the unwritten rule that the 3's & 4's fly halves are exempt from entering that particular strip was observed on the day!

Having been on the end of a humbling defeat at Grove, the Mighty 3's were looking for some redemption. The Grove XV had the significant benefit of the slope in the 1st half, however in a nip and tuck 1st period, it took them until late-on to score their only try of the day, following some phased play, and perhaps some lacklustre / less than mighty tackling from the home team. Bracknell had worked hard up the hill, and scant reward was a Boucher penalty.

Local knowledge would suggest that a 3-7 lead was not going to be sufficient, now the Mighty 3's had the advantage of the slope.

The forwards worked hard to create quick ball, the backs made ground with some strong running and the kicking from hand gave Bracknell plenty of territory. Boucher kicked two penalties to maximise the advantage of the slope. During one of these attacks JB then found a gap close to the Grove line to score the decisive try. JB converted.

Redemption was delivered, and the Mighty 3's recent momentum continued.

Man of the match award went to Jake Parker.

Bracknell: 1. Dan Ledger 2. Bradley Walters 3. Dan Gyles 4. Sam Brian 5. Rob Munro 6. Tristan Carter 7. Andrew Oliver 8. Jake Parker 9. Stuart Green 10. John Boucher 11. Chris Samson 12. Ni All 13. Mike Eastwell 14. Stefano Rosi 15. Benjamin Radford Subs: 16. John Gale, 17. Craig Lee, 18. Matthew Kingston