Haddad helps Bracknell ruin Abbey

By David Ryan

Bracknell U19s bounced back from last week’s pounding by Newbury to dish out some punishment of their own with a six-try demolition of Reading Abbey.
The DHL Academy boys produced their best display of the season thanks, in no small part, to new arrival and man-of-the-match Simon Haddad at scrum-half and the gradual return from serious illness of Steffan Rees at centre. The pair showed a level of experience and competence which brought the best out of Ben Radford at No 10 and centre Mike Eastwell.
It was the wily Haddad who opened the scoring after seven minutes. Abbey, struggling to contain the buccaneering forward romps and smart offloads from Matt Elsbury, Dean Axton and Matt Betts, conceded a scrum five metres out and Haddad used the slight wheel and the absence of cover to pick-up and go for the line unopposed. Radford converted for 7-0.
A weak Abbey squad - who one can only assume are heading for annihilation in the OBB Division One this season - never got to grips with the Bracknell pack, never put any pressure on Haddad’s distribution, and never stood a chance as Bracknell loose forwards Samir Kharbouch, Oli Nixon and James Wright pulverised midfield tacklers and the wind-assisted kicking of Radford and Rees kept Abbey penned deep in their own territory.
Eastwell punched a huge hole on 13 minutes but was held up just short of the line. Then, five minutes later, Nixon’s safe lineout take and a forward drive into the right corner saw Elsbury come up with the ball and the try for 12-0.
Just two minutes later and Bracknell were out of sight as Radford’s kick turned the Abbey defence and back-row Kharbouch, on the chase alongside left-wing Louis Marshall, sacked the Abbey full-back, ripped the ball free and found sprightly front-row Ollie Collis in support out wide for an easy score in the corner for 17-0.
Bracknell kept hammering away at Abbey who were starting to resemble a boxer in a blindfold, nerves stretched to breaking and no idea where the next blow is coming from. In fact, it came from hooker Luke Evans who weighed-in to finish a fine try on 26 minutes while moonlighting on the left wing.
Kharbouch took the half-time score to 29-0 with the fifth try, as Abbey tacklers failed to stop his sniping run - a fitting reward for the big man’s efforts to add team discipline to raw talent. That, as Mr Punch would say, is the way to do it, Samir.
With Abbey sagging against the ropes, humanity prevailed and Bracknell added only one try after the break. It was, however, the score of the day.
Lock Tim Ryan, a toiler at the coalface at most times, tracked a break by No 8 Nixon on 48 minutes and found himself in possession of the ball, in space centrefield, and some 30 yards out. Like a pit pony led into daylight, Ryan showed a remarkable turn of pace to cut through three defenders and beat the cover tackle under the posts. He is off to play his rugby in the Netherlands until the New Year and may like to consider converting to centre. Nick Cox, coming in at No 10 for the second half, slotted the conversion.

Academy head coach Martin Radford faces a daunting rebuilding job this season but felt real progress had been made. “We picked a side today that we felt would not concede points early on. To have a total shut-out was a bonus, but both the forwards and backs looked sharp today and the opponents were never allowed to get on the front foot.”
“Our decision-making in key positions was better and our structure was good. We must play the game at a pace which suits the players we have. That means working off a solid forward base and we did that well today,” said Radford, adding: “Next week against Camberley will be a tougher test.”

SCORERS: Haddad (try) 5-0, 7min; Radford (con) 7-0, 8min; Elsbury (try) 12-0, 18min; Collis (try) 17-0, 20min; Evans (try) 22-0, 26min; Radford (con) 24-0, 26min; Kharbouch (try) 29-0, 34min; Ryan (try) 34-0, 48min; Cox (con) 36-0, 49min.