Following our 2 point league defeat a fortnight ago away at Amersham, we travelled to Aylesbury eager to get back to winning ways and set ourselves up for the rest of the season. After the rain and freezing conditions of the last couple of months, it was an ideal weather day for rugby on their astro pitch apart from a steady crosswind which was to bug the kickers throughout the day.
Aylesbury kicked off and secured an early penalty in front of the posts, and scored to move 3-0 ahead. The next 15+ minutes saw both teams cancel each other out, with some strong running and lots of tackling and occasional mistakes. Aylesbury secured some steady possession in our 22 which tested our defence, and then we gradually began to regain territory. We eventually spun the ball wide and Fin broke through several tackles and gaps and got tackled within 5m of the Aylesbury line. He fell badly and injured his knee which required him to be subbed by Scott. Following the restart, some quick thinking and passing allowed Scott to score with his first touch, our conversion shaved the underside of the bar, but we were 3-5 in the lead.
More end to end rugby followed and Aylesbury scored in the right corner through a gap in our backline with 5mins to go to half time, they couldn't convert but were still back in the lead 8-5. Bracknell finished the half camped in the Aylesbury 22 but couldn't quite score. The Aylesbury hooker (and captain) suffered a yellow card for a repeated infringement, but we couldn't quite take advantage of them having 14 men so the half ended at 8-5 down.
Early in the second half, Will E was given a mysterious yellow card just as Aylesbury got back to full strength, and we defended well and shut down Aylesbury attacking moves. As Will came back on Aylesbury received another yellow card and we stepped up our pressure. Some smart interplay between backs and forwards drove us up the pitch, Will W smashed through their backs to near the 5m line, and further drives got the ball to Stan who touched down in the left corner. We couldn't quite convert, but were back in the lead 8-10 ahead, 10 mins ago.
We tried to retain the ball and play sensibly, but Aylesbury managed to drive into our 22 and secured a penalty for us holding onto the ball on the ground which was in front of our posts, and scored to go 11-10 ahead with 5 mins remaining. Their premature celebrations sparked us into action, and we attacked with more aggression. Some quality passing and driving took the ball deep into the Aylesbury half down the left wing, and then we span the ball quickly to the right. Some quick thinking and passing allowed Will W to get the ball out wide and he split their backline and scored. Our final conversion shaved the wrong side of the post but we were 11-15 in the lead with 2 mins to go. The final whistle came shortly after the restart, and wild celebrations ensued including a full pitch invasion from our subs and travelling supporters.
We had some great moments of both attacking and defence, and probably dominated possession and territory 60:40, but were careless at times and made some mistakes, and were definitely not clinical in their 22 and failed to score from several attacking opportunities. A massive shout out to our great supporters who enjoyed watching noisily from the pitchside stand, and also to our 2-3 Colts who were either injured or not selected but travelled to lend their support.

by Phil Wells