Colts 1XV
Matches
Sun 17 Apr 2016
Maidenhead RFC Colts
10
19
Bracknell RFC
Colts 1XV
Maidenhead U18 A 10 - 19 Bracknell U18 A

Maidenhead U18 A 10 - 19 Bracknell U18 A

Real Hummers18 Apr 2016 - 06:55
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Win secures league title. Match report by Martin Radford.

The backend of a rugby season brings much to enjoy, the sun, firm grounds, clean kit and league defining matches, this fixture had it all, promised much and didn't disappoint.

Bracknell have lost once all season, in a highly competitive National Colts Cup Quarter Final, so their confidence was high coming into this game. But continual success can mean a team is inexperienced at trying to turn the mental switch back on when a game is drifting away from you. A spark is needed, but where's the kindling to be found, to ignite that burning fire again. Bracknell were about to find out.

Maids kicked off, with a breeze at their backs, and looked the excellent side they are, and whilst the early exchanges were relatively even, it was Maids who opened the scoring. The Maids 10, who had a good day with ball in hand managing the game kicked over a breakdown, dissecting the space between the Bracknell 11 & 15. Perhaps on a Bracknell pitch the ball would have bounced low, but on this surface it sat up high ripe for the picking, and the Maids kick chase was good, the ball was harvested and dotted down. A well struck conversion was good from wide out, Maids led 7-0.

The Bracknell performance now became lethargic, littered with mistakes, core skills deserting them at critical moments. It was also quiet, in fact the silence amongst the visitors was deafening, had they lost their mojo? Maids were winning the battles in most areas, and were in the ascendency. On 24 minutes a penalty line out deep in the Bracknell 22, was caught and driven hard towards the line. It was adjudged to have been pulled down, and Matan was off for an enforced 7 minutes. The performance was deflating quickly, but Maids didn't take advantage of the territory or the numerical superiority. A penalty was missed, Matan returned and the half time whistle was blown with Maids leading 7-0.

The lads approached the half time huddle, tense, angry, fretting, frustrated and desperate to find their form. The message was clear, let the frustration go, relax, and try not to force the game. A good side rarely plays badly for a full 70 minutes, so patience was required, a spark, an opportunity, that moment of inspiration would come.

The hard work began, the shackles were loosening, but Maids struck first with a penalty on 40 minutes to extend the lead to 10-0. Maids were awarded another penalty following some backchat, it was missed, but they continued to disrupt the Bracknell game with line outs the latest target. The local support were now vocal, (their lines more so), sensing the day was going to be theirs, it looked that way.

On 50 minutes, Bracknell were awarded a centre field scrum 30 meters out. Left of the scrum was loaded, the right wide open, space in abundance for attack. Scotty picked and went right, feeding Ally Walton who's allusive running has been a feature of this season. Pace is hard to defend, the incisive break was made, and Ally reached for the line and scored. The conversion was missed, was this the spark that would ignite the Bracknell performance. Yes it was, the fire was lit and the mental switch had been flicked.

Whilst Maids still led 10-5 this was now a different Bracknell side, fluent, pacy, aggressive and clinical once again. Almost immediately from the kick off Bracknell attacked again with some real go forward, moving the ball through the hands, and sending Euan Webster through a gap making 30 meters. Connor Hayhow continued the move and the ball was moved to Luke Fisher on the blindside who zipped in like a spinning top to level the scores at 10-10. The kicking duties had been passed to Sam Dunks who slotted a superb touchline conversion. Bracknell had regained their mojo and led 10-12 for the first time in the game.

It was now all Bracknell, thus was the performance we had hoped for, Maids couldn't extinguish the Bracknell fire.

One feature of the resurgence was Sam Dunks ability to regain the ball at each Maids restart, he was leaping like the proverbial salmon, and set the platform for each attack. However, Maids were still in this game, and had their moments, but Bracknell worked hard and were equal to ever challenge.

The 67th minute delivered the decisive moment. Bracknell attacked from deep, playing through the phases, Elliott Madison almost made it into the corner, and twice it looked like the move had faltered. Firstly by James Roberts and then Tom Furmedge, the loose ball was retrieved. Tom swept up a loose pass 15 meters out, he turned and charged forward finding a gap, busting the desperate tackles to stretch for the line. He scored, the conversion was kicked by Sam, and Bracknell had an unassailable lead at 10-19.

This is the first time the Academy has won OBB League Division 1 since 2006/07, so it is a fantastic achievement and one that caps an outstanding season.

This really is a talented squad and all 38 boys who played today in the double header with Maidenhead can be very proud of the two wins.

Match details

Match date

Sun 17 Apr 2016

Kickoff

15:00
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