Bracknell sunk by sucker punch

By David Ryan

A depleted Bracknell U19s used the date - 10/10/10 - to put in a display that was 10 times better than anyone had a right to expect given their dismal early season form. Despite the 3-5 margin on tries, it is a mark of how far the colts have progressed that this clash with Surrey Division One outfit Camberley was still in the balance well into the final 10 minutes.
Tight games have crucial turning points. For Camberley head coach, Keith Boatman, it was when his weighty pack won two five-metre scrums against the head while clinging to a single-score lead in the final phase of a match that had swung like a pendulum for an hour.
For Bracknell Academy Coach Martin Radford, the vital moment came, and went, when - at five points adrift and with a penalty on half way and five minutes still to play - Bracknell elected to run rather than kick for position and set up a try to level the scores at 22-22.
“That was a key decision and instead of having an attacking line-out, a good scoring chance, and a kick to win it, we ended up going backwards, missing tackles, and conceding the final try that put the result beyond doubt,” said Radford.
“You play colts rugby to learn,” he added. “We made some key mistakes at important phases of the game, but I am happy with where we now are. Our tackling was greatly improved and the execution of the game plan was the best it’s yet been. We just lost some fluidity in the second half when we made a lot of changes to get everyone involved.”
One player who wasted no time in getting involved was Bracknell full-back Chris Laidler. He put Bracknell 5-0 and converted after barely five minutes as a result of sharp work from influential newcomer Simon Haddad at scrum-half.
Camberley came back vigorously and were held up over the line from one impressive driving maul before a try on 10 minutes from Dean Cottrell was converted by Alex O’Meara to level it at 7-7. O’Meara inflicted further damage seven minutes later as sheer pace took him up the touchline and past three tacklers to score in the left corner from 35 metres out.
Bracknell’s tackling out wide remains an issue, but at least opponents are now having to go out wide to score against them - the can-do defending of Nick Cox at No 10, allied to centres Mike Eastleigh and Steffan Rees saw to that.
For every tackle missed, Bracknell made a dozen good ones, particularly in the forwards where Dean Axton, Tom Case, Ben Pilgrim, Matt Betts and man-of-the-match Matt Elsbury rucked and mauled in a way that made light of some lumpingly prodigious opponents.
Elsbury played a true skipper’s role, leading by example and, somewhat ironically, all his hard work was rewarded on 20 minutes while he tarried on the left wing to get some breath back. Haddad, a real livewire all day, spotted the chance and fired out the pass. Elsbury, from 10 metres out, made a blond blur of himself to bring Bracknell back on terms at 12-12.
Bracknell were showing a real zip in the backs as Haddad mounted the run of the day on 25 minutes with a jinking, stepping counter attack launched from within his own 22. Had his cheeky offload found its mark Bracknell could have taken a half-time lead. As it was, Camberley struck before the break as right-wing Bradley Parker gobbled up a fine, wide miss-pass to bring up 12-17.
Despite a shower of changes at the break, and 10 minutes of solid pressure from Camberley, it was Bracknell who scored next thanks to a huge kick from Laidler, and clear-thinking from Haddad to take a quick throw-in. He found Laidler who broke upfield while Camberley players were still, mistakenly, appealing a technicality. Laidler looked inside and off-loaded into the supporting run of Alex Rhodes to bring Bracknell back to 17-17.
With almost an hour gone, and the teams slugging it out like two prizefighters tied to each other by their boot laces, Parker glided in for his second try from distance. It was a sucker punch and a serious defensive lapse. But the real haymaker was still to come as Bracknell made that rash penalty decision and Camberley centre Will Jones exacted full punishment with a score under the posts which O’Meara converted for 17-29 - a 12-point margin that did little justice to a spirited Bracknell side who were still going forward when the final whistle sounded.

SCORERS: Laidler (try) 5-0, 4min; Laidler (con) 7-0, 4min; Cottrell (try) 7-5, 10min; O’Meara (con) 7-7, 11min; O’Meara (try) 7-12, 17min; Elsbury (try) 12-12, 20min; Parker (try) 12-17, 34min; Rhodes (try) 17-17, 45min; Parker (try) 17-22, 58min; Jones (try) 17-27, 67min; O’Meara (con) 68min, 17-29.