After the recent heavy schedule of league matches, we looked forward to a friendly fixture v Basingstoke, agreed by both clubs to be focused mainly on development players and those who weren't always part of the league squad. We had narrowly secured a 24-19 victory in our first fixture of the season back in September at their ground, and we hoped for an equally competitive game today. Both squads were about 20 strong, and Basingstoke kicked the match off playing downhill on pitch 2.
The first 15 minutes were very scrappy, with both teams cancelling each other out, and stuttering bursts of attack and defence centred around the middle third of the pitch. Basingstoke nearly scored a couple of times but the strong Bracknell defence held firm, until on 25 minutes a series of loose phases allowed Basingstoke to score in the right corner to take a 0-5 lead. Shortly after the restart, Basingstoke broke away from near the halfway line, and got through several weak tackles to score on the left and convert to take a 0-12 lead.
In the last minutes of the first half, we suddenly started to apply some pressure, and Basingstoke conceded a series of repeat penalties down the left side as we advanced up the pitch. We secured a lineout deep in their 22, Ali hit Harry W jumping high, and from the driving maul David broke through to score. Louis converted and we went into half time 7-12 down.
The second half began like the first, with a long period of neutral play and very few clear chances. After 20 mins, Basingstoke strung together some sustained pressure, and pushed us back in our 22. Our defence was robust for several minutes, but eventually they drove over to score under the posts, and stretch their lead to 7-19. From the restart we chased deep into their half, stole a turnover, and some quick hands through the backs allowed Tom to score. Fin converted, and we were optimistic that at 14-19 and playing downhill, we could take advantage of the momentum and steal a win. However, it wasn't to be and that was the final score, but it was a very close match and a combined 38-38 draw across the home and away fixtures.
Takeaways from today would be that we need to stop rushing and panicking, and focus on more control and accuracy of passing, and we definitely need to practice our lineouts! But considering we had a few key players missing and some others were playing their first game for a number of weeks there were lots of positives to take into the rest of the season.

by Phil Wells