The U13s, captained by birthday boy Braxton Dickinson, started slowly, finding themselves on the back foot as Newbury’s powerful forwards made in-roads into the Bracknell defence, at a worrying rate. Unable to get a foothold in the match, Bracknell were going backwards and soon succumbed to the pressure, conceding early as Newbury dotted down. From the restart, Bracknell pushed forward. Some slick handling in the backs lead to Charlie Gomez-Baker breaking through, getting Bracknell onto the score sheet. Further strong Bracknell attacks saw some flow and continuity between the players, with the ball being put out wide for the galloping James Foster to score in the corner, with a brilliant finish. Newbury returned the gesture, exploiting a narrow defensive line, to put their own backs in for their second score. Some controversial referee decisions then allowed Newbury to score again. The breakdown and ruck became an area where Bracknell were being beaten time and time again, with Newbury exploiting the lack of reactiveness and jumping on every opportunity to grab a turnover. Despite the exhaustive efforts of Alfie Gooch, George Moran and Braxton, the tide could not be turned. Newbury extended their lead to three tries and it was only after this that Bracknell decided to up the ante. With Freddie Brown showing the team how to defend, Bracknell got onto the front foot and showed real grit and ambition, clawing back two more tries before the final whistle went. A resounding effort at the end, leaving Bracknell defeated by the narrowest of margins.

Forward of the Match – Alfie Gooch for his tireless work rate, ability to get all over the pitch and never took a backwards step in every aspect of the game
Back of the Match – Braxton Dickinson for a true captains performance, leading the team, excellent communication and superb work at the breakdown

The Development Squad took to the field in good spirits, lead out by Sebby Pollard, looking to improve on last weeks performances, and the team certainly did just that. With the ball in hand, Bracknell’s attack looked dangerous, with new player Alex Ali, in his first competitive game of rugby, being the linchpin for the lads in green. Alex exploited space out wide at every opportunity and used his pace and footwork to take the team forward. It was never a solo effort however, as the support running, in particular from Zabi Parker-Sillito and Oliver Holbrook, helped secure the ball and enable further phases. In the forwards, Oscar Stuart had his best game of the season, scoring one of Bracknell’s tries, thanks to some powerful running and will to get over the line. In defence, Finley Perryman and Hayden Lawson, put in the hits on anything in a blue and white shirt that moved, while Isaac Williams battled at every ruck to win the ball for Bracknell, resulting in multiple turnovers. Daniel Whiffin helped keep Bracknell going forwards with some strong carries, that Newbury found hard to halt. At scrum time, the Bracknell team had to deal with some heavy pressure from Newbury, but showed they were more than up to the task, winning the ball against the head on more than one occasion. Newbury did show some excellent pace and ability to move the ball wide and away from the contact zone, which Bracknell found hard to deal with, and a number of missed tackles allowed Newbury to always keep ahead on the scoresheets. It was in the last five minutes that Bracknell had their best passages of play. Max Gosling collected the ball out wide and cut into heavy traffic, but broke the gainline. The ball came out and went through to Billy Brumpton, whose little show and go fooled the Newbury defence. A hard tackle slowed things down, but possession was maintained and the ball came back across the field, with Cameron Weaving getting his hands on the ball, onto Hector Wilman who stepped forward. Sebby got over the ball and out it came to the left, with a solid catch by Aiden Jackson who charged towards the try line. Three defenders were bounced off, but as Aiden fell forwards, the ball was spilled and the final whistle blown.
An incredible performance from the Bracknell lads, who showed a huge improvement on all previous performances. Each players worked hard as an individual, but all showed great teamwork and support for each other. Battling to the end, the boys can hold their heads high as they treated the entire touchline to an enthralling fixture.

Forward of the Match went to Sebby Pollard for his outstanding work, across the field.
Back of the Match went to Alex Ali for a brilliant debut, with some powerhouse tackling and great hat-trick of tries