Bracknell U14s A v Maidenhead U14s A

We had a perfect morning for rugby at Calfridus, dry sunny weather, Gylo on the whistle, and off we went. Maids went straight for us, direct rugby and we missed loads of tackles and they scored under the posts, 0-7. Oops, this looked ominous.
But the newly energised green machine clicked into action, charged down into the Maids half, build some pressure and sent Thomas flying down the left wing for a great score. Louis W added the usual and it was 7-7, game on!
True to form Maids bounced straight back and piled through our defence for another converted try, 7-14.
BRFC then built pressure gradually, enjoying lots of possession and gradually worked into the Maids half. Run after run got stopped, but we then got Harrison on a run through the middle to score a great try. Louis just missed a tough conversion on the angle, but it was 12-14.
Half time was approaching and both teams were in need of the whistle, but Maids just managed to sneak one breakaway try down the left wing into the corner. Their excellent kicker just missed the conversion, and it was 12-19 at half time.
BRFC began rolling our subs, and hoped that Maids would begin to tire with only 1 sub in their squad. The second half had over 10 mins of quality play at the start, with both teams nearly scoring and some end to end action and try saving tackles. Maids realised it was going to be tight, and when they got a penalty in front of the sticks went for the 3 points and MISSED. Big psychological boost for us, and from the 22 drop out we ran several phases and a great move through the hands to Matteo to charge down the right wing and cut in to score under the posts. This was a massive pressure kick for the draw, and Louis had a rare miscue, so it was 17-19 but momentum was with us.
Our forwards then had a brilliant 5 minutes. Firstly, phase after phase of hammer and battering ram moves ground up the pitch and Casey barged through for his first Bracknell try. Louis converted it and we were ahead for the first time in the match 24-17. We then followed it up with more forward action, and started a maul on their 22. We drove and drove and Maids had no answer when Dave touched down over the line in the corner. Louis almost sneaked the conversion, but it was 29-19 with 5 mins to go, surely that was enough??!!
Like the top outfit they are, Maids hit back immediately, driving hard into our half and forcing tackle after tackle, and managed a breakaway down the left wing and scored under the posts. Suddenly it was 29-26, pressure on.
Maids came again, breaking down the left wing, but just when they had numbers available they tried to chip through, the ball went into touch and that was game over, BRACKNELL WIN!
Awesome performance from all 20 boys, we took it to the best and delivered.
by Phil Wells