Bracknell find the W in Marlow

It has to be said that the performances over the previous three weekends have deserved much more than three losses, but that was put firmly behind the boys as they produced an impressive first half performance to beat our friends from Marlow after two drawn games the previous season.

With the apparent return of summer at their Thames-side home, the teams were grateful for the early-ish start and in front of a large crowd, started the game very focussed and motivated against an equally competitive team.

The opening stages were prominent for the commitment in the tackle of both teams, as well as the willingness to embrace the conditions and run with the ball. Just 4 tries were scored in two hours of rugby between the teams last season, so this wasn’t a great surprise, as both teams probed and jabbed at the other, trying to find a way through.

The likeliest source of a breakthrough appeared to be through the Bracknell forwards with some very effective breakdown work from them all as a unit, and Ryan prominent with his ball carrying, smashing his way through countless first-up tackles on the back of well earned ball from his pack-mates.

So it came to pass that after one such carry, the forwards managed to suck in enough defenders to enable a couple of quick passes from Joe and Oscar, moving the ball wide(ish) that enabled Frazer to muscle his way through an increasing gap for his first try for the club.

The next ten minutes or so, saw Bracknell increase their pressure, whilst remaining resolute in defence, with Kai, Frazer, Matt and Tim (Mits) putting in some good work here.

With 8 minutes of the half remaining, the boys really hit top gear with 4 quick tries taking the game clean away from Marlow. The first of these came from a scrum that Marlow failed to clear from their own line under pressure from Joe and Alex. A 5m scrum was conceded to Bracknell and a clean strike enabled quick ball to Oscar, who fed Theo flying up from a deep lying position, bursting through the defensive line to touch down under posts. Oscar converted.

The resultant restart went long, straight to Theo who again burst up through several tackles, almost reaching the halfway line. The recycled ball was spread wide but the Marlow midfield defence was up like a shot and the attack was stopped in its tracks. However, good work from the forwards enabled Bracknell to retain the ball, and quickly moved it out to Tim C, who jinked and forced his way past several defenders from deep inside his own half, crossing in the corner and scoring under the posts, again for his first try for the club. Oscar converted again.

19-0 and Marlow probably feeling a little deflated from the two quick tries, and looking toward half-time. The boys from Bracknell however, were not finished and attacked once more. A good break from Oscar, preceded another good run from Tim, and then with the previous Wednesdays work on passing skills very apparent, quick hands from Tim, then Theo, then Joe found the ball in Ed’s hands, with Marlow finding completely out of defenders and Ed adding the fourth try with a neat finish near the corner.

Back for a kick-off, and immediately strong running from Chris, and Max, and Olly, and inevitably from Ryan, showed that the forwards now wanted some of the 5 point action. Marlow defended their line strongly though, holding up first Ryan, and then Alex as they drove for the score. With the drives and the recycled ball sapping their energy, the defensive line started to spread thin and eventually with plenty of attacking options the gap opened next to the ruck and Joe dummied his way over for number 5. The half-time whistle came at 0-29.

The second half opened up and it was clear that Marlow had rejuvenated and strengthened at half time, with some strong runners coming hard at the Bracknell boys. They pulled a converted try back after 5 mins, as our boys took a while to get back into the pace of the game. More hard running had the Bracknell backs to the wall, but good tackling from all, with Adam, Jonty, Tim M and Oakley to the fore withstood much of their efforts. Tim M held the ball up over his own line on one occasion, and the strong Bracknell scrum managed to exert enough pressure on the resultant attacking 5m scrum to turn the ball over.

Mid-way through the half, a second home try came after a period of attacking play by Bracknell, the ball was somehow turned over and the Marlow player ran some 60m to score under the posts. 14-29 would remain the score until the end but not without more attacks from both sides, and one more very good chance for the visitors when a kick out of defence by Joe was successfully chased down by Theo, who managed to dribble the ball over the try line only to be thwarted by the peculiarities of a rugby ball’s bounce.

As has become the norm, the Scrum remained in excellent shape throughout the game, with the front row of Daniel (until his injury) Callum, Seth (until his injury), Olly, Sam and super-sub Hooker Alex all performing very well.

A great all round, committed and skillful performance by the boys.