Tadley 12: Bracknell 31

On a cold (and sleeting) morning in the shadow of the AWE, were the plucky Bracknell lads going to show their own shock-and-awe or had they had one too many mince pies over the Christmas Break?
Probably a little of both (with hindsight) and the boys certainly knew they had been in a game of rugby at the end of 50 minutes.
As a team performance there was the good, the bad and the down-right ugly.
The positives started up front with the scrum securing plenty of good ball (on both feeds) and a strong lineout performance meant
Bracknell had plenty of set-piece ball to play with. Rucking and counter-rucking was also effective and a couple of very good tries resulted from ball secured at the breakdown. Rob and Harry dominated the lineouts and made good ground from their steals.
The backs once again showed they can score from the midfield and the wings, and Oisin was stoic at fullback, defusing Tadley's kicks and runs with some great catches and tackling.
The Charlies (C and H) also had excellent games scoring lovely tries and showing a clean pair of heels. (No cross-dressing here)
The bad was the amount of ball that went to ground before it could get to a man in space. On several occasions no-look passes were so speculative the Serious Fraud Office were looking into them.
And the Ugly, well the coach-killer was just seconds after the halftime talk where Ian had said 'don't get over-confident' and 'don't let them into the game'. Tadley's fullback picked up a loose kick through very soon after the restart and ran too easily through the Bracknell ranks to score under the posts.
That said, Bracknell was 12-0 up at half-time and had shown good endeavour with the ball and tremendous defence without it.
The first try in the 4th minute was a lovely run by Charlie C after a solid scrum on halfway and saw the flying midfielder breakthrough the Tadley defence and score under the posts. Harry converted, clearing the crossbar by inches.
The second try was one for the forwards, after some nice teamwork to secure the loose ball from a Tadley scrum on their 22, the ball was hooked back on the Bracknell side and Harry picked and ran from the base of the scrum making hard yards behind the Tadley defence. When it looked like he couldn't be stopped, he was. Dragged down 5m out and he turned to see Thomas shouting in support, and popped up a lovely ball for Thomas to crash over (in Thomas style) right under the crossbar, dragging the opposition with him. The conversion hit the upright and Bracknell returned to their side of the pitch 12 - 0 ahead.
If Tadley were in awe they weren't showing it and came back strongly, the 'easy' points dried up and the hard graft began.

The rest of the first half was a to and fro affair with both sides making mistakes in open play. Bracknell's set-piece strength meant they were never really in danger there, but Tadley were dangerous in broken play and regularly fly-hacked through forcing Bracknell to turn and chase.
Oisin's last gasp tackling saved a certain try and his gathering of the kicks saved blushes more than once.
Some of the subs were implemented at half time and Ian congratulated the boys on their efforts in the first half.
The scrum was firing on all cylinders, the tries were coming and the defence was exemplary. But Ian was nervous, he warned the boys of complacency and conceding easy points. Sadly he was right to be worried when a Bracknell fly-hack just after the restart was gathered by the Tadley fullback who ran past a lot of Bracknell forwards and backs to score under the posts and the conversion mean the score was now 12 - 7.
No-one dared go behind the posts to hear what was said, but we all hoped the defensive lapse was an aberation. But Tadley pressed again and on a Bracknell lineout deep in our 22, a very long, floaty pass to the midfield landed in no-man's land just in front of both sets of backs. Who would react first?
Tadley gathered and drove forward. Parents moved further away from Ian as this wasn't going to end well. But was this the turning point?
Somewhere, somehow Bracknell mustered every ounce of resolve to keep their line intact and forced the ball to be held up. Scrum five and the chance to turn the ball over again was duly accepted. Harry picked the ball up from the base and in his best goalkeeping style, cleared the line with a clearance many fullbacks would be proud of. Bracknell surged forwards and were soon breathing down the neck of the lonely Tadley fullback. His return kick should have put his whole team offside, but Bracknell still managed to retrieve the ball and continue downfield relieving the pressure.
Ian threw more subs on and it paid off well, providing fresh legs to go forward from.
Charlie C nearly scored in the right hand corner right under the Tadley parent's noses from a well fought turnover, but was denied (they were unsighted).
Finally pressure in the middle of the field, deep in Tadley territory eventually paid off. Once again the set-piece providing a platform for Bracknell points, this time a scrum pick and go from Amrit at 8, breaking one tackle and dragging in the defence. George and Jake were straight over the ball to secure possession. Charlie H on the left wing was calling for the ball and Ben's cut out pass to the winger saw a well worked try as the reward. Sadly Rob was injured taking the conversion attempt but Bracknell were moving on the board again. 17 - 7.
Play returned to the Bracknell 22 and from another bouncing ball, Charlie C collects the ball passes to Ben who sees Charlie H with room and pops a lovely pass to the winger. With plenty still to do, Charlie, stepped inside the first tackler, broke a few more and set sail for deepest Tadley territory. When he touched down under the posts there was plenty of grass back to the next player. The bonus point try, the kick goes over and Ian gets nervous again. Will Bracknell slacken off?
Directly from the kick off Tadley re-gather and score easily in the corner. "aaarrgh"
Tadley sense the weariness in their opponents and launched waves of attacks on the Bracknell line. But their efforts were for nowt as Harry turns goalkeeper again and punts a clearing kick even further downfield.
Back on the front foot, the boys charge downfield sensing the chance to end the match on a high. The ball is secured from the ruck, out left to George, and out again to Charlie H who steps through his tiring marker and canters back to the Tadley posts and touches down. Harry converts and the referee blows the whistle for full time and the final score is Tadley 12 - Bracknell 31.
Relieved and tired the boys then went on to finish a distant 3rd in the after-match boat race.