After several weeks of rain and cancellations, our first league fixture of 2023 was a rearranged one away vs Amersham & Chilterns. An early pitch inspection was successful, and we started in sunshine under a blue sky but with a bitterly cold cross wind. The usual Bracknell slow start allowed A&C to camp in our 22 for over 10 minutes, but our initial defensive effort was huge and they weren't able to cross the line. Louis managed to relieve the pressure with a great clearing kick and chase, but A&C came back into our 22. We finally strung a number of phases together and some good team play allowed Harrison to cross in the left corner. Fin almost nailed a tough conversion with the wind, and we were 0-5 to the good after the first quarter.
A&C then hit back to threaten for the next 10 minutes or so, and with 5 mins left before the interval they broke through to score under the posts and convert to lead 7-5. Bracknell then rallied for the last few minutes of the half and were camped within 5m of the A&C try line when we ran out of time and the ref blew for the break.
The second half started more strongly for BRFC and we secured a penalty in front of the posts just outside the 22. The tough cross wind again prevented Fin from scoring, but we continued to spend long periods in the A&C half. Eventually A&C managed a rare counter attack, and sneaked over to score in the corner and move 12-5 ahead.
This sparked BRFC into action and we dominated most of the last 15 minutes. We strung together multiple waves of attack, and finally a sweeping passing move managed to get Jack across the line in the left corner. The swirling wind again messed with the conversion, so it was 12-10 with 5 minutes to go. BRFC Colts continued to try and score, but the final whistle blew to give A&C the win but at least BRFC secured a losing bonus point as we endured our first league defeat of the season.
In terms of performance, our defence was tested many times and generally was solid and effective, and considering how disrupted the last 5-6 weeks have been with weather we were less rusty than we could have been. All the players deserve credit for coping with the wind and muddy slippery conditions but a few players merit a special mention - Casey for playing a full 70 mins at prop and putting in a massive shift with big carries and some huge tackles, Ali for throwing really well at the line out and coping with the tricky wind, Will E for stepping into the scrum half position at short notice and distributing really quickly and intelligently, Louis for some great game awareness and mixing up his short and long passing with a few clever well-placed kicks, and Rudy for having an excellent game at centre, making a real nuisance of himself and constantly wriggling to steal extra yards and being a consistent attacking threat.

by Phil Wells