After our recent run of league matches, the BRFC Colts returned to Lily Hill Park for a tough friendly fixture v Saracens Amateurs. Conditions were good in spite of the recent wet weather, and we had the pitch 1 slope in our favour first half so hopes were high for a strong start. We had agreed to play 4 quarters and Bracknell played almost the whole first quarter in the Sarries half of the pitch, but little mistakes prevented us from scoring. At the very end of the quarter Sarries managed to spin the ball wide and via a breakaway run from their own half ended up scoring under our posts to finish the quarter 0-7 to the good.
The second quarter began more evenly, with both sides sharing possession, but midway through another Sarries breakaway put them 0-14 up. From the very next play we attacked down the left wing and Matteo managed to wriggle through a gap that really wasn't there to score in the corner. Liam narrowly missed the extras, but soon afterwards played a perfectly weighted chip kick into the left corner and Matteo judged the bounce to gather and run round to score near the posts. Liam converted and it was 12-14 at half time, game on!
The third quarter was very evenly contested, albeit a few injuries meant that we had to move players around and we lost some continuity. Sarries main game plan seemed to be attack attack attack, meaning we put in a huge defensive effort with a high tackle count, and we noticably tired towards the end of the 3rd quarter. We missed some tackles and allowed 2 Sarries tries under the posts which were converted, taking the score to 12-28 at the interval.
In the final quarter, Sarries managed 2 further breakaway tries, so the final score was 12-42. These 4 late tries in the whole second half really flattered the score, and did not really reflect the massive effort the Bracknell Colts put in for 80 minutes. This was a great team performance, and the 24 boys who turned up should be proud of their contribution.

by Phil Wells