Last gasp Bracknell end up stealing the game at Ealing.

After going a try behind within the first couple of minutes and then trailing for the whole game, the B team came from behind with two late tries at the death to defeat a strong running and well organised Ealing side 17-12.

The Bracknell boys knew they were in for a battle when early on, they were ruthlessly turned over, and the Ealing backs showed their strong running intent by making huge strides toward the Bracknell line. With the boys being a little late in finding their full defensive game, Ealing opened the scoring with apparent ease and converting for a 7-0 lead after just 3 minutes.

Bracknell were up against it for much of the first period and it was a testament to their commitment that they pulled the game back to 7-5 with a well worked move to squeeze Theo over in the corner, a little against the run of play.

For the middle part of the game they found themselves mostly on the back foot but defended brilliantly as a team to keep Ealing down to just one further try, which was when Bracknell simply ran out of defenders after a multi-phase attack, switching from side to side. Ealing were a good team and to be just one score down with the opportunity to hit back in the last period was reward for this defiance, with some excellent front-on tackling from the whole team, and one desperate last gasp tackle from Josh J to pull down the Ealing winger just metres from a further score.

Despite being really up against a far better team at the breakdowns, they managed to stem the flow and gradually fought their way back into the game as it neared its conclusion and eventually Josh J broke away to score wide out and pull the score back to 10-12. As the clock ticked away, the boys discussions recalled their pre-match plans to work their way upfield and secure a position for a match-winning drop-goal! Fortunately then, the kick off from Ealing went long, away from their forwards, and found Josh J who fed the ball to Theo who scampered down the wing, inches from the sideline to score flamboyantly under the posts, and give Oscar the easiest of conversions.

The boys thought that the ref had already called “last play” but there was clearly time for one more play from the restart, and this time, with their one chance to regain the lead they had held since the third minute, Ealing recovered their own kick, recycled the ball, launched an attack but typically committed defence caused their ball carrier to lose the ball in the contact, and the game was over.

Overall, the scrum got better and better as the game went on, and whilst the boys struggled for parity at the breakdown, where Ealing were excellent turning over plenty of Bracknell ball, the line outs were dominated by Bracknell, and Tom in particular. The appearance of Hook, Wallace, Newman and Grange in the backline says much for the boys ability to adapt to circumstances for the good of the team. A victory for attitude and aptitude today. A fantastic result and display of perseverance against a very good side.