Winchester RFC vs. Bracknell RFC
25th September 2011

Winchester 44 – 12 Bracknell

A depleted but spirited Bracknell squad keenly contested an entertaining game against a full strength and well drilled Winchester team.
First Half
Bracknell came closest to scoring a try in the first 10 minutes following an intelligent grubber kick by josh blosse. Kieran O’Leary and Liam Grealis hared after the ball and making up ground very quickly on a retreating Winchester winger but the ball bounced kindly for Winchester to ground the ball behind their own try line.
Despite Winchester’s size advantage the Bracknell pack gave no quarter. The first 20 minutes saw both sides rucking well. Nat Miles was buzzing around at scrum half and Bracknell won a scrum against the head against a much heavier Winchester pack. Winchester distributed the ball quick and wide following their rucks but could not initially break through strong tackling of the Bracknell backs.
Consistent pressure from Winchester’s pack finally led to a first try in the right hand corner with the ball being moved quickly by Winchester along their back line. Blustery conditions made kicking difficult and the conversion was missed.
Winchester rucking well high up the pitch led to quick ball wide out left for their second try. Conversion missed.
A third try under the posts soon followed. This time it was converted. Despite the points deficit starting to build Bracknell continued to contest. Bracknell debutants Paddy Edrich and Jake Jellyman made notable tackles. Bracknell’s efforts were rewarded with Simon Owtram breaking through and despite having three opposition players bearing down on him he backed his own pace to put down under the posts for Liam Grealis to have the simple task of kicking between the posts.
Winchester pressured again as the clock ticked down to half time. Bracknell defended well but right near the death Winchester went over again. From the resultant kick off Kieran O’Leary charged down the left wing and tackled one of Winchester’s big pack members. An unfortunate clash of knees meant Kieran had to sit out the second half
.Second Half
Soon after the restart josh blosse charged down a Winchester kick but it caught him flush in the face. Unsteady on his feet he left the field of play enforcing a switch around of positions with Liam moving to 10 and Lawrence Grazier to 15.
An up and under from Winchester bounced awkwardly. Lawrence was able to gather but had no time to kick clear and took the ball in to contact. An infringement by Bracknell at the ruck led to a Winchester scummage and try. Missed conversion.
With fatigue setting in excursions in to Winchester’s half were becoming infrequent but Bracknell’s tackling remained strong. A Winchester prop broke with pace but ran at Jack Ridout who stopped him in his tracks. Winchester at this point were now able play more expansively and scored twice more with one conversion before Ben Viney deftly intercepted a pass to sprint a third of the pitch to score. Missed conversion.
A final try from Winchester ended the match at 44 – 12. A good performance by Winchester but many positives too for the Bracknell squad and pleasing performances by all the debutants.

Squad:
Josh Blosse; Paddy Edrich; Declan Ellis; Lawrence Grazier; Liam Grealis; Jake Hodge; Josh Hulbert; Jake Jellyman; Will Johnson; Harvey Marshall; Nat Miles; Simon Owtram; Kieran O’leary; Will O’Reagan; Jack Ridout; Ollie Smith; Ben Viney; Will Wheelton